The Niles Forward Party slate of Village Board candidates unveiled their official platform earlier this month.
The platform offers a number of proposals to address business development, job growth, public safety, flood control and fiscal accountability. Among other things, the candidates propose creating an apprenticeship program to train employees, coordinating with nearby municipalities on public safety improvements, expanding police department’s outreach to the community, creating a TIF district to fund Touhy Corridor improvements, and changing the way industrial properties get approved for tax incentives, according to a document provided by the party.
The Niles Forward Party (NFP) slate is made up of Niles Trustee and Niles Park District Executive Director Joe LoVerde, recently retired Niles Police Department Chief Dean Strzelecki and Niles Ethics Board member Denise McCreery. They are running for seats currently held by LoVerde and trustees Chris Hanusiak and Rosemary Palicki. Hanusiak and Palicki are running to keep their seats, while Newcomer David Carrabotta is also running as an independent.
Mike Yesner, a member of the party’s campaign committee who currently functions as its de facto spokesman, clarified some of the platform points.
For the business development and job growth, NFP wants to continue working with the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote and strengthen local business. It suggests several steps to help village businesses succeed.
“[NFP supports] business/public partnerships to make local business stronger;” said Yesner. “The Niles facade program could be expanded toward beautification and expanded sales, Niles Economic Development Department could work with vacant store owners to better fill properties with on-site marketing, website marketing, and a telephone hot line to better answer questions of potential renters.”
NFD also wants the village to work with local and county agencies to provide economic development, job training and to help strengthen the village’s consumer fraud protection ordinance. The candidates support creating a Tax Increment Financing District in and around the Touhy Avenue corridor to facilitate its redevelopment. The candidates also want to create an apprenticeship program for Niles residents.
According to Yesner, the apprenticeship program would involve several area organizations.
“The apprentice program would be a coordinated effort by Oakton Community College, the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Niles Department of Economic Development and the Department of Family Services,” he said.
NFP offered several proposals to improve public safety throughout the village. The candidates want the village to work with other municipalities to improve public safety, using Mayor Andrew Przybylo’s proposal to work together with Morton Grove to create a joint fire station as an example. The candidates want the police and fire departments to have the latest technology, and they support increasing the departments’ outreach to the public, especially toward “young people” and businesses. Noting that the City of Chicago plans to experiment with giving body cameras to its police offers, the platform states that, depending on how the city’s experiment may pan out, the candidates may favor something similar for Niles.
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“Forward Party embraces new technology that allows better and more efficient service to our citizens,” said Yesner.” To the extent that body cameras promote public safety goals, the Forward Party favors their usage.”
The Niles Forward Party dedicates an entire section of its platform to flood control, expressing support for funding Tier II flood mitigation projects and the village’s cost-sharing program, which helps homeowners fund upgrades to their flood control systems. The candidates also advocate adopting an ordinance that would require the village and private entities to incorporate “Green Infrastructure” procedures into any projects that involve sewers and flood mitigation.
Finally, the platform offers several proposals geared toward improving “fiscal accountability.” The candidates argue that replacing the sewer system was a major priority because it continues to leak, losing millions of gallons and increasing residents’ bills in the process. They call for expanding the village’s programs to collect unpaid taxes and fees. The candidates support changing water suppliers, arguing that the village is currently “held hostage” to Chicago’s water rate increases. They also call for changing the way the village authorizes Cook County Class 6B tax incentives.
Class 6B incentives are granted to industrial businesses to help cover the costs of building new industrial structures, or repairing the existing ones. The county can’t grant the Class 6B status to Niles properties without the Village Board approval.
Under the current procedures, the Niles Finance Committee makes the recommendation on whether to approve the classification, and the Village Board makes the final decision on whether to approve it. The Niles Forward Party platform said that the candidates want to revise the process and incorporate public input.
When asked to elaborate, Yesner offered the following response.
“The 6B process for promoting business opportunities should be thoroughly vetted by the Finance Committee and the Economic Development Committee and should only be considered by the Village Board upon the dual recommendation of both committees,” he said.
In a statement to the press, LoVerde touted the release of the platform as the reflection of Niles Forward Party’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
“Throughout my time in public life, I’ve viewed total transparency and accountability as critical to good government,” he stated. “With the release of our platform, we’re not only showing our support for transparency and accountability, we’re demonstrating that we practice them.”
Igor Studenkov is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.