Tom Della Penna: 2025 candidate for Roselle village board

Bio

Office Sought: Roselle village board (Vote for 3)

City: Roselle

Age: 62

Occupation: Salesman

Previous offices held: Village of Roselle Trustee since 2021; Roselle District 12 school board

What is the most serious issue your community will face in the coming years and how should the village board respond to it?

The most serious issue continues to be how to fund the necessary infrastructure improvements for roads, water, and sewer treatment.

Roselle is required to pay for over $80 million in water treatment plant upgrades that are required due to recent unfunded mandates. Also, Roselle is a mature village that has a lot of roads that continue to get older.

We must plan for more money each year to replace some of the aging roads and repair the roads that are not yet due to be replaced. We educated residents for a year to explain why we needed home rule to give us additional tools to help pay for these expenses and the residents agreed with us when the referendum passed.

This additional money will help pay for a portion of these items. Additionally, the burden of pensions is a serious issue that we will have to continue to address in future years as it takes a larger portion of our tax dollar budget. This makes it more important to continue to look for ways to reduce expenses where possible.

How would you describe the state of your community's finances? What should be the top priorities for spending during the next few years? Are there areas of spending that need to be curtailed?

Roselle’s finances are healthy. We are always cognizant of the fact that both federal and state funding can continue to be reduced. That is why we maintain over 45% of our annual budget in reserves and have operated with balanced budgets for the past several years.

The financial performance of the village remains strong as is proven by our Standard & Poor’s AA+ bond rating. That is extremely strong for a village of our size. The board is fiscally responsible and appreciates the trust that our residents gave the village board when they passed the home rule referendum.

The power to make local decisions is something that was definitely needed and helps us develop new revenue streams rather than increase taxes. However, with greater power comes greater responsibility and I keep that in mind with every decision we make.

We need to continue investing in expanding the redevelopment of the municipal campus, Main Street, and the reimagining of the current library property. We have taken great strides to make the downtown area a destination that people come to for events and support our local businesses. We need to maintain that momentum.

What do you see as the most important infrastructure project the community must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what project(s) can be put on the back burner?

Again, I will say the most important infrastructure project we must address is the $80 million required for sewer treatment upgrades. Home rule sales taxes are helping to pay for that.

This tool allows people who live in towns other than Roselle, but shop here, to help pay for projects like this. This is one of the new revenue streams that we are constantly looking for rather than having to pay for everything on the back of resident taxpayers.

As far as projects that can be put on the back burner, we are very aware of the possibility that some grant funding that has been promised may not materialize in the future. We are ready to put those projects on hold if the funding is not forthcoming.

In balancing the budget each year, we have already put some projects on hold with the option to complete them in future years as revenue permits. However, we have to keep in mind that putting required projects on hold does come with an opportunity cost of doing it now vs. doing it in the future when it is always more expensive.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach an agreement and manage local government? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board.

I have over 20 years of experience in serving on different boards (both nonprofit and elected positions) and have come across many diverse personalities.

During that time, I have been collaborative with both fellow board members, staff, and constituents. I do not avoid difficult decisions, but all decisions must be made only after making sure all voices feel that they have been heard.

Board members are elected to represent all constituents (not only the ones that they agree with) and must work together to produce a decision that all board members can get behind. This means a trustee must remain non-biased and try to take any emotion out of making an educated decision based on all the facts presented.

I feel that our current board does exactly that. In fact, we have adopted a civility pledge that is read at the start of every board meeting which states … “In the interest of civility, I pledge to promote civility by listening, being respectful of others, acknowledging that we are all striving to support and improve our community and understanding that we may each have different ideas for achieving that objective.”

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

For all the years that I have lived in Roselle, I have been an active and involved community member with numerous organizations both in Roselle and DuPage County.

I have been passionate about paying it forward by adding value volunteering to the organizations that I have been involved with including St. Walter Church, Roselle Medinah Softball and Baseball Organization, Roselle School District 12, Lake Park Educational Foundation, CASA of DuPage, and most recently on the Roselle Village Board.

It is a part of who I am and this past experience both as a volunteer and as a board member is a tremendous asset that I bring to the position of trustee. Humility makes me say that it is not what I think makes me the best candidate for the job. That will be up to the residents of Roselle and what they think based on what they have seen from me in the past.

What’s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

I am exploring the idea of having some high school juniors and seniors plan and run simulated village board meetings so that they can see what participating in government feels like. I would work with the high school government teacher to have the students come up with some issues that they are passionate about, help research them, develop the agenda, and show them how to actually run a board meeting by discussing things, making motions, and then voting on them.

By seeing youth in action, the board would have an opportunity to hear their thoughts and perspectives on issues that are important to them. This would also help foster my goal of “Maintaining the Momentum” by helping get the next level of government leaders involved in the process.