Lisle trustee hopefuls talk about town's competing visions

Since defeating a longtime incumbent two years ago, Lisle Mayor Christopher Pecak has brought his own vision to the village.

Pecak, for example, successfully pushed for the village board to freeze the town's property tax levy for two consecutive years. But he hasn't always seen eye to eye with trustees aligned with former Mayor Joe Broda, especially when it comes to issues related to economic development.

The situation has some candidates in Lisle's crowded village board race saying they would work to "bridge the gap" between the competing visions if they're elected April 2.

"There seems to be animosity between those two visions, and maybe there's no overlap in the Venn diagram," candidate Michael Olson said. "Maybe you can't hold the levy at a zero percent increase and still be able to move development forward. I don't think that's the case.

"I'm hoping to move the board forward in finding a way to work toward bridging those competing visions so everybody could benefit," he said.

Olson is one of seven hopefuls running for three open seats on the village board. The other candidates are incumbent Mark Boyle, incumbent Cathy Cawiezel, Stephen Winz, Charles Rego, Sara Sadat and Claire Goldenberg.

Cawiezel, who has served as a Lisle trustee since 2009, acknowledges there have been "challenges" since the April 2017 election. But she says she's tried to build a bridge between the two board factions.

"Every single elected official is bringing something very valuable," she said. "We need to take the friction out and hear everybody."

She said the village also has worked to coalesce the differing points of view through its downtown master plan and recently updated strategic performance areas.

While there are different visions, Boyle said he believes they're pointed in the same direction.

"I think there's a commonality," said Boyle, who has served as a trustee since 2007.

But Winz and Goldenberg both said they believe current village leaders are lacking vision, especially when it comes to developing downtown Lisle.

"They might have it, but I see no proof of it," Goldenberg said. "It (downtown) seems to be in the exact same place it was 10 years ago when I moved here."

Goldenberg said the only exception is Marq on Main, a new apartment and retail complex. Still, Lisle had to wait more than a decade for the land to be redeveloped, she said.

Winz said Broda and previous boards had 16 years to transform the downtown area. But there were delayed projects and an under utilization of the downtown's assets, including its Metra station and proximity to Ogden Avenue.

"I think there's a real lack of understanding of what Lisle is and what it has to offer," Winz said.

Rego, who previously served on the planning and zoning commission, says the village should be trying to diversify its tax base. That includes redeveloping sites "based on where the economy is going."

"You can't just be looking to tomorrow or next year," Rego said. "You've got to be looking five, 10, 15, 20 years out."

Sadat, meanwhile, says she would advocate for transparency and for residents to be heard.

"That is the vision I would like Lisle to continue forward with," she said. "It's making sure that the residents are at the front and center of every decision that is being made."