First Rolling Meadows mayoral candidate steps up

Tom Rooney, a former Rolling Meadows alderman, is the first candidate to announce he will seek the mayor's office in the April election.

Economic development should not mean giveaways to corporations, said Rooney, and credibly negotiating smaller raises with city police officers and fire fighters requires an appreciation of the services they provide.

Economic development will be on the agenda again when the economy improves, said Rooney.

"The best economic development is to create a city that businesses want to come to," he said.

It is his opinion that establishing several tax increment financing districts and giving away sales tax is not healthy.

"If a property owner wishes to act in any way that requires government's help, then they better have a compelling public benefit to offer in return," he said in a statement that will be on a website expected to go live Sept. 20 at rooneysbus.com.

Traditionally the city negotiates raises of about 4 percent annually then gives a similar amount to nonunion personnel, said Rooney. "They are not sustainable," he said. "Now we have a majority of the council who agrees, but they have built up some not-so-goodwill among staff. I developed relationships as an alderman and have not been involved for two years, so that might help."

The next consolidated local election will be held April 5, 2011, when mayors, aldermen, school boards, library board, park district boards, and fire boards will be elected.

Candidates for local office can begin circulating petitions on Sept. 21; the filing period is Dec. 13-20.

While Rooney praised both Mayor Ken Nelson and Thomas Menzel, who preceded Nelson as mayor, he said Menzel pushed his agenda on the council too much, and in recent years Nelson should have pushed more. Rooney said leadership lies between those two examples.

Rooney also called for consistency, criticizing the council for approving a billboard on city land because of financial need. A few years ago the same body decided not to allow other landowners to erect billboards, saying there were enough along Route 53, he said.

Nelson can only serve two terms in a row and cannot run for the mayor's office in April. He said he currently has no post-April plans to announce.

Rooney, who teaches high school social studies at West Leyden High School in Northlake, was appointed 4th Ward alderman to fill a vacancy in 2000, then was elected to that office twice.

He did not seek re-election in 2009, citing his belief that aldermen should also be limited to two consecutive terms rather than three.