Three Palatine councilmen with fresh ideas as they head into new terms

Three Palatine councilmen who will be around for another four years are offering new ideas, such as increasing use of a local court and highlighting Harper College when trying to attract new development.

District 2's Scott Lamerand, District 3's Doug Myslinski and District 5's Kollin Kozlowski ran unopposed for the 4-year seats in the April 2 election. Their new terms begin next month.

In response to Daily Herald questions, the three councilmen offered ideas to better the community that they have not heard being discussed by others in Palatine.

Kozlowski, who's been on the council since 2011, said it seems the Cook County state's attorney's office has shifted to not prosecuting certain crimes due to "staff limitations or political stances," which is why he'd like to see Palatine look into making more use of its local adjudication court system.

"While we have started taking more and more (cases) at the local level, it's an opportunity to enforce the current standards," he said.

Kozlowski's District 5 starts just west of Route 53 and Dundee Road and goes south to Northwest Highway across the street from Arlington Park Racecourse.

First elected in 2007, Lamerand suggested trying to get Palatine and bordering towns to leverage combined resources more effectively. His District 2 cuts through Palatine on the north from Colfax Street to around Roselle and Algonquin roads on the south.

"We house an incredible asset in Harper College that we should use to attract more development to our area," he said. "This would help address a large number of funding issues, increase property values, fill commercial locations that have gone dark, etc. On the flip side, when one community is adding significant numbers of multifamily housing that will impact another community's school districts, we should work together to ensure the entire area is being set up for success, not additional challenges."

Myslinski said good ideas for government are those that don't involve additional taxation. He said there is a significant development opportunity south of the downtown railroad tracks that potentially would boost the area by creating additional housing and more parking. "The economy is doing very well right now and we need to take advantage of that by enticing businesses with tax incentives," he said.

Myslinski was first elected in 2015 to represent District 3. The district reaches Lake-Cook Road on the north and stretches south to an area near Smith Street and Dundee Road.