Delay Action On Elmhurst Police Station: Mayor Hopeful

ELMHURST, IL – Mark Mulliner, a former longtime Elmhurst alderman who is running for mayor, is urging officials to delay a decision on a new police station until after the April 1 election.

Mayor Scott Levin, who is seeking re-election, and a key alderman flatly rejected the idea.

Earlier this week, Mulliner, who served on the City Council for 24 years until 2023, submitted a written comment to the council's public safety committee.

Mulliner, who opposes tax hikes for a new station, said the election would gauge public opinion on the issue.

He said it was best for the city to hold off on a decision until after the election is certified.

During Monday's public safety meeting, the committee's chairman, Ward 7 Alderman Mike Brennan, referred to Mulliner's comment and said he was strongly opposed to a delay.

"We have been talking about this for a long time," said Brennan, who served in the same ward as Mulliner and endorsed Mulliner's 2021 mayoral bid. "We finally have some momentum with the work (the city) has done."

Brennan said it was "abundantly clear" to him that the cost of the new station would go up as the project is delayed. It is now estimated to cost $48 million, about double the cost from before the pandemic.

City officials are proposing to tear down the current 35-year-old station and replace it with a new one.

At the public safety meeting, Levin said Mulliner hadn't come forward to say what was wrong with the plan.

Mulliner has objected to the property tax increase that is proposed to help pay for the station. It is expected to cost the owner of a $500,000 house – which is slightly less than the median local price – $53 a year for two decades.

In a later statement to Patch, Levin said Mulliner's call for a delay until after the election "politicizes an important city issue."

The mayor disagreed that the election was a referendum on the police station. Rather, he said, it was a chance for voters to decide who is best to lead the city.

He said the city has been looking at a new police station for seven years, noting that Mulliner served until 2023.

"He expressed support for the project," Levin said. "Now, he has called for a pause without ever stating any specific reason or identifying any particular problem with the project."

The mayor continued, "Mulliner has not identified any additional aspect that needs to be investigated or evaluated. He has never come to any Council committee meetings to ask questions or to express any concerns."

Levin said that if Mulliner had attended this week's public safety meeting, he would have seen a complete overview of why the new building is needed.

"He would have also been reminded that the City’s tax rate is the same as it was in 2009 and that the project will cost the average taxpayer $53 per year," Levin said. "You cannot say you support the police department, but not support the new police station."

Asked for his reply, Mulliner said in an email that before the current station, the police building on Schiller Drive was unsafe.

"There was an entrance off the sidewalk in the front of the building that the officers would have to bring an offender into across the sidewalk and up the stairs," Mulliner said. "There was not a 'sally port' or garage to protect the officer and the offender. There was a need for a new police station."

At the time, the city selected a highly rated Chicago architectural firm, he said. During the design stage, the firm consulted the council, city staff and Elmhurst officers on the police department's needs, he said.

This time, Mulliner said the city has been talking for a decade about options for the police station, including repairs, an addition and a replacement. He said he recognized that the design team recommended building anew.

"Times change, and sometimes we need to look at things differently," Mulliner said. "The city can take out bonds to pay for the station, but this is not the time. We need to pay down the bonds we have and rethink what is the best way to fix the police station and make it meet our needs.

"It has been said it’s only $53 on a $500,000 house, but that is $106 on a lot of homes in Elmhurst," he said. "A hundred here, a hundred there, that starts to add up and it’s real money. Taxes are too high for everyone."

All the candidates for City Council favor a new station.