Naperville's Chirico, other DuPage mayors aiming for regional collaboration

Building regional collaboration and using his new post as Naperville mayor to advocate for the Western suburbs are among Mayor-elect Steve Chirico's goals as he prepares to take office.

“It's definitely an important part of the job,” Chirico said Wednesday. “We've got to work together to try to make sure our interests are represented.”

Other mayors elected Tuesday in unofficial results from DuPage County also say they need to join forces to protect the region's needs, especially as Gov. Bruce Rauner looks to improve the state's budget situation by making cuts.

“We all have the same issues: protecting our local government distributive fund, income tax and (avoiding) unfunded mandates,” said Wood Dale Mayor Annunziato “Nunzio” Pulice, who was re-elected Tuesday after running unopposed for a second term. “Everyone is trying to work together to come up with the best solutions.”

Protecting the amount of income tax money municipalities receive from the state and pushing for public employee pension reform are among top regional issues for mayors including Frank Saverino, who was re-elected Carol Stream village president after running unopposed, and Gopal Lalmalani, who defeated two challengers to win a second term as Oak Brook village president.

“We do have a major issue with pensions, and I think that's one issue that is choking our municipalities,” Lalmalani said. “Everyone is trying to cut the funding and make it difficult for municipalities to survive.”

Mayors or village presidents also were elected Tuesday in Darien, where Kathleen Weaver beat Joerg Seifert; Downers Grove, where Martin Tully won re-election against Geoff Neustadt; Wheaton, where unopposed Mayor Mike Gresk was re-elected; and Wayne, where Eileen Phipps was elected unopposed. In the race for Clarendon Hills village president, DuPage Election Commission officials say judges will start counting votes tomorrow for write-in Len Austin, who ran against Eric Stach. Preliminary results are expected by the end of next week.

New mayors could lose large chunks of revenue if a proposed 50 percent cut in the amount of income taxes municipalities receive is approved. Wood Dale, with 13,770 residents, could lose $700,000, while Naperville, the largest municipality in DuPage with 145,000 people, could lose $7 million. City and village leaders setting budgets are in a tough spot because they don't know what changes might be made by Rauner at the state level, Chirico said.

“He needs to make a decision of what's best for the state and then we're going to have to adjust from that point,” Chirico said.

That's why Naperville's new leader and other mayors said it's important to make sure DuPage concerns are heard by state legislators.

Pulice and Chirico already work together on a legislative committee of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, which Chirico belongs to as a member of the Naperville City Council. But when he becomes mayor May 3, Chirico said he can join a different committee reserved for each town's top elected leader and begin to affect policy more directly than did his predecessor, Naperville's five-term Mayor George Pradel.

Fellow DuPage mayors also recognized Chirico's business expertise and said it will differentiate him from Pradel, a retired police lieutenant who is known as the city's cheerleader.

“You bring a different dimension as mayor,” Saverino told Chirico on Wednesday. “And I think it's time when you look at how big it (Naperville) is and the business community.”