Ed Hood Appointed to DDA Board
Ed Hood, who retired two years ago after serving 25 years on the Comstock Park Downtown Development Authority, is back on the Board. Hood replaces long time member Rick Ericksen who retired earlier this year.
Hood was a founding member of the DDA in 1993. He retired in 2016 for health reasons. Hood was an owner of Midwest Properties and decided to go part-time, selling his share of the company. After a couple winters of spending a few months in the South, Hood said he and his wife “missed the grandkids.”
He ran into Bob Homan, Plainfield Township Supervisor and DDA Board member, while vacationing last winter. Homan said there was an opening on the DDA Board because Rick Ericksen was retiring.
“I thought why shouldn’t I volunteer to give back to the community where I’ve lived all my life,” said Hood. “I know the area, I’m glad they want me back.”
Hood added that he has kept up with DDA accomplishments, such as the Community Plaza, during his retirement and is “excited to get involved again and see what we can do for the community.”
For now Hood wants to get caught up on DDA business. He said he thought it’s important for the DDA to maintain a fund balance,
“We’ve gotta have money to take care of things we’ve accomplished,” he said.
Hood, a lifelong Comstock Park resident, is well known in the community. Five generations of his family have lived in and attended school in Comstock Park. (He was the third generation) Hood was the owner of Comstock Park Foods for 20 years before selling it in 1994 to go into real estate. Besides serving on the DDA, Hood served on the Comstock Park Board of Education. He said he’s proud of building the Midwest Properties business, noting that when he started there were three realtors and now there are around 120.
(November 2018)