Election 2025: Manhattan Village Trustee Candidate Michael Naughton

MANHATTAN, IL — The consolidated election is set for April 1, with Manhattan's mayor making a push for a second term and going up against a longtime trustee.

Mayor Mike Adrieansen heads up a slate with current trustee Justin Young and joined by newcomers Jennifer Bahena and Clint Boone for trustee, and Becky Bouck for clerk. Their slate is not named.

On slate "Manhattan First," current trustee Dave Beemsterboer tops the ticket in his bid for mayor, with new face Paula Gibbs, former trustees Mike Naughton and Tom Biscan seeking trustee spots. The slate does not include a clerk candidate.

The board will inevitably be shuffled a bit, with Trustee Ron Adamski not seeking re-election, and Beemsterboer forgoing his seat to for a shot at the mayoral one. Those elected will join trustees Tom Doyle, Lucinda Neighbors and Bob Dilling, whose terms expire in May 2027.

Patch provided candidate questionnaires, with answers now published in candidate profiles.

Early voting begins March 17.

Candidate:

Michael Naughton

Campaign website:

Manhattan First

Office sought:

Village trustee

Town/City of Residence:

Manhattan

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you're running for.

No

Occupation. Please include years of experience.

I have been a self-employed attorney in private practice since 1981.

Previous or current elected or appointed office.

I served the Village of Manhattan as Mayor from 1989 to 1993. I then served as Village Trustee for 28 years, winning my election in 1995 and winning reelection in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.

The most pressing issues facing our (board, district, etc.) are _______, and this is what I intend to do about them.

NorthPoint is a big issue, as it has been for many years. As the boundary line agreement with Joliet is coming to a close, the Board needs to be vigilant and do the best it can to protect our quality of life. I hope the lawsuit is the way. I will do whatever I can to protect our quality of life. I wish I could have spoken against it when I was on the Board but we were advised by the attorney to not comment, now I will have the freedom to speak out against NorthPoint.

I want to improve employee morale of the Village staff. It is a major concern to me as it impacts the efficient running of the Village. We need to treat all employees fairly. The morale of the Village staff is at one of the lowest points I have ever seen it.

I hope to continue to improve the services of our police department as resident safety should be the most important concern to the Board.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Experience and education. My experience on the Manhattan Board is listed in other questions, no need to duplicate. When I was the Mayor or as a Trustee, I attended most of the annual municipal elected official conferences to keep up on the innovations in managing the Village and learn what was new and available to us. Also, as a Village Trustee I participated and graduated from two graduate level courses consisting of Leadership and Development Enhancement and The Leadership Forum. The classes were taken through the Academy for Municipal Excellence. It was a joint program between the University of Illinois and the Illinois Municipal League.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

Failed the community is a harsh term. I chose to run as I feel the incumbents running for reelection have not lived up to their potential. I had high hopes for both of them, but have been disappointed.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

The biggest reason most of us moved to Manhattan was the quality of life we saw here. The Village Board must work hard to maintain that quality of life while growing the rooftops to encourage business and commercial development. When I moved here we had around 1,800 residents, we now have over 10,000 residents. I have been a part of most of that growth. I still enjoy walking through Manhattan and meeting residents as I have for the last 39 years. It has always been my goal to have quality growth and not growth for growth's sake. I hope to continue that goal is elected again.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I hope my experience on the Village Board for 32 years will again be helpful to the Village and residents. As Mayor, I computerized the Village Hall and the water billing savings hundreds of employee hours every year. I had the ordinances codified when I was Mayor as the last effort was in 1928. I was successful in implementing the first recycling effort in Manhattan in 1990 by
obtaining a grant for the bins at no cost to the residents. As Mayor, I worked with our State Representative to force the RTA to give some service to our residents as the residents paid taxes and received no community services. The resulting Dial-a-Ride service is still here in Manhattan today. I pushed METRA to locate a site for the future train station and travelled the Township with them and they agreed that the present location would be optimal and put that site on their long-range plans.

As Trustee I have served as Chairman of the Ordinance Committee, Public Grounds and Property Committee, Police Committee and over 12 years as Chairman of the Economic Development Committee.

I have never been afraid to question alternatives or is there a better way to achieve our goal. I felt the best compliment given to me over my career on the Village Board was, “Mike, you always ask the best questions.”

Why should voters trust you?

I would hope my record speaks for itself. I always supported the right idea no matter who puts it forward. Even when a previous Mayor attempted to get me off the Board as he was running a slate of 3 trustees, I still worked with him after the election to do the best for the Village and residents. One thing I have learned as an attorney is after the arguments are made, we will still have to work with each other and not to hold ill will. I have always tried to work as a team with the other elected officials. I have always tried to test every idea brought to the Board by asking what are the unintended consequences to the Village and residents if we go down a new path.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

Holding the line on taxes and bringing in professional HR services on a contractual basis to insure that employees are treated fairly. The committee structure for the Trustees has not been followed by the current Mayor and that needs to change. Each Trustee needs to have an area to become an expert in as no one Trustee can do the job of the other 5.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

I have always tried not to spend the residents dollars if it can be avoided. As Trustee, I have always kept an open mind as to what was needed and had staff produce the reasons for something needed to be done or bought. I have always taken a conservative view towards raising taxes or expending Village funds. I have never supported the spending of Village funds or raising taxes unless it was a vital necessity.

What are your thoughts on the crime rate in your community, and what more can be done to combat crime — especially violent crime — in town?

Manhattan has been one of the safest areas in the 6 county Chicago area and one of the things that attracted my wife and I to buy a home in Manhattan back in 1985, along with the great schools. Fortunately we do not have any significant amount of violent crime. I am proud to have been part of prior Boards that laid the groundwork to have officers on bikes and community outreach. We budgeted for several years for a new officer and scales so that the schools, homes and businesses on 52 would be safer from overweight trucks, which were able to put into service 4 years ago. We also instituted a truck overlength program for the officers to be better able to monitor the truck traffic through town. When a prior Board I served on saw several officers leaving for larger, and better paying, municipalities, we researched other pay scales and significantly increased the starting pay for our officers so Manhattan could keep officers and not lose them.

What is your view of the city's/village's approach to commercial and residential development?

For the last 36 years the Village has had dialogue with commercial developers to be proactive and learn what we could do to attract business and commercial development. We have had several proactive programs to let them know what opportunities we have and we need to continue. As we have in the past we need to keep up to date on our infrastructure to be ready for development.

When it comes to development, what are some key areas for improvement or additions you feel are most wanted by residents? What will need to be done to make this happen?

Everyone wants more business and commercial development to shoulder the tax burden, but it is a long hard road being 15 minutes from major expressways and other larger municipalities with that distance. I have worked with the prior boards in making sure our infrastructure is up to date and available. When we had excess land at the water tower site on US 52, I was on a previous Board that sold the lot to Dollar General for $1 so we could realize sales tax and real estate tax sooner rather than later. We believed it was better to get a business in sooner than wait for an offer on the ground. Because of that foresight by the previous Board, the water and 52 access was there for McDonald's when they showed an interest. All the previous Board's I have been elected to have always made it a priority to attract business and I will continue with that priority. While I was Chairman of Economic Development, I showed the Dunkin site to 2 other franchise owners, but corporate said it was on the wrong side of the street. The Village kept marketing the site and the 3rd time was the charm for corporate approval.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No reason, I fully intend to serve out my full term.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I did not lose the desire to serve when I did not run in 2023. There were personal family issues taking up my time and I did not feel I could devote the time necessary on behalf of the Village so I chose not to run at that time. Those issues have been addressed and resolved and I am now able to serve again.