A Homer Glen trustee who would like to see the village spend conservatively has announced plans to run against the current mayor in the April election.
“The village is going in the wrong direction,” said Trustee George Yukich, who recently said he plans to run against Mayor Jim Daley.
Homer Glen, “especially with this mayor,” is spending a lot of money, Yukich said. He said that the direction the village seems to be headed with the remodel of the Woodbine banquet hall/clubhouse inspired him to run.
The village purchased the Woodbine property, 14240 W. 151st St., for $3.3 million this past winter. It has budgeted $2.4 million to remodel the banquet hall/clubhouse into a village hall.
“You don’t need to spend $2.4 million dollars (to remodel),” Yukich said. “It’s the village hall. It’s not the Taj Mahal.”
Yukich, 59, who will have served as trustee six years in April, is also current mayor pro-tem, selected by the board to fill in if the mayor is absent from a Village Board meeting.
As a business owner of “a few” businesses, including a body shop, Yukich said he knows that the village should spend within its means.
“I think politics should be run as a business,” Yukich said. “You don’t spend what you don’t have and you’re there for your customers and in this case I’m there for the residents.”
If elected mayor, Yukich said that he plans to help the village spend less, try to bring more businesses to the village to help reduce property taxes for residents and help make ordinances easier to understand for the public. He also wants to bring more transparency, particularly for trustees, so that they know better in advance what they will vote on and can “do right by the residents.””When people don’t know what’s going on, you can pretty much do anything,” Yukich said.
Yukich said he has an edge over the current mayor because he listens to residents, attempts to resolve concerns and plans things in advance.
“(As mayor, I would) find out what the residents of this village are looking for and start doing it as we earn the money,” Yukich said.
In a recent interview, Daley, who is in his second term as mayor, confirmed that he plans to run for re-election.
“I’m very proud of my record,” Daley said.
During his time as mayor there has been no municipal property tax, sales tax revenue has increased and Homer Glen has been recognized as one of the safest communities, he said.
“What I want is to keep creating jobs in Homer Glen and I want to keep creating economic development,” Daley said, pointing out plans for stores such as Big R to locate in the village.
As for Woodbine, the mayor said that the village “absolutely” has the money for the remodel, which will be done right, as well as for turning the surrounding golf course property into a park.
Capital-improvement and bond funds will be used to pay for the park, Daley said.
