Why I support Mike Horvath, Joan Hoigard, Jeff Tucek and Lisa Sher for election on April 9

For the past six years I have served La Grange residents on the Village Board.  It has been a marvelous experience that has offered me the opportunity to help shape policy for the Village’s future, and meet many residents from different neighborhoods and walks of life, developing relationships that I never would have made outside my role as Trustee.  I will always cherish my time serving the residents of La Grange.

During my six years on the Village Board no Trustee has served La Grange with more dedication and hard work than Trustee Mike Horvath.  He has tirelessly sought to make superior decisions for residents and all stakeholders by thoroughly researching the topic of the day and identifying alternatives to reduce costs or provide better service to the Village.  Mike is always exceptionally well prepared for our meetings, keeps an upbeat demeanor and has always been an agent of positive change on the board, making  our local government a more thoughtful body that serves La Grange better than it has in the nearly 20 years I have lived here.  Mike's earned the privilege of serving residents for four more years and deserves to be re-elected to the Village Board in order to carry out his work of preparing La Grange for tomorrow's challenges.

Two candidates you may not be as acquainted with, Joan Hoigard and Jeff Tucek, will make outstanding additions to the Village Board.  Let me tell you a bit about both these highly qualified candidates.

Joan and her husband Kurt are the parents of two school-age daughters.  An engineer by training who makes decisions with facts and data, Joan has held leadership roles in many areas of our community, including Girl Scouts and in enhancing classroom learning for students at St. Francis Xavier School.  Recently she took on a new challenge, being a resident representative to IDOT's study of the 47th Street and East Avenue intersection.  A born leader, Joan has the unique ability to identify with the audience she's speaking with and does an exceptional job of getting to the heart of conflict and resolving it.  She will make a tremendous addition to the Village Board.

Jeff is a recently retired consultant to the auto industry.  Prior to earning his college degree and Executive MBA, he served our country in the United States Army 82nd Airborne Division.  In the auto industry Jeff's role was to work with managements and labor to restore profitability and growth to the near moribund industry.  He has vast experience taking on the difficult task of reducing costs and restoring financial stability while returning consumer confidence to the domestic auto brands.  Jeff's experience in the private sector and his expertise in employee compensation will be invaluable as La Grange seeks new ways to deliver services to residents in the face of soaring costs and revenue headwinds from county, state and federal sources.  La Grange needs a person with Jeff’s skills on the Village Board.

A brief moment on our candidate for Village Clerk, Lisa Sher.  Lisa is a longtime resident who’s held leadership roles in youth sports locally and has been an advocate for the economically disadvantaged in the Chicagoland area.  Lisa hopes to expand the role of the clerk to become the village's Freedom of Information Officer to help residents get all the information they are entitled to in an easy, low cost manner.   In preparation for taking office, Lisa has already attended a number of seminars on the Illinois Open Meeting Act and FOIA.

I am confident that with the re-election of Mike and the addition Joan, Jeff and Lisa, to our leadership team, La Grange will be well prepared to take on the new challenges our village faces in the coming years.  There four individuals will bring innovation, accountability and transparency to their positions.  Please give of these outstanding La Grangers your careful consideration when you go to the polls on Tuesday.