Editor’s note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the Aurora area in the April 4 general election.
The race for the seat from the 5th Ward on the Aurora City Council in the April 4 election is between incumbent Carl Franco and challenger David Cannon.
Franco, 63, is running for his third term on the City Council, and points to his experience on the council and knowledge of the area having lived in the 5th Ward for 34 years.
Franco is a retired air traffic controller and previously served as a Fox Valley Park District trustee, president of the West Aurora Blackhawks sports boosters and president and commissioner of the North Aurora Baseball League.
Cannon, 34, has lived in Aurora since 2020 and works as an accountant. He has been politically engaged since 2016 and ran a few caucus sites in Nebraska for Bernie Sanders’ campaign, he said.
He got involved in Aurora’s politics because of the plan to move Hollywood Casino from Aurora’s downtown to a site near Interstate 88. He disagrees with the funding mechanism in place for the project, he said.
“It put off alarm bells in my head,” Cannon said. “In college, I took a sports economics class and learned about how teams will threaten to leave to get sweetheart deals and thought this was similar. We can still have a casino and we don’t need to hand them money. We are an important city and we don’t need to pay them for it.”
Despite creating a petition against the casino’s move which garnered 600 signatures, Cannon said he felt completely ignored by the City Council, although he said he spoke numerous times to the group at meetings.
Franco says he has promoted better communication in his ward and its neighborhoods as a way to increase public safety. He said that he has re-energized neighborhood groups, developed communication through social media and held ward meetings.
In his last term, Franco said he is proud of the city establishing a sound barrier on Orchard Road, a project he said he had been working on since he was first elected to the City Council in 2015. He said the project is coming to fruition this year.
“Residents who live nearby can’t sit in their back yard during the summer and have a conversation,” Franco said. “It’s an important quality of life issue we had to tackle.”
Franco’s top three priorities if elected are to keep the streets safe; for economic development to bring in new property tax and sales tax money to relieve the burden on current taxpayers; and to work with a new department assigned to address seniors and those with disabilities.
“This is where I raised my family and I want to leave a legacy for my children that their dad looked out for the community and always did what’s best for us,” Franco said.
Cannon’s top three priorities if elected are to get input from citizens on big decisions with town hall meetings and surveys; to build more of a community on the West Side with public events; and to seek public input on what to do with the empty buildings on the West Side, such as the vacant Walmart and Aldi spaces.
He said promoting events to help people in the ward is important. For example, Cannon said the Working Families of Aurora group held an event recently called Tail Lights & Tamales, where members replaced light bulbs in cars and gave food to residents.
“We want to host more of these multi-faceted events to make your life better and give you a chance to meet and communicate with your neighbors,” Cannon said.
