Election 2013: Steven Mokry for First Ward Alderman of Des Plaines

The following information was provided by Steven Mokry. Patch provides a platform for candidates to share their messages, and does not give endorsements. To share your message with readers for free, add it to the Local Voices section on Des Plaines Patch. 

Name: Steven Mokry

Position sought: First Ward Alderman

Campaign contact information. Please include any or all of the following: website, email address, phone number, Facebook page, Twitter account, mailing address, etc.

On file with the city clerk’s office.

Age: 53

Family Include as much info as you like (names, ages, number of children, etc.):

Wife, Donna

 Education Include degree(s) and school(s):

1977 Forest View High School, Arlington Heights

Oakton Community College, 3-4 years part-time

Occupation: Union construction laborer, Laborers Local 118

Political Party: None

Official name of your campaign committee (if you have one): None

Previous Elected or Appointed Offices:

Current Trustee, Board Member Des Plaines Public Library.

Is there any additional experience you believe qualifies you for the position?

Have been actively involved in many city events, have helped with all floods, storm damage cleanup.

What would your priorities be if elected to this office?

To listen and represent all of the residents of the First Ward.

What are the most important issues facing Des Plaines and what would you do as alderman to address them?

 The downtown area is not collecting enough sales tax, due to the empty storefronts, mostly due to Metropolitian Square. We need a traffic flow study to improve and ease car traffic, Left and Right into the shopping center, and better signage.

What is one of the most important issues facing residents in your ward, and what would you do, if elected, to address it?

Flood insurance and the high cost of premiums. We need to continue with the Army Corp. of Engineers, FEMA, and other agencies to construct and control the waterway.

How do you believe gaming tax revenue collected by Des Plaines should be spent? What should it be spent on?

Pay down debt, and major infrastructure that helps keep residents from flooding.

There have been a number of proposals to expand gaming in Illinois. If elected, what would you do to protect Des Plaines’ interests with respect to gaming?

I would be in favor of allowing video gaming if legal and allowed to offset other cities and casinos.

The city has $58.3 million in debt in the capital improvements fund, the tax increment financing funds and the water and sewer fund. Approximately $4.4 million in the capital improvements fund will become callable in 2013. If elected, would you support refinancing this debt or paying it off immediately, and why?

If it is callable, then it needs to paid off, otherwise you are kicking the can down the road.

Downtown Des Plaines has a low occupancy rate in the retail spaces in the Metropolitan Square development. If you are elected Alderman, what would you do to address this?

I answered some of this earlier, but I live at Metropolitan Square, and see things others don’t. The current footprint will not be successful in the future, traffic and visibility are so bad, that if it should become filled, it will fail, because traffic is a nightmare, too congested, traffic needs to move more freely into and out of the shopping area.

The Des Plaines Police Department is involved with a number of lawsuits, including, most recently, accusations that a former commander falsified records. If elected mayor, what would you do to address the litigation? What would you do to gain the public’s trust in the Des Plaines Police Department?

I know many of the officers on the force, and it is a good police department. However, officers are not above the law, and some of them may end up in jail, suspended or terminated, including loss of pension. Those officers made their own bed, now they can sleep in it.

Why would you do a better job representing Des Plaines than your opponent?

I am really connected with the residents and voters, they know me, see me, and talk with me, and equally important have asked me to represent them, something I wanted to do anyways, but it is nice to be recognized by the voters.

For more stories, pictures, information and conversation, like Des Plaines Patch on Facebook.

Sign up for Des Plaines Patch’s free daily newsletter.