Community service a way of life for newly appointed Sandwich aldermen

The city of Sandwich did not waste any time in replacing a pair of recently departed city council members during its regular council meeting Sept. 14.

Sandwich Maor Rich Robinson appointment of Bill Littlebrandt and Rick Whitecotton were approved by the council.

Littlebrandt takes over for Les Redden, snatching the Ward 1seat from the former alderman who moved to Arizona.

“I’ve known several of the aldermen for some time and I’ve had some interest in speaking with them,” Littlebrandt said. “And I’ve known Les for a while too and the opportunity had presented itself unexpectedly, to be honest. I was expected to perhaps run for the other position, maybe when Mayor Robinson took the mayor’s office if he won the election.”

Born in Sandwich, Littlebrandt left the city but returned. He met his wife here and graduated from Sandwich High School in 1988. He has been employed for more than 20 years as general manager of Cascade Water Works in Yorkville.

Service work is nothing new to him either.

“I spent time on the zoning board of appeals and the planning commission, too, as the secretary,” Littlebrandt said. “I’m not unfamiliar with the process, and this is just a stronger way to serve your community and I think that’s important.”

Whitecotton made Sandwich his home in the early 80s. Today, he’s married with five adult children and 12 grandchildren, the majority of which live in Sandwich and attend Sandwich schools. He has served on the Sandwich Fire Department and works for his family’s business, Plano Metal Specialties. He replaces Ward 4 alderwoman Sheryl Chmielewski who only resigned.

“For years I was on the fire department in Sandwich and was actually a trustee for a while too,” Whitecotton said. “I always thought, especially in small communities, to look for a way to give back to your community. Rich asked me to fill the term and I said ‘Yeah.’”

With the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic altering so many things in Sandwich and the country as a whole, Whitecottom acknowledged that these are challenging times that he’s ready to try to tackle, even if there’s no high school football this fall.

“I think every small town is having its problems right now with COVID and obviously reduced tax revenue and that kind of stuff,” he said.“I want to fit in and help the city figure some of those things out.”