In New Lenox, the two mayoral candidates seem to agree more than they disagree about how to manage the fast-growing town.
Both want to keep New Lenox’s small-town atmosphere by holding minimum lot sizes to 10,000 square feet. Both are in favor of controlled growth.
The only apparent point of contention seems to center around style, not substance.
Trustee David Smith, who’s running against Mayor John Nowakowski, said he could make village government “more open, more responsive.”
Smith, 32, explained that he would be a more “people-oriented” mayor, someone who would “make people believe and feel they are more a part of government.”
Nowakowski, 47, thinks he does that already. He disagreed with Smith’s perception that he is abrupt with residents at meetings.
“I don’t think I cut people off,” Nowakowski said. “I would open up the mayor’s office two evenings a week for two years-and no one made a complaint.”
The mayor remembered getting lots of feedback by mail in the early days of his administration-up to 30 complaint letters a week. Now those have dropped to “one every week or so,” and Nowakowski said he responds to each one. “I get back to them,”he said. “Maybe not the same exact day, but I do.”
Nowakowski pointed out that he may appear to be abrupt at meetings when he moves through the night’s agenda. But he said he doesn’t see a reason for prolonged meeting discussions, especially if residents are repeating themselves.
Nowakowski, a civil engineer, said he’s proud of what he’s accomplished in his four years as mayor. “I had made a promise that New Lenox should be made ready for the 21st Century and I think we’ve gone a long way toward that,” he said.
Among his personal list of achievements: increasing sewage treatment and water storage capacity, advancing studies to bring Lake Michigan water to New Lenox and maintaining city services while keeping staff costs down.
Smith, who does cement work for a south suburban construction company, doesn’t dispute that the town has been running smoothly. A trustee since 1991, he said his differences with the mayor were more philosophical.
Sometimes he senses “general tension in the air” at board meetings.
He also thinks the mayor looks at issues in “black and white,” and that developments should be evaluated more individually. For example, Smith said he supports the minimum lot size, but “I’m not into minimums or maximums. I’m into what fits” for a particular development.
Nowakowski said he has worked to keep the town’s open atmosphere and would like to see the minimum lot size raised to 12,000 square feet.
Both candidates have roots in the community and have witnessed its explosive growth from a farm town to a village of 11,500 with nationally recognized schools.
Nowakowski has been a resident since 1979.
Smith has lived in New Lenox since he was 2 years old.
Smith said he would try to keep the small-town atmosphere he remembered as a child by “keeping everyone involved in the community and keeping the pride up.”
Nowakowski observed that growth is inevitable because of the coming Interstate Highway 355 extension. Though it can’t be stopped, growth can be planned for, he said.
“You establish standards equal to the community you want to see,” Nowakowski said.
