Sugar Grove Village President P. Sean Michels has announced he is running for reelection in the April 6 general election.
Michels has been village president in Sugar Grove since 1999.
Michels, 57, attended Kaneland High School and later Aurora University where he earned a master’s degree in business administration. He has been a resident of Sugar Grove the past 30 years.
He and his wife Valerie of 34 years have four children including twins Abby and Nicholas, 28, Madelyn, 24, and Sophie, 19.
Michels served as a trustee beginning in April 1996 before becoming village president. He worked for 20 years in the banking field before turning to work with a custom home builder the past 22 years.
In a press release announcing his bid for reelection, Michels cited his “commitment to the community, ability to bring in new business and housing and fiscal responsibility” as the key reasons he said he is running for re-election.
“I was happy we were able to get a Jewel store here in town as well as our work with the Rockford Diocese that brought St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church to the village and the interchange that was developed at I-88 and Route 47,” he said.
Goals if elected include focusing on more infrastructure and economic development in the village that has grown from about 3,000 residents when he first became village president to the close to 10,000 it has now, Michels said.
“I’d like to see Route 47 widened between Sugar Grove and Yorkville which is something that is long overdue,” Michels said. “I’d also like to see more commercial development along Route 47 as we have about 30 acres of retail space we are still looking to develop.”
Another project, Michels said, would be to open a data center at the I-88 and Route 47 interchange.
Michels said the biggest issue facing the village will be to continue to develop infrastructure which he said “is always a challenge due to its cost.”
“Our challenge is to expand our infrastructure but there are always the problems with cost, but we need to improve our road network and managing traffic,” he said. “I feel like the rural charm that drew people here years ago is still here and people can go east to get whatever they want and west to get away from it all.”
As of early December, Michels is the only person to announce a run for Sugar Grove village president.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
