Smolinski faces a challenger in Roselle

Roselle Village President Gayle Smolinski will face a challenge at the polls April 7 from write-in candidate Sean Lindsey.

Lindsey, a six-year Roselle resident who has never held public office, said he's running because he believes the village needs a change in leadership to improve communication with residents and speed downtown revitalization. He said a family emergency on the East Coast prevented him from filing a formal candidacy.

"We keep getting promised redevelopment and new development coming into downtown, but it's been being revitalized for four years," Lindsey said. "How long does that take? I want to see what the plans are."

Lindsey also said the Roselle Reporter newsletter contains too many advertisements and "happy" news about the village, but not enough practical information.

Smoliski was surprised at the news of Lindsey's candidacy, which she learned about this week from the Daily Herald. Although she has held the post for 16 years, Smolinski said she doesn't take it for granted and planned to campaign even if she was unopposed.

"We always like to meet residents and let them know what we're about and that's not going to change," she said.

During her four terms, Smolinski said she is proud of the development that has sprung up in Roselle's downtown tax increment financing district, the creation of community programs such as the Citizens Police Academy and new avenues of communication with residents, such as Roselle's recently enhanced Web site.

Right now, Smolinski said, the national economy is the biggest problem facing Roselle. She said village leaders aim to continue providing important basic services such as police, fire and public safety under a tight budget.

"We want to be a good steward of our tax dollars to provide the services the residents expect," she said.

Lindsey contends, however, that Roselle needs more. After the regional flooding last September, Lindsey said he was disappointed to see some neighbors dealing with automated systems when calling the village for assistance and blocking off their streets to prevent flooding.

"I review the village meeting minutes and a lot of people addressed the board, but I don't feel their concerns were really addressed," Lindsey said. "The school systems can call your house and tell you school is canceled, why can't the village have something like that during emergencies?"

But Smolinski said her experience will help Roselle achieve such communication goals, including the village's new campaign to improve correspondence with residents and rebrand its image to incoming residents and businesses.

No matter who wins the post in April, Roselle will see leadership changes as trustees Sam Tornatore and Joseph Devlin step down and longtime Village Clerk Linda McDermott retires. The candidates running for Tornatore's and Devlin's spots are Kory Atkinson and Andrew "Andy" Maglio, while Patty Burns and Tracy Hoover will contend for McDermott's post.