1. Why did you decide to run for mayor?
I decided to run for mayor because I feel that the Village of Manhattan is at a crossroads in its history and the village needs someone with experience to deal with the various pressing issues it faces. With the Joliet border agreement expiring in 2026 and Northpoint knocking on our door, we need an experienced leader to guide us to a solution that is in the best interest of the Village of Manhattan. My opponent lacks not only the experience, but the ability to handle these issues. Community events seem to be the current priority over essential government day-to-day operations such as our bills being paid on time, processing water bills in a timely manner, and the past delay of the opening of Eastern Avenue.
As a current Village Trustee, I and my fellow Trustees are frustrated that we are not given important information in a timely manner or at all. I feel that due to my experience I am better qualified to work on these issues and many more.
I will be financing my own campaign. Unlike the current Mayor, I have not and will not accept campaign contributions from the unions promoting Northpoint or from our vendors who do business with the Village of Manhattan. Why would anyone need to raise over $40,000 to fund an election in a town of this size?
2. Have you held public office before?
Yes, I have been a Manhattan Village Trustee for the past 24 years.
3. What is your background (length of time lived in Manhattan, education, career)?
I have lived in Manhattan for the past 27 years. I graduated from Bloom Trail High School, attended Prairie State College and graduated from the University of Illinois Academy of Municipal Excellence. I am a retired USW Local 17U decorator with 30+ years of service.
4. What community involvement, organization, affiliations, or club memberships do you have?
I was a past treasurer of the Manhattan School District 114 Education Foundation. I have volunteered in many organizations like Irish Fest, Fun Days, Wine Fest, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Thunderbird Softball and Manhattan School Band.
5. What characteristics, qualifications, or experience do you feel you possess to be mayor?
I feel that my 24 years as Manhattan Village Trustee gives me a unique perspective of what the village needs for the future and how to get it done. I have been very instrumental in securing millions of dollars in State and Federal grants for various projects in Manhattan. I have spent years working in Springfield and Washington DC not only the Village of Manhattan, but for the United Steelworkers Union. This has afforded me the opportunity to bring meaningful changes to Manhattan like the Metra, the only traffic light to town, and help to secure State funding for the purchase of Round Barn Farm. I have also secured funding for various infrastructure improvements like the radium removal plant, well #7 project, sewer treatment plant and many other sewer, water and road improvements.
6. How can the village improve?
To improve our village, we need to secure our borders and negotiate a new border agreement with Joliet which expires in 2026, work to stop Northpoint and reduce truck traffic.
I would develop a meaningful plan to bring together all the commercial landowners and a professional marketing group to entice meaningful economic developers to build in Manhattan. We can’t keep sending delegations to Las Vegas with no results and no reports. I would also like to encourage small business growth by developing an area for pop up businesses to operate in a crafters/farmers’ market-type setting.
I would like to find and use grant money to beautify our downtown area. I will continue to find funding to update and improve our infrastructure and will also continue to fully equip our police department to keep Manhattan among the safest villages in Illinois.
7. What are important issues you’d like to address and how will you address them?
Northpoint is a very important issue, and we need to stay involved in the legal process. The Judge’s decisions will be our guide in how we proceed. To secure our borders in the absence of a border agreement with Joliet, I will meet with all adjacent property owners and try to work out annexation agreements with the Village of Manhattan to stop Joliet from expanding into our township. We will continue to use the truck scales, which were ordered five years ago, to enforce weight limits on trucks that travel on our roads.
8. If elected, do you intend to make any changes with village staff, such as the administrator, finance, or police chief?
First, we have already hired a Finance Director, and I will work with him to figure out exactly what is going on with our Finance Department. We need to fix many issues including, but not limited to, putting our funds into the correct accounts and not just into the General Fund. We are legally obligated to separate and account for impact fees on their own. We need to make sure all bills are paid on time once again to avoid unnecessary late fees. Secondly, I will begin the process of hiring an HR firm to handle payroll, so we don’t have any more unapproved timesheets. This will also give the employees a safe place to voice their concerns without repercussions.
Regarding the Administrator and Police Chief, I have worked with them for the past year and feel that they are doing a good job and have no intention of making any changes. It is very important that the staff have stability at the village hall that we can count on and a Mayor who will work with “all” of them. Since the current Mayor took office, we are on our third Village Administrator, third Police Chief and a whole new Finance Department. Ask why this is and why six of the last eight Village Trustees under the current Mayor are supporting me, along with two previous Mayors.
9. Do you have a plan to meaningfully impact property taxes, and if so, what is it?
I will put together a team of commercial property owners and marketing professionals to entice commercial development to Manhattan so we can lower taxes. I plan to freeze and possibly lower the dollar amount of the village’s portion of the tax levy for two years. We can do this by spending conservatively and not spending $500 on an “Elf on a Shelf” Facebook video, to name just one. When Trustees ask the current Mayor for actual costs of projects or events, we don’t get precise dollar amounts. He says, “I don’t think that way”. I feel tax money belongs to the people and it should be spent responsibly while not diminishing village services.
10. Why did you choose or choose not to run in a slate?
This is the first time I chose to run on a slate in the Village of Manhattan because our village needs experienced leadership who truly care about Manhattan as much as I do. I know these individuals well and I know they are not afraid to speak their minds on behalf of the residents. They will not be a rubber stamp vote.