By We are saddened to hear of the passing of Bill McQuillen.
This was a good man whose positive, prominent impact on the Aberdeen area will live on after him.
Bill returned to Aberdeen after a successful career in corporate management and chose to apply his expertise for the betterment of the city.
Mike Levsen, Guest Columnist
He was elected to the city commission in 2004, coincidental with my first year as mayor. We all transitioned to a city council form of government a year later. It was a time of big changes at city hall and throughout the community. Bill was a persistent, positive motivation and force in the change. I am in his debt for what he did to help me.
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After decades of city reluctance to use debt to advance needed major projects, a council majority approved numerous ambitious modernization plans as the years passed. Council member McQuillen was an opinion leader who pushed everyone. He refused to be dissuaded from his commitment to keep moving forward.
The need was great, and so many things had to be done. It’s evident to me in retrospect those projects would not have been done as quickly or as aggressively in scope had we not had Bill’s influence.
As one example, he noted an allocation of less than a half-million dollars for one year’s worth of work to remodel old Central High School into the Parks & Recreation Department and Aberdeen Recreation & Cultural Center. Why not, he argued, borrow the entire amount and take on the entire project instead of spreading it out over 10 years of incremental budget allocations. Use that money, he said, to pay off the debt and get the work done more quickly at a lesser final cost.
McQuillen
The process and success of the AARC project was replicated in funding for police, fire and ambulance, the aquatic center, the library, the Aberdeen Family YMCA and other improvements. Of course, he didn’t do it solo, but Bill’s influence was a factor in all of those jobs.
That contribution, in itself, is significant and merits remembering now.
However, his work on budgeting and the process of progress is not the most noteworthy aspect of his time serving in city government.
During our early years of transition and change, leftover disputes and animosities threatened to derail what needed doing. In those times, there was no one who demonstrated more integrity, dependability and resolute commitment to doing the right thing than Bill McQuillen. He was a rock of reliability who resisted any temptation of unjustified compromise and prevailed over professional and personal adversity. He wasn’t everybody’s favorite guy and didn’t make accommodations to try to be.
He was, for me, a man who could be trusted — and a valued friend.
This city is a better place because he chose to serve.
Mike Levsen served as mayor of Aberdeen for 15 years. During his career he was a well-known radio personality and station manager.
