Election Issues: Downers Grove Council on Village's Biggest Challenge

On March 4, Patch published its 2013 Downers Grove Council Election Hub, a complete guide to the April 9 consolidated election in the village of Downers Grove. There you'll find voter information, recent election news and complete candidate biographies.

Before voters head to the polls, Patch wants to give readers an opportunity to compare where candidates for the village council stand on key issues. 

What is the biggest challenge facing Downers Grove?

Bob Barnett

The biggest challenge facing Downers Grove is rising costs and uncertain resources. While it may come as a surprise to some, the majority of the resources required to provide public services do not come from property taxes.
Thus a continuation of our commitment to Lean principles and an accelerated effort to identify and capitalize on reducing the cost oflocal government – such as our Westmont 911/Dispatch Operations consolidation – are necessary going forward.

Economic development will continue to play a key role in defining the success of our Village. Every sales tax dollar we are able to generate reduces our reliance on property taxes … and on the State. Additionally, opportunities to innovate – such as our electric aggregation agreement with the Village of Westmont – must be sought out and seized upon.

Our commitment to top quality basic services – infrastructure and public safety – must never waiver. We must continue to prioritize the issues of sustainability, predictability and quality of service. The general economy combined with the financial condition of both State and Federal governments pose real threats to our ability to deliver those services but calm, focused diligent leadership can, and will produce positive results.

Marilyn J. Schnell

Maintaining fiscal responsibility, i.e. balancing the budget, while still making progress on the many infrastructure projects that are so important to the quality of life of our residents.

David S. Olsen

Our largest challenge as a Village is balancing effective municipal services with the need to keep our Village budget healthy - without overburdening residents or businesses. As the State of Illinois faces increased financial stress and looks to transfer its own liabilities onto municipalities, the Village needs to be even more aware of the need for fiscal responsibility without eliminating the important services the Village provides. Thus, the Village needs to seek creative ways to deliver services with even more efficiency.

Susan Walaszek

The biggest challenge facing Downers Grove is finding fiscally prudent and meaningful ways to do more with less amidst diverse and sometimes competing needs.

The significant investments needed to repair aging infrastructure, the approaches to attract, expand and retain business, the need to fund rising personnel costs and core services, the support for community events and programs, and the interest in minimizing additional increases in taxes, fees and long-term debt are each legitimate needs.

Deciding how to spend limited funds amidst these growing and diverse needs is not easy especially when the opinions and needs of nearly 50,000 residents can vary by any number of factors including age, familial status, economic status, property ownership,geography, and religion. The Village can only do so much at any one time. It has to prioritize. Just as important is the fact that these are not just financial issues. They are social and emotional issues that directly or indirectly affect all residents.

As a result, the Village must make strategic decisions that are in the best interest of Downers Grove in the short and long-term. The Village must continue to engage in innovative and collaborative partnerships with residents, businesses, community organizations and other units of government to grow the economy, be fiscally prudent and promote the quality of life in Downers Grove.

Don Jankowski

Except on parts of Ogden (at Lee and near I355) and the corridor along Findley Road, we have no large, vacant parcels of land for development. So we need to redevelop areas that are currently underdeveloped. One area for redevelopment that could have a catalytic effect on surrounding property redevelopment is in Ellsworth Industrial Park. This is the Village's largest concentration of industrial land and an economic generator for Downers Grove. Ellsworth Industrial Park has a great location, but its redevelopment has been hampered by the presence of a hazardous pollutant that has affected groundwater—it is a "brownfield" site. There are ways to mitigate the environmental issue that Ellsworth has had for many years, but any mitigation needs to be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That approval would remove uncertainty of current and future businesses located there, and allow for new investment without fear of environmental repercussions. We need to work with our U.S. Representatives and Senators to move EPA forward, which would means Downers Grove can move forward. I consider working with the Federal Government and getting approval from the EPA to be a very big challenge.

Greg Hosé

The biggest challenge that has been facing Downers Grove for years is our inadequate investment in key infrastructure throughout the Village. The Village failed to budget enough for basic maintenance of our roadways long before the recession limited our funding and several streets were left to decay to the point of needing complete replacement. The multiple major construction projects underway around Downers Grove are far more costly than the regular maintenance these roads needed. The Village is still carrying a $1.2 million deficit in infrastructure maintenance today. We must implement cost containment strategies and consolidate redundant services wherever possible to free up funds to eliminate this deficit. My plans for the Council include making the most of our tax dollars, planning for the future, and working cooperatively across units of government to deliver the best and most cost effective benefits to our residents.

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