In Wheeling, election will focus on economic development

Three candidates vying for the Wheeling village presidency April 7 agree the economy is the most pressing issue and that the village should monitor its spending to prepare for leaner times.

The differences lie, somewhat, in how they would pursue improving the village's economy.

Judy Abruscato, 72, has been a village trustee for 22 years and a longtime member of local organizations like Rotary and the Lions Club.

Abruscato said her main initiative, if elected, would be increasing retail and commercial development in order to strengthen Wheeling's tax base.

She added she would like to see various vacant properties in town redeveloped, such as the former Kmart and Wickes sites, as well as a large piece of land owned by the Horcher family.

"I believe I have the leadership to continue to move the village forward," Abruscato said.

Patrick Horcher, 45, is the other sitting village trustee in the president's race, with 14 years on the board.

He said his priority would be making sure every applicant who comes before the board is treated fairly, which he says hasn't always happened.

"I want us to be very friendly to business," he said. "We have a lot of businesses that come in and they want to take advantage of our industry."

Horcher said he would advocate lowering the village's sales tax. He would also investigate lowering residential property taxes through the establishment of special service areas that target the tax increases to only the properties benefiting from the project at hand.

In house, he said, the village needs to eliminate jobs and reconsider its salary and compensation packages.

Horcher added that as president he would work to gain consensus on the board, which has been divisive in the past.

"Because I've got the experience from sitting there," he said. "I know what the town has tried and I know what has not worked and I won't waste time with that."

Meanwhile, David Kolssak, a member of the Chicago Executive Airport board, believes his fresh perspective would be an asset.

Kolssak, 39, said his main economic priorities are redeveloping vacant land, and improving the village's strained relationships with its neighbors and other government agencies such as the local schools and the park and library districts.

"I just think it's time for a new style of leadership ... one that isn't mired by all the existing politics," he said. "I think it's time for some new ideas. The main thing I want to do is establish these collaborative partnerships with a lot of the agencies that are involved with the village."

Kolssak said he would like the village to offer new and existing businesses incentives to stay and grow in town. He favors bringing back the facade improvement grant which the village recently discontinued.

As a small-business owner himself, Kolssak used the program to purchase a sign for the front of his office building off Milwaukee Avenue.

"The signage alone was a very big driver of business," he said. "There's an example of how the village of Wheeling incentivized me to stay there."

As senior trustees, Abruscato, Horcher and Dean Argiris took turns as acting village president after President Greg Klatecki stepped down midterm in 2007. Both Abruscato and Horcher ran against Klatecki in 2005, and lost.

They were re-elected trustees in 2007 and have two years remaining on their village board terms.

Argiris, meanwhile, is running for re-election as trustee after flirting briefly with running for president in 2009.