I am running for reelection for a Village Trustee position. I have lived in North Riverside for 28 years and love this community. Prior to being elected I was very active on a volunteer basis with Komarek School, North Riverside Little League, local fundraisers and Christmas for a Cause. I have enjoyed serving the residents of North Riverside these past four years as a Village Trustee. I currently am an Accounts Receivable Specialist for Parathon Recovery Services and hold both a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a Master’s in Business Administration. Chairs the Administrative Committee and has used my extensive business experience to guide the operations and finances of the Village. 

One of my goals as a Village Trustee is to implement an effective marketing and advertising plan to attract new businesses into our business district. We have one of the most trafficked areas in the state of Illinois and it is time for North Riverside to attract those commuters to our local businesses. As a trustee, I will ensure we advertise to promote the benefits of doing business in North Riverside.

As a Village Trustee, you have to balance what is best for the village as a whole. We need to keep our business district strong and safe with a variety of businesses while providing high quality services for our residents. We need to listen to suggestions and concerns from all residents and businesses to ensure North Riverside thrives.

As we redevelop and rebuild both from COVID-19 and the retail downturn, it is imperative that we continue to put our village and residents first. All redevelopment options will be discussed; however our priorities will continue to be economic development and community safety as we help rebuild our community stronger than before for both our residents and businesses

I am proud of the improvements we have made to both our social media platforms and our community alert system. On local Facebook pages, I have been able to provide residents with timely and accurate information and updates. In addition, we implemented an auto attendant free caller support system. When someone calls the Village Hall, he or she is greeted by a live person. This ensures our residents get clear, accurate, and timely responses. We know each resident has different means of getting alerts, and we will continue to expand each of our communication systems to reach all residents in a timely manner

The Village has continued to improve ways of keeping our communities safe. The North Riverside Park Mall has an increased police presence and monitors social media for any possible threats to the safety at the mall. The village will continue to work the mall and take additional steps to keep our community safe, both on our residential blocks and in our local businesses

Historically North Riverside has asked homeowners to pay very little in property taxes; approximately 2.5%. Surrounding towns pay significantly more in property taxes to their respective town. We plan to keep property taxes low by focusing our marketing efforts on the economic development of the business district, seek grant opportunities, and to cut costs where feasible while ensuring high quality services to our residents. Since my time in office, the Village has paid 100% of the village’s annual required contributions as determined by an independent actuary and will continue to be as the Board has adopted a pension funding policy.

The main challenges over the next four years include generating revenue to bring prosperity to the Village and residents, funding our pension plans, and to continue to provide residents with great village services while keeping our costs down. We will not cut the budget with meaningless cuts nor cut services for our residents. We will develop and implement effective marketing and advertising plans to maintain and attract new businesses to this Village. Economic development in North Riverside will ensure prosperity for businesses and residents.