Have almost a year to learn local issues

I was still looking for some answers raised by Mr. Garner of the Gurnee Village board of trustees. Garner asked the representatives of the Simon Co., the owners of Gurnee Mills, the other night. He asked if Simon was committed to the Gurnee Mills property and if they had the money to do what they said they were going to do with the capital improvements. The folks from Simon said yes, and that was the end of the conversation, and the item being voted on was approved.

I wanted to look a little deeper and looked up the firm on the Web and also sent away for the firm's shareholder information kit. It shows a solid firm and one that reinvests in its company and properties. I may even invest some of my money in this stock. In the April 29 Business section of the Herald it showed one of Simons rivals was in Chapter 11 and was refinancing debt in order to keep its properties. How lucky we are to have Simon in the village with a solid balance sheet, great ROI (return on investment) for shareholders and its commitment to update and bring back the Mills to the gem of the retail community of Gurnee.

My thought is as a trustee, should this not be done before the meeting? I am looking forward to the April 2011 village election and the platforms the candidates for village trustee, mayor and school board candidates run on.

I ask all the voters in Warren Township High School District 121, the Village of Gurnee, Warren Township and Woodland District 50 to attend the board meetings, and learn the issues, the problems and the cost-cutting efforts the current groups are taking and make an educated vote. There is always some misinformation or the "he-said, she-said" mentality.

The real purpose of this letter is just ask you to be involved and just not stand on the sidelines. I look forward to the comments and debate on this.

Mark Stoyas

Gurnee