The race for Oswego village president in the Feb. 28 Republican primary is between current Village President Troy Parlier and Trustee Brian Thomas.
The winner will face Democratic candidate and former trustee Ryan Kauffman in the April 4 general election for village president.
Parlier, an Oswego junior high school math and technology teacher, defeated incumbent Gail Johnson for village president in a three-way race in 2019.
Parlier has touted the village’s economic expansion and reduction of taxes since he took office. He said the village board has cut water rates by 4% and the village tax rate four consecutive years.
Oswego has added nearly 150 commercial businesses in that time, Parlier said.
Wolf’s Crossing Road improvements in Oswego and connecting to Lake Michigan water are two capital improvement projects he intends to work on if re-elected, he said.
“We will break ground on the first phase of Wolf’s Crossing and we will do it without increasing taxes on residents or bringing in more debt to the community,” Parlier said.
The village board recently approved second phase engineering services for Wolf’s Crossing at Douglas Road.
“These are big things that I want to do right and without raising taxes or increasing debt,” he said.
He said connecting to Lake Michigan water is another priority. Oswego and neighboring Yorkville and Montgomery in 2021 decided to go with Lake Michigan water via the DuPage Water Commission after years of studies and analysis.
“We are running on schedule with a tap-on date of 2027,” Parlier said.
Village trustees put a question for a real estate transfer tax on the ballot in April 2022 to help partially offset future water rate increases in the village due to bringing Lake Michigan water to town. Voters approved the measure.
“Consultants originally estimated our water rates would double. Since then, we passed a real estate transfer tax that is exceeding our estimates,” Parlier said.
Thomas has been critical of the village board’s approval of some residential developments, particularly those with apartments along Wolf’s Crossing.
“I will say this should have been started years ago under the previous administration,” Parlier said.
Some of the residential developments have been on the books for years, Parlier said.
Concept plans for Tuscany Station, planned for 98.3 acres on the west side of Orchard Road north of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway, were originally approved by the village in 2014 and revised in 2020. The plan calls for 13 three-story apartment buildings plus a commercial area on land that may include a future Metra commuter station in the village.
Trustees recently voted 5-1 in favor of revisions to the development agreement and rezoning at the request of the current developer. Thomas was the only board member to vote against the agreement.
“The decisions by the board could cause serious constraints on our infrastructure, namely our water and roads,” Thomas said.
“I don’t have anything against rental properties. I am saying it is happening too fast and too soon,” Thomas said.
“Let’s see a development from creation to completion and if it goes well we move to the next development,” he said. “I love Oswego and growth is inevitable but if it is organically in a responsible way it can be managed.”
Thomas, a co-owner of a family business in the food and beverage industry, acknowledged he did support a concept plan for Tuscany Station in 2020.
“Tuscany Station is not a bad location but I am not going to approve more rental properties until the ones we have are completed and we hear how residents feel about it,” Thomas said.
Thomas is running as part of a slate with Robert Lockwood, Michael Wirtz and Sarah Zamed, who are running for Oswego trustee in the Feb. 28 primary election.
Thomas said he did run as a slate with Parlier and trustees James Marter and Terry Olson in the previous election.
“We did run as a team and worked well in the first two years of our term. It’s the last two years that I have had issues with,” he said in terms of development, rental properties and marijuana dispensaries.
“Not everything is about revenue,” he said of the dispensaries.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
