The mayor is the chief executive officer of the city. The mayor or the president performs all of the duties prescribed by law or municipal ordinance and is required to see that the laws and ordinances are faithfully executed. The mayor or president is required to annually give the council information concerning the affairs of the city. The mayor or president casts a vote in the event of a tie or if a measure has received a favorable vote of one-half of the council, and there is no tie. As chief executive officer of the municipality responsible for seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced, the mayor is, in effect, the administrative superior of all officers and employees, other than the alderpersons and trustees, subject to the provisions for commission and managerial forms of government. Salary: $12,000 per yearIllinois Municipal League WebpageCity of Bloomington, IL Departments, Boards, Commissions, Etc.Alcalde de la Ciudad de Bloomington:El alcalde es el director ejecutivo principal de la ciudad. El alcalde o el presidente desempeña todas las funciones prescritas por la ley u ordenanza municipal y tiene la obligación de asegurarse que las leyes y ordenanzas sean fielmente ejecutadas.El alcalde o presidente debe proporcionar anualmente al concejo información sobre los asuntos de la ciudad. El alcalde o presidente emite un voto en caso de empate o si una medida ha recibido un voto favorable de la mitad del concejo, y no hay empate. Como director ejecutivo del municipio responsable de velar que todas las leyes y ordenanzas sean aplicadas, el alcalde es, en efecto, el superior administrativo de todos los funcionarios y empleados, aparte de los concejales y fideicomisarios, sujeto a las disposiciones para las formas de gobierno de comisión y gerencia.Salario: $12,000 al año Página web de la Liga Municipal de Illinois Illinois Municipal League Webpage Departamentos, Juntas, Comisiones, Etc. de la Ciudad de Bloomington, ILCity of Bloomington, IL Departments, Boards, Commissions, Etc.
Campaign Phone
309-706-5061
I’ve heard from countless Bloomington residents who are struggling with the rising cost of living, concerns about public safety, and a city government that needs to do more to support our local businesses. I love Bloomington – I was born and raised here, built my business and raised my family here, and have worked on behalf of Bloomington for two decades in the General Assembly. Our city deserves a mayor with the experience and leadership to act decisively to improve life for local families. That’s why I’m running.
My deep roots in Bloomington, combined with my business background and public service, makes me uniquely positioned to lead the city. I am dedicated to revitalizing Bloomington, making it a safe, healthy, and prosperous community for local families and making it the economic engine of the Midwest.
I am a proven leader with extensive government experience. My experience and relationships developed at the state level provide an unequaled opportunity to find pathways to benefit Bloomington without the need to hire lobbyists. I will provide strong leadership through proactive collaboration with the City Manager and Council, along with timely and decisive action.
The most urgent needs are economic development, infrastructure, affordable housing, and public safety.
A more business-friendly Bloomington will bring investments that are needed to spur our economy which, in turn, helps address our housing shortage, brings in more jobs to alleviate homelessness, and generates more income to provide additional funding towards public safety and infrastructure. Streamlining processes, restructuring boards and commissions, examining zoning, considering reducing or cutting fees, and reviewing potential expansion of TIF districts are ways I support to expand our economy.
In five years, I envision a stronger and more vibrant Bloomington. I see a significant increase in employment opportunities, small businesses, and affordable housing. I see vital, tangible progress made towards improving our infrastructure. I also see a bustling downtown as a result of revitalization, and headway made towards the Streetscape.
Through their endorsements, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Responsible Cities, Bloomington Police Union, and Mid-Illinois Realtors Association share my vision for Bloomington.
With the McLean County Regional Planning Commission being in the early stages of implementing its Regional Housing Recovery Plan, there is still a lot of research and collaboration with the City Council needed to determine how Bloomington can best approach our affordable housing needs. I have researched what other communities have done, and some have made great progress with developers who have extensive experience in working within villages and cities. The keyword is affordable, and Bloomington will continue to partner with the many stakeholders to address the issue.
I feel strongly that when asked to step up and serve your community, you respond to that call. I want to give back to this community that I love and chose to be a part of. I want to bring fresh and engaged leadership to Bloomington. I am running for Mayor because Bloomington deserves a Mayor who is active, innovative, and engaged. I want to prioritize finding solutions to housing affordability, encourage economic development, and make smart investments in much-needed infrastructure. Bloomington deserves a Mayor who will be present and transparent, and I want to be that Mayor.
I have six years of experience serving in a municipal government role. I served on the Pekin City Council from 2011 to 2015. Currently, I represent Ward 6 on the Bloomington City Council, which includes parts of the west side and downtown. As a councilman, I always come prepared. It is important to me that I communicate often with my colleagues to make sure I have a good understanding of how council decisions will affect Bloomington residents. I have also previously served on city committees such as the Japanese Sister City Committee. I volunteer with community organizations such as the West Bloomington Revitalization Project and neighborhood associations. Additionally, I am a government, civics, and economics high school teacher.
The most urgent need is to address the housing affordability crisis. We need to follow through on the Regional Planning Commission recommendation and work to organize a joint committee between the town, city, and county. I will work with stakeholders to fill the gap of missing middle housing, encourage infill development, and reduce red tape for municipal developers. Additionally, we should always prioritize investing in infrastructure like roads, water lines, and sewers through city budget approval. Another goal is finding innovative ways that encourage businesses to develop and thrive. I would work with council and city staff to understand roadblocks to economic development and evaluate ways the city can respond and provide incentives.
My vision for Bloomington is that it be a thriving, inclusive, and welcoming community. This should be a place where people want to visit and live, and people want to remain after a college education. I see a Bloomington that works closely with state and federal partners, passionately pursuing support for projects that benefit the city. My vision is that we invest in our economy and infrastructure in such a way that Bloomington is a city that people point to as a model community. I also envision that we are a community that has a reasonable cost of living and enough housing for all.
I would support efforts to reduce red tape for developers at the municipal level. I would support repurposing or rezoning existing spaces and using them to develop housing in an economical way. I wholeheartedly support the streamlining of government policies that affect new home construction. Importantly, the city needs to increase missing middle properties by allowing additional units, reducing or eliminating setback requirements, eliminating government-mandated parking minimums, and by reducing minimum lot sizes. We need to have stakeholders and developers walk through the process more directly with city staff to ensure that future projects can be successful by removing or altering aspects that tend to be restrictive or overbearing.
Campaign Phone
309-530-7664
I am running for reelection because I believe Bloomington has the potential to be even greater than it is. We have been on an upward trajectory over the past few years and have become an even more attractive community thanks to continued investments in our public safety, infrastructure and quality of life. However, we can do more; our Downtown Streetscape project can help cement our position as a regional destination. Possible budgetary headwinds will require someone with significant experience working with the Council and staff to ensure we continue our upward trajectory. Infrastructure, public safety, quality of life, economic growth, securing outside funding, housing will be key focus areas for my next term.
I currently serve as the Mayor of Bloomington. Prior to that, I was a Council Member for Ward 3 for 10 years. I also believe that my approach to leading has fostered an atmosphere of civility both with the Council but also residents. I believe it is important to listen to divergent points of view in order to make the best decisions possible. This approach has been informed by my work at Illinois State University where a great deal of my career has been spend investigating concerns and listening to all sides of an issue before making a decision.
I believe the City’s most urgent need is housing. The way to address housing is through a multipronged approach: developing a standardized incentive program to reduce uncertainty for developers with regard to the costs of projects; revising our zoning code to eliminate barriers to development and help us make more efficient use of land; developing a rehabilitation program that would allow us to bring back housing units online infill opportunities; foster intergovernmental cooperation in order to monitor the health of the housing market and ensure there is always an adequate supply of housing. This will ensure more people live within the city limits, expand our tax base and give us more dollars to provide services for Bloomington residents.
My vision for Bloomington over the next 5 years and beyond is to help cement its position as a regional destination for business, entertainment and services, with air access to larger cities. With companies like Rivian and Ferrero powering our local economy, we have an opportunity to recruit more businesses and make our economy even more resilient. By providing more housing, we can grow our tax base as more people would live within the City, which can provide additional revenues we can use for other endeavors such our infrastructure and the Downtown Streetscape.
Address affordable housing is going to an all encompassing effort. Additional efforts I would support:
- Work with the Bloomington Township to continue to provide emergency relief programs to keep people from being evicted.
- Work with local non-profits to support their efforts to expand shelter space.
- Negotiate with developers who seek incentives from the City so that they can provide a number of affordable units in their development.
- Finally, support the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act until passage or any other legislation at the state and federal level intended to increase affordable housing. If passed, this legislation will ultimately increase housing tax credit by 50%.
