By David A. F. Sweet Joyce Reda, the Deputy City Clerk for the City of Lake Forest, became the “Face of Lake Forest” when she was hired to work at the City Hall front desk in 2015. We caught up with her during a break between her many duties. What attracted you to want to join the City of Lake Forest? I moved to Lake Forest in 1999 and have always loved the beauty of our City Hall. When the “Face of Lake Forest” job opportunity came up in 2015, I knew I wanted to be the face. I absolutely love everything about Lake Forest, and I have a strong customer service background, so it makes it a good fit to be an ambassador for the City.
"I love interacting with the residents of Lake Forest.," says Joyce Reda.
What are your day-to-day duties?
I’m involved with providing residents with birth and death certificates, Freedom of Information Act requests, special event liquor licenses, solicitor permits, raffle licenses, leaf-bag stickers, voter registration applications, Compost Center permits and more.
Out of those many choices, what do residents mainly come to City Hall for?
Birth certificates and death certificates. We do get a lot of people that come in for building permits, but that is done at our Municipal Services building on the west side of town.
What else can residents find at the Municipal Services Building that is not available at City Hall? Building permitting, community sign board requests, Real Estate Transfer Tax applications, block party/yard sale permits, special event permits, water service and billing, garbage/recycling information and vehicle stickers.
What is your favorite part of your job? I love interacting with the residents of Lake Forest. A lot of times, I know the residents since I raised my family here. I also love when new residents come in so I can tell them all about the services that the City has to offer.
What is it like hearing the noon siren at such close proximity every day? It’s actually very comforting to hear it each day. It’s a reminder of the time of day, which I love. I think the only issue is if you are in the City Hall parking lot when it goes off it can startle you, especially if you are not from Lake Forest and you don’t know why it is going off.
Final thoughts? I feel so blessed to be able to work at City Hall because I enjoy everything about Lake Forest. I love coming to work each day, and a lot of people can’t say that about their jobs. City Hall is hiring a Part-Time Administrative Assistant to join Joyce and the Office of the City Manager team. View the job description and apply!