Northside Elmhurst Alderman Draws Challenger

ELMHURST, IL – Ward 2 Alderman Jacob Hill, who represents northwest Elmhurst, has opposition in the April 1 election.

On Wednesday, Kevin Kirby, a business executive, announced his candidacy.

In a statement, Kirby said he wanted to focus on increasing two-way communication between residents and officials and supporting Elmhurst through upcoming capital investments in the city.

Kirby said he wanted to bring fresh ideas to the table and avoid the temptation to sell city green space or further tax residents to achieve the city's goals.

Lately, the city has been looking at ways to raise taxes to pay for a new $48 million police station. It also is considering selling a parcel of its land to help pay for the project, despite neighbors' opposition.

In his statement, Kirby did not specify any projects.

"The current proposals on the table to pay for these needed city improvements lack creativity and ultimately are going to lead to the burden being passed on to each homeowner," Kirby said. "I’d love to put (my) experience to work in bringing in new revenue sources to allow Elmhurst to fund itself and ensuring we aren’t always asking for more and more and more money from our residents."

Kirby said he has more than two decades of experience helping businesses grow their income.

"I know everyone is exhausted as we just finished an election cycle that felt like it was constantly pulling us apart from one another," he said. "My commitment to you is that my campaign will always focus on what we can achieve together and how we can make Elmhurst the best city possible."

Kirby was involved in the city's Citizens Police Academy and the downtown plan workshops.

He and his family are parishioners at Immaculate Conception Parish.

Hill, who works at Elmhurst University, was appointed to the council in 2020 and elected the next year.

The mayor's race is also seeing competition: Incumbent Scott Levin faces former Alderman Mark Mulliner.