Joliet Mayor's Race: 'I Feel I Have A Strong Chance To Win'

JOLIET, IL — When Joliet residents vote in the April 4 mayor's race, they don't have to choose between Terry D'Arcy, president of D'Arcy Motors, and two-term incumbent Bob O'Dekirk. Tycee Bell is on the ballot, and she insists she's in it to win it.

"I want people to know that I definitely will lead with my heart," Bell told Joliet Patch's editor. "My core values all centered around my service for others."

Last Wednesday night, at MyGrain Brewing Co., Bell attended a political candidate forum organized by District 5 candidate Jim Lanham, who is trying to beat three-term incumbent Terry Morris. Bell's campaign for Joliet mayor is focused on health care, safety, work force development and neighborhood improvements.

"Politics are not the old, pale and stale politicians that lie to us. Politics are you, me and the issues our community shares," states Bell's campaign literature titled, "Reset Joliet."

"Our issues will never get solved unless we come together to build our power and demand change, starting with the structures that impact our everyday lives."

On the topic of safety, Bell wants to focus on healing families and the survivors of violent crimes. She advocates for "life-saving gun safety reforms — local, state and federal legislation."

Bell said one of her strengths that prepares her to become Joliet's next mayor "is the relationships I've built over the years have kept me very grounded and confident that I can assess peoples' needs and also empower them to speak up."

In 2021, Jeremy Brzycki was one of 12 candidates running for three open at large positions on the Joliet City Council. Although Brzycki is not running for elected office in April, Brzycki told Patch he is supporting Bell's candidacy for mayor — not O'Dekirk or D'Arcy.

"Tycee is a great friend of mine," Brzycki said. "She's intelligent. She's got the right ideas. She's been serving the community for a long time."

In March, Bell said she will be stepping up her grassroots campaign to make sure that thousands of Joliet voters know they should vote for her.

In 2019, the last mayoral election, O'Dekirk ran unopposed, and he garnered 7,604 votes in the third-largest city of Illinois, a community with a population topping 150,000.

This time, "you have three choices, and this is a once in a lifetime option for them to see three people for mayor," Bell explained.

Bell said she is 45 years old, and graduated from Joliet West High School in 1994.

"I'm a woman, and I'm a strong, very influential woman," Bell told Joliet Patch. "For me, the key thing is the relationship building and collaborative efforts with business groups, neighborhood associations, Will County, Joliet Township.

"My parents raised me here, and I'm from Joliet. I've been an active community member as a worker."

Joliet Patch asked Bell what it will take to defeat both O'Dekirk and D'Arcy.

"A strong voter turnout and finding those people who feel ... they want something concrete for the next 10 to 20 years, and they want to be included."

Bell said she started thinking about running for Joliet mayor around 2018. As the 2023 election got closer, she had no idea D'Arcy would enter the race. She said D'Arcy's entry into the campaign last June had nothing to do with her decision to run for mayor.

"I definitely believe this race is about me and the incumbent," Bell remarked. "D'Arcy has never run."

Well-known Joliet entrepreneur, Hudson Hollister, who ran for Joliet City Council in 2021 and is now trying to save the 1969 courthouse from demotion, said he is supporting Bell over O'Dekirk and D'Aacy in the April mayor's race.

Hollister said he hosted a political fund-raiser for Bell at his house on Buell Avenue.

"She's got executive experience in a number of non-profits, and she's at the center of so many community and volunteerism efforts here in Joliet," Hollister explained. "If there is a cause in Joliet worth fighting for, Tycee is probably fighting for it. I think she's got a lot of contacts and relationships across the entire community. She knows the arts movement, she knows the business sector and she knows the non-profit. Tycee has the biggest of big tents."

According to her campaign website, "Tycee Bell is a dedicated and efficient community strategist with over 20 years of nonprofit experience advocating for the growth and development of communities and families. As Will County’s premiere Community Affairs Professional and Joliet native, Tycee is leading coalitions and developing frameworks that result in collective impact."

Bell's campaign website lists her involvement with:

• Seven Mountains, LLC
• Community Cultivation Project, NFP
• Redevelopment of the Will County Courthouse
• Will County Black History Organization, Casseday House
• IDHS- Office of Firearm Prevention, Reimagine Public Safety Act, Local Advisory Council
• National Hook-Up of Black Women, Joliet Chapter