West Chicago mayor says yes to new city hall, challengers say no

All three West Chicago mayoral candidates for the April 1 election list developing the city’s historic downtown among their priorities.

One of them, incumbent Mayor Ruben Pineda, sees a spark in moving West Chicago’s city hall from its current spot at 475 Main St. to a site at 119 Washington St. near the library.

In a Daily Herald candidate interview, Pineda’s challengers — Daniel Bovey and Joseph Sheehan — said they oppose the project’s cost and rationale.

“I’ve been saying for years that I want a destination point for our residents here in West Chicago,” Pineda said of the city hall plan that includes a plaza for use as a gathering space, parking, stormwater retention and possible commercial and residential buildings — on top of the technology and layout improvements the upgrade would provide.

Pineda said the proposal was part of strategic and comprehensive plans completed by 2017 and supported by residents.

“We have to come into the 21st century,” said Pineda, who noted the “finally full” DuPage Business Center in West Chicago south of Roosevelt Road, near the DuPage County Airport.

Sheehan, an entrepreneur and former medical doctor who runs Kerry Farms in Winfield, argues that downtown development has been treading water for too long.

“The redevelopment is something that they have been talking about for 14 years,” Sheehan said.

“What we should plan to do is we would look at the other towns near us that have flourished — Elmhurst, Lombard — that have train tracks next to them and how we can develop the downtown area with that in mind.”

According to the city, the city hall project would cost an estimated $18.6 million to $22.7 million, though both Sheehan and Bovey cited costs of up to $25 million.

In March 2024, West Chicago City Administrator Michael Guttman said the financing would be handled by a bond issue, to be repaid by increased property taxes.

Bovey, a small business owner and church pastor, said investing in small businesses would be more beneficial than large outlays and large developments.

“The city wants to spend 20 to 25 million dollars on a new city hall, and I think that is a bad use of our resources at this point,” said Bovey, motivated to run for mayor after being fined $20,000 over code violations on a greenhouse structure built on his property.

“I’d like to take a tenth of that money and invest it in our small business owners and another tenth of that money and invest it in some infrastructure that would bring people and traffic to downtown,” Bovey said.

Under Pineda, the city recently unveiled a Downtown Investment Program that offers grants from $5,000 for small projects up to $100,000 for projects targeting historical or landmark buildings.

The city also announced a Downtown Retail & Restaurant Business Grant program, a revamped version of a plan that debuted in 2013.