North Aurora candidates address mothers' club
Four of the five people running for the North Aurora village board on Tuesday made their case for election to members of the North Aurora Mothers Club.
Incumbents Mark Carroll, Laura Curtis and Mark Guethle attended, as did challenger Anise Hesson. Allen Cavender did not. Three 4-year terms are up for grabs.
It was the first invitation from the club to candidates.
"I want to run and be a trustee because I enjoy being a part of the community where my family lives and my kids are growing up," said Carroll., who was appointed to the board last spring.
"What I would like to do is continue to watch North Aurora grow in a well-reasoned vision that accommodates both that small-town charm and increases our commercial and residential real estate base in a responsible manner," he said.
Carroll said he wants the village board to start thinking about replacing the North Aurora Activity Center, which is being demolished, but not in that spot. That corner, at routes 31 and 56, should be devoted to a mixed-use commercial development, he said.
Curtis said that when she was elected in 2011, the village was still feeling the effects of the recession, with development coming to a near standstill.
But things are picking up, with about two dozen businesses opening in 2014, including two distribution centers totaling 1 million square feet. "That equals jobs," she said.
Curtis also told them she has been a "social conservative" on the board, including voting against allowing video gambling and pushing to slow down the process of potentially removing the State Street dam.
Guethle noted that one of the new distribution centers has just announced it will hire 105 people.
"All these things on my brochure created good jobs for people, a lot of whom live in North Aurora," he said.
Guethle served on the board from 2003 to 2005, and 2009 to present. He mentioned he has led the development committee, which reviewed many of the proposals for the new businesses.
Hesson complimented Curtis, Guethle and Carroll as she introduced herself to her fellow club members.
"I am going against three incumbents who have done a fantastic job," she said.
Hesson said she has lived in North Aurora for 10 years and has served on the village's North Aurora Days committee, in school PTOs and on club committees for activities such as the annual parade.
"I firmly believe our community is ours and I want to be on the board so that I can hear what we want our community to be, and work toward that. ... Being on the village board gives me a bigger palette to work with," she said.