Count candidate’s support, experience

Count candidate’s support, experience

This is an important election. Elgin needs councilmen who can deliver on experience, balance and vision. That’s why I, and many other Elginites, will be voting for Craig Dresang to fill the 2-year seat for Elgin City Council.

There is a reason why Mayor David Kaptian’s wife Sandy, former mayor Ed Schock, community leaders Jack and Marlene Shales, and the Elgin Association of Fire Fighters have all gotten behind Craig in this race. He has even garnered strong endorsements from more widely known leaders with local ties like Allentown, Pa. Mayor Ed Pawlowski and wife of the late and highly respected Illinois Representative Mark Beaubien.

Craig’s opponent has been quoted as saying the city needs a little more business experience. Yet, he himself is unable to bring that business experience to a city council seat. In addition to serving on the city’s cultural arts commission, Craig helps manage a complex health care organization with a $50 million budget and has personally grown two small businesses.

He just raised $12.5 million in a bad economy to build a new health care facility, and serves as chairman of the mission grants committee at Elgin’s First Congregational Church which recently awarded more than $90,000 to local nonprofits including PADS, Habitat for Humanity, Centro de Informacion, Administer Justice, and several food pantries. He knows how to find common ground and work together toward common goals. The choice is clear on Tuesday.

Joseph Drozd

Elgin