Politics & Government

Village Council Forum: Opening Comments

Presented March 23 by the League of Women Voters

Craig Skala, Jr.
Good evening, my name is Craig Skala, Junior, and thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight. I've been a resident of Downers Grove since 2003, residing both on the north and south sides of the village. I moved to Downers Grove because of all it has to offer: the downtown, the established tax base, the quality service, and knowing that this would be a great place to raise a family. I've been married to Katie since 2005 and last year we had our first child.

I've been a firefighter paramedic for 14 years and I currently serve the village of Northbrook. I'm a parishioner of St. Mary's, a member of the Moose and a member of the International Association of Firefighters. I hold a degree in management from Benedictine University, I have studied public administration at both University of Illinois-Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Having dedicated my entire adult life to public service, I am very knowledgeable in how local governments work in the many challenges facing. I have found public service to be very noble and rewarding. Therefore I want to expand my service to our community representing you as a commissioner.

Geoff Neustadt
Thank you all for coming tonight. My name is Geoff Neustadt and I am the candidate for reelection to the Downers Grove Village Council. First, I’d like to thank the League for having us here and the invitation and happy birthday to the league this year.  I'm a 35-year lifelong resident of the Village of Downers Grove. I live on the north side of town with my wife Leslie and my two-year-old son, David.

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Currently, I am serving my first term as your village commissioner and it has been a pleasurable and enjoyable experience and I look forward to another term as your commissioner. Before I was elected commissioner in 2007, I served on the Transportation Advisory Committee and Human Services Commission, to village boards and commissions. I work for Downers Grove School District 58 as a maintenance mechanic and I’m in Downers Grove all day servicing 14 buildings that our students attend every day. As a lifelong resident of our village, I know where we have been, where we are now as a village and the challenges facing us in the future. It is this knowledge that allows me to have a well-rounded view on policies and issues before the village council.

When making decisions on the important items that come before this council, I always take into consideration what's best for the entire village. Recently I have been fortunate enough to get the endorsement of the Downers Grove Community Advocates and the International Association of Firefighters Local 3234, and the Downers Grove Professional Firefighters Association. For more information about me and my accomplishments, as well as my issues, you can visit my website at www.GeoffNeustadt.com. Thank you.

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Sean Durkin

Good Evening. My name is Sean Patrick Durkin. I was appointed to the Village Council in 2006. I ran for election in 2007 and now I am running for re-election. Before moving to the Village of Downers Grove in September 2002, I was an elected alderman for the 3rd Ward in the City of Darien. I understand the time commitment it takes to be effective on the council, having done it for five years with the City of Darien and now for five years with the Village of Downers Grove.

I am currently employed with a major Chicago bank as vice president of the Government Banking Division. I have been working in the municipal government sector for the last 10 years. I know with my elected experience along with my knowledge of municipal government finances, I will continue to be a strong fiscal advocate on the Village Council. My career does not pose any conflict of interest regarding my service to the village as commissioner. However, it does provide me an advantage over some of my fellow candidates in that I am exposed to municipal financing on a daily basis.

I know through my work experience how to structure a financial package to benefit the village when large capital projects present themselves. What my professional position also offers to me is the opportunity to network with other communities on issues that is similar to those in Downers Grove and to learn what has worked in other communities and more importantly what has not worked? I have been able to make the hard choices when it came to our budget and finances. The Council has looked to me and my experience for guidance during these critical budget issues. I look forward to your questions.

John Page
Thank you. Good evening. My name is John Page, and I am here to earn your vote for Village Council. This is a crucial election for our village for many reasons, including the precarious financial position of our state and our village. In my professional career I led the turnaround of several financially troubled organizations. This required the ability to bring together teams of people who shared a vision. It took a willingness to partner, and an ability to find innovative ways to achieve our goals. In short, it took leadership.

I entered this race because I believe that I have the skills that can help our village overcome the challenges ahead.  I seek your support in sharing my vision to maintain the quality of life we have in this village, and to make it a stronger and more desirable place to live and work. In 1997, my family and I chose to move to Downers Grove. We chose this community from among every community in Chicago because it offered us the lifestyle and amenities we sought in raising our daughter. On a very personal note, Patty and I waited many years for Amy. We wanted her to grow up in the very best place possible. And that is Downers Grove. If we are to grow and prosper we must plan well for the future, while honoring our past. I am in this race precisely to do that.

To strengthen our village, to make it an even better place to live and work, to give your families a sense of pride in our village that I have felt since choosing Downers Grove. I have served the needs of our village for more than a decade. I have had the opportunity to work side-by-side with lots of great people from this community, as a seven-year member of the Human Services Commission, almost 10 years as a volunteer for the Downers Grove Historical Museum, as an active member in of the Downers Grove Chamber of Commerce, as a volunteer for Heritage Fest and Grove Fest and Oktoberfest, and as a member of numerous charitable organizations and not-for profit boards. I seek your vote so that I may have the privilege of continuing to work for the good of our community as your commissioner.  I'd like to think the League of Women Voters and the Village of Downers Grove for this opportunity to be here with you tonight. Thank you.

Gregory Hosé
Thank you, and thank you to the League of Women Voters for putting on this forum. Like so many others, we chose to raise our family in Downers Grove because of the unique neighborhoods, the great schools, the fantastic downtown area. But most of all, because of the great community here in Downers Grove. As I became more involved in Downers Grove government through the Environmental Concerns Commission and attending countless Village Council meetings, I became concerned that that community was under threat. I want to ensure that our village remains the special place that attracted my family and has kept so many others here for most of their lives or for all of their lives.

This last few years have brought tougher economic challenges than most of us have ever seen. Unfortunately, in the face of those challenges, the village has had to reduce certain services in some important areas, such as senior services. Eliminating these services or reducing these services has really cut to the heart of that sense of community here in Downers Grove. We must be fiscally responsible, but we must never forget that we are responsible to everyone in the community, especially those who worked their entire lives to build the Downers Grove that we now call home, who put together the village that we love today.

Whether our council is crafting the budget, or making any other decision, its principal concern must be that unique sense of community that sets Downers Grove apart from other communities in DuPage County. That community focus has been the driving force behind my campaign and if you elect me to your Village Council, it will be the guiding principle as long as I am privileged to serve you. Thank you. 

Becky Rheintgen
Hi, my name is Becky Rheintgen.  My husband and I have lived in Downers Grove for over 13 years. We have two small children. Together we have raised our children and run our family electrical contracting business. I serve on two local volunteer groups. In this economy we've had to fight for every dollar in our small business. Like many of us in the community, we've experienced declining revenues and increasing costs. I will use this experience to encourage the village to find ways to do more with less.

For many years I worked in a government organization as a public servant, who was accountable to the taxpayers. One of my strengths was being a thoughtful and careful decision-maker. I understand how a board operates, and how they need to work together to come to a consensus. A big part of my job is looking for unmet needs in the community, working with the team to find solutions to those needs, and seeing the real benefit of the solutions we've put into place. It was good work that I want to continue. Since 2004, I’ve been a volunteer on the Grove Foundation and am currently the secretary of that nonprofit group in town, and for six years I've serve the Village of Downers Grove on the Community Events Commission.

I believe the Village Council should be a cross-section of the community. It should include the voice of small business owners, community organizations and young families. It should represent the very demographics of our town. Men and women, young and old, mothers and fathers. I believe I can fill that role. Downers Grove is a great place to live and raise your family and I will do all that I can to preserve that. Thank you.  

Dominic Scalzetti
Thank you. I'm Dominic Scalzetti and I would also like to thank the League of Women Voters for presenting this tonight, and I would like to thank the Village of Downers Grove for allowing us to use the facility and for taping it, and I'd like to thank everybody for coming out tonight to listen to us.

I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a resident of Downers Grove for over 35 years. My parents built a house in 1975 at the corner of Dunham and Norfolk, right kitty-corner from Downers Grove South high school. And I attended the College of DuPage, and I started working for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, where I worked for four years until January of 1979 when I was hired by the Downers Grove Police Department. I served for 31 years and eight months. I retired as a sergeant in September of 2010.

I'm currently divorced. My wife–my ex-wife–Mary and I have raised four children in Downers Grove. Our four children attended St. Mary's school and our oldest daughter then defected a little bit and went to Montini High School in Lombard. Our next two went to Downers Grove South High School and I currently have a son that is attending Downers Grove South right now and is in his junior year.  Our two daughters —I have a daughter that's a senior at ISU. She’s currently doing her student teaching at Kingsley School here in Downers Grove, and my other daughter is a sophomore at Western Illinois University. My mother who is 88, and going to be 89 years old is still living on her own, lives here in Downers Grove, as well as my two sisters, and our oldest daughter with our granddaughter and another one on the way.

As you can see, I have a vested interest in Downers Grove and the future of Downers Grove. I believe that I have a unique situation, in that I have been an insider looking out, where most people are attempting to come on and they have been on the outside looking in. I think I know where to streamline village services and where the streets are in need of repair and I know where the problem areas of the village are. I would like to earn your vote. Thank you.

Mark Thoman
Thank you. First I'd like to thank the League of Women Voters for holding this forum and also the village for recording and rebroadcasting this as a public service to the community. My name is Mark Thoman and I am asking for your vote tonight. I've lived here for 27 years, and have been married 30 years to my wife, Jackie, who's a registered nurse, and I have two grown sons who attended Fairmount, O'Neill and Downers South. I'm a graduate of Northern Illinois University where I earned a journalism scholarship and a degree in communications. I'm a small business owner since 1991, and tax matters general partner of a family investment group.

From my day jobs, I've acquired a reasonable set of skills in accounting and budgeting, contracts and negotiations that I believe will serve me well on council. I believe the single most important issue facing the village is the need for a balanced approach addressing our fiscal and community issues. The village needs to provide more than basic services to make Downers Grove an attractive destination for residents to move here and raise their families, and for businesses to locate here and remain here.

Good planning will maintain the desirable small-town character of our village that causes that attraction. I participated in developing the new comprehensive plan that does just that, and recognize that such a plan must be revisited regularly. Attracting new business and retaining our existing business partners must remain a top priority. Our business team has done well for village and I support their good work.  If elected your commissioner on April 5th, I’ll work to maintain our competitive business edge, refocus efforts to support our sense of community, and work hard on policy that leads to a sustainable, balanced approach to fiscal, business, and community issues. Thank you.


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