What candidates for Warrenville mayor are hoping to accomplish if elected
For the first time since 2005, David Brummel is not running for mayor in Warrenville.
Instead, the five-term incumbent is campaigning to become a Winfield Township trustee in the April 1 election.
That opened the door for Warrenville residents Michael Hoffmann and Andrew Johnson to compete for the mayor position.
Hoffmann, 67, a retired business owner, served as a Warrenville Ward 3 alderman from 2015 to 2019. A staple at Warrenville City Council meetings with a particular interest in stormwater management, this is his fourth time running for Warrenville mayor.
If elected mayor, Hoffmann said he would address property and sales taxes that “deter businesses from choosing Warrenville over other communities in the area.”
According to his responses to a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire, Hoffmann said he supports audits of village expenditures and a freeze on “nonessential spending.”
No fan of tax increment financing (TIF) districts he believes hurt taxpayers, Hoffmann would focus on street maintenance without planning further infrastructure.
He said he would defer his salary as mayor to provide seed money for a free Warrenville newspaper that would publish the items debated by the city council, aldermen’s votes on them, and how he would have voted on the issues.
“Somebody needs to be watching the money for the people,” Hoffmann told the Daily Herald on Monday. “I keep hearing we have a balanced budget. There’s no trick to having a balanced budget if you’re willing to raise taxes.”
Johnson, 61, a retired partner of Captive Resources in Itasca, served 16 years on the Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school board, including a decade as its president. He also served on the Warrenville Park District board from 1990 to 1996, including two years as vice president.
Johnson, whose late father, Cliff, was Warrenville fire chief for more than 20 years, seeks to enhance Warrenville’s economic development in “prime open spaces” and particularly in the Cantera development, he stated in his candidate questionnaire.
“My idea is to convene affected business and property owners and developers to discuss where things stand today, their thoughts on tomorrow, and how the city can help facilitate them,” he said.
He believes Warrenville has run a “tight fiscal ship” and does favor TIF districts when executed thoughtfully, which he thinks has been the case in Warrenville.
Johnson cited pathway projects along Route 59 and on Mack Road as important if federal funding supporting the projects comes through.
He wishes to establish a Warrenville Chamber of Commerce separate from the Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce the city currently shares with West Chicago. He also would like to enhance Warrenville’s art scene.
“We’ve got a number of open spaces that need to be appropriately developed and planned for, and we’ve got a lot of new faces in town,” Johnson told the Daily Herald on Monday.
“There’s been a good deal of new residential development in town, and we need to involve them and find ways to encourage them to be part of the life of the community.”