Winfield candidates talk roads

Disagreements among the candidates for Winfield village board have been pretty easy to spot during this campaign. But on Tuesday, they agreed on one thing: Winfield’s roads need to be fixed. But discussing how the village pays for it revealed yet another divide.

While one candidate said the village needs to find more efficient ways to do the work, using advanced technology, another said the village should seek other revenues by moving Town Center development forward.

Still another said the village must eliminate inefficiencies in spending, including countless studies on downtown development.

“We have to correct what we are spending our money on in the budget,” said candidate Tony Reyes. “There should be no more money spent on studies and things we don’t need. The plan should be to prioritize our roads and every year knock out some of the worst roads.”

At a forum Tuesday, the candidates came together for the first time during a campaign that has been marked by heated rhetoric on both sides of a politically divided town. Reyes, Tim Allen and Jim Hughes will challenge incumbents Cliff Mortenson and Glenn VadeBonCoeur for three seats in the April 5 election.

The forum’s topics ranged from districting in Winfield to the village’s relationship with Central DuPage Hospital. But when it came to paying for future road fixes, the candidates disagreed on how to get it done.

In November, a road referendum to raise money for immediate fixes and give the village money to establish a 20-year road program failed by a narrow margin.

VadeBonCoeur said the narrow margin was a sign that residents want the roads fixed but the village board must find out how residents want that done. Additionally, he said the 48-acre downtown tax district, Town Center, should move forward.

“We have to seek out other areas of revenues,” he said. “The development of Town Center ... offers us the most potential to generate revenue.”

VadeBonCoeur also said that several properties along County Farm Road near St. Charles Road could be developed “more quickly” than other parts of town to create a new revenue stream.

But those properties are at the opposite end of town of the area some candidates say should be developed. They say before going for another referendum to fix the town’s roads, the village must prove to voters that they are doing all they an to avoid tax increases.

“The reality is, there is going to have to be a referendum to pay for the roads,” Allen said. “What I’m trying to do is set the wheels in motion to get some sustainable revenue in the future.”

Allen is an ardent supporter of bringing commercial development to Roosevelt Road, on the village’s south side.

Mortenson, meanwhile, said the village must look into new technology to make road repairs more efficient and create a longer life cycle for the roads, adding that the motor fuel tax provides a finite amount of money.

“We can improve the process to get the biggest bang for our buck,” he said.

Hughes agreed with Mortenson that new technologies would be part of the ultimate solution, but he took it one step further and said the village should look into pilot technologies that are being developed.

“We are going to have to be creative about our funding, including auditing our revenues,” he said. “We don’t have money for the roads sitting on the table.”

The forum packed the Cantigny auditorium and included several instances of candidates responding to claims made by their opponents, usually off the topic of the questions posed by residents at the meeting.

When VadeBonCoeur responded to a question about what sets him apart by saying, “I’m not a politician,” Reyes shot back when it was his turn.

“He’s out there door knocking just like that rest of us,” he said. “That’s what politicking is. You have to get out there and say what you feel passionate about.”