With the two Villa Park City Council incumbents termed out, the city’s voters will be deciding a pair of new faces for the dais.
A field of four are running for the two open four-year terms, with the two winners taking the seats currently held by Vince Rossini and Robbie Pitts.
Looking to join the council are Robert Frackelton, Yan Killy, Kelly McBride and Lawrence Talebi.
Frackelton is the president of a metal fabricating business who grew up in town and said he returned 22 years ago with his wife to raise their three children in Villa Park.
During a recent candidates forum, he said “short-sighted” mandates for housing and certain group homes “must be resisted” and also emphasized preserving public safety and prioritizing infrastructure improvements.
He called himself a fiscal conservative “who believes government should be as small as possible and as efficient as possible.”
Killy is an industry process expert for DraftSight, which designs software for engineering.
“I like to approach any problem by reducing it into small bits and solve them one at the time using common sense and citizen needs,” he said in response to this newspaper’s Voter Guide question about what he would bring to leadership in Villa Park.
At the recent candidate forum, he talked about being a refugee from Soviet-era Ukraine who came with his family in 1977 to the U.S. and through hard work “we all made it.”
A newer resident of the city, he said he appreciates the small-town nature of Villa Park. He said, “I want this to continue to be a striving community – a small-town community with big aspirations.”
McBride is the CEO of Century Building Solutions and also emphasized the importance of “prudent fiscal management” in a community like Villa Park where most of its revenues come from property taxes and there are limited opportunities for additional funding sources.
He talked about “networking with other municipal organizations” to address state housing mandates “in the most cost-effective manner without incurring legal liabilities.”
Talebi, a nursing home operator, said with that experience supervising a staff of more than 200, “I know how to work with people to achieve the desirable.” He also said managing a large business’ budget as he does “requires accountability, transparency and integrity.”
He was recently appointed to the city’s Group Home Task Force and said seeing the impact on neighborhoods inspired his run for council.
“These homes bring in people to our communities that need the help of trained, licensed professionals in an in-patient setting outside of a residential zone,” he said in response to the Voter Guide question about the biggest issue facing the city.
Talebi said local communities should have “the autonomy” to make their own decisions to address housing needs and not be forced by state mandates. The current housing plan the city has submitted to the state “complies with the state mandate for low-income housing while protecting the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents,” he said.
“Consequently, interruptions to neighborhood streets should be minimal,” he added. “Workforce housing is important but cities and local governments know best what their communities can support and need.”
McBride also emphasized the built-out nature of Villa Park’s development, with limited opportunities for creating more housing. The voluntary construction of accessory dwelling units and a “few mixed-use residential units in the small commercial center” is where he sees efforts making an impact, he said.
“Most of the homeowners have worked hard to afford their homes,” he said, “and the council should be clever on navigating these state mandates while funding the improvements in infrastructure that maintain the quality of life and property values.”
Killy offered “carefully” looking into a piece of property owned by the local water district for possible rezoning as one possible way to address housing demands and state mandates.
“Crime, property owners’ rights and fiscal responsibility,” are big priorities, he said. He also offered during the candidate forum: “What concerns me is sober living homes and the possibility of the state intruding on our way of life.”
Frackelton is also an appointee to the city’s Group Home Task Force and said addressing group homes the city has been required to accept and housing mandates “thrust upon us” are some of the biggest challenges facing the small town.
“Now we have several senior living homes in Villa Park that pretty much fly under the radar and don’t cause a lot of trouble,” he said. “But the sober living homes is a whole different story and there is also a troubled teen home and we’ve got to learn how to manage that.”
The newspaper’s Voter Guide also asked the candidates questions about budgeting, climate change and what makes a good leader. Check out what they said at ocregister.com/voter-guide. The guide includes all the races on the November ballot.
