Tom Della Penna: 2021 candidate for Roselle Village Board

Five candidates are squaring off for three 4-year seats on Roselle Village Board in the April 6 election. They are incumbent Barbara Sarno; Thomas Piorkowski, president of the Roselle Public Library District Board; and newcomers Tom Della Penna, Lydia Galante and Cheryl J. Lenisa.

The Daily Herald asked the candidates several questions about issues facing the village.

Below are Della Penna's responses.

In-person early voting with paper ballots begins Feb. 25 at DuPage County Fairgrounds Building 5, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton. In-person early voting with touch-screen voting begins March 22 at locations throughout the county. Learn more at www.dupageco.org/earlyvoting/.

Five candidates for three, 4-year terms

Bio

Town: Roselle

Age: 58

Occupation: Sales, Metal Master Sales Corp.

Civic involvement: Former president and member of Roselle School District 12 board (2003-11); vice president and board member for Lake Park Educational Foundation, five years; board member, commissioner, and coach for Roselle Medinah Softball and Baseball Organization, 10-plus years; usher for St. Walter Church for over 25 years; court-appointed special advocate for CASA of DuPage for the last 4½ years

Q&A

Q: How do you view your role in confronting the pandemic: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents - even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state and federal authorities?

A: My role as a village trustee would require me to do all three of these at various times while confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. A trustee is elected to represent all constituents, not just the ones they agree with. This non-biased leadership can (and often will) be unpopular with some people.

A trustee must also listen to input from both sides on a given issue before making an educated decision based on the facts presented.

Finally, some things a trustee must defer to the state and federal authorities as some issues during this pandemic are beyond local control.

Q: Did your town continue to adequately serve its constituents during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.

A: The village of Roselle did a fantastic job in helping their citizens where they could during the pandemic. Some examples are as follows:

The village delayed vehicle sticker renewals by 6 months.

The village paused all water shut-offs during the pandemic.

Police, fire, and public works services were performed without interruption.

Village hall was closed except for essential services thus keeping employees safe.

Q: In light of our experiences with COVID-19, what safeguards/guidelines should you put in place to address any future public health crises?

A: I think minimum/maximum stock levels of PPE for all village departments should be set up and monitored so that inventory is rotated and replenished, as necessary.

Develop an emergency plan and budget (based on what worked or did not work during the current pandemic) that can be quickly implemented when the next crisis occurs.

Set up a blue-ribbon panel of neighboring towns and townships to share best practices on what worked best for everyone regarding pandemic responses.

Q: What cuts can local government make to reduce the burden of the pandemic on taxpayers?

A: This is a difficult question for a village that is normally fiscally responsible and that does not have much padding in its budget. The village wants to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

As is evidenced by the delaying of vehicle sticker renewals and business license renewal fees.

However, if the village wants to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and keep a balanced budget during times of reduced revenue, we need to review each expense carefully before making short-term decisions that may impact us in the long term.

Q: What do you see as the most important infrastructure project you must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what infrastructure project can be put on the back burner?

A: Repairing and replacing our roads and underground sewer line are of equal importance to Roselle.

These are expenditures that tend to get delayed when budgets are tight. However, this can create a long-term problem that becomes even more expensive over time or as costly emergency repairs as needed.

Q: Do you agree or disagree with the stance your board/council has taken on permitting recreational marijuana sales in the community? What would you change about that stance, if you could?

A: Currently, the board has placed two nonbinding questions pertaining to recreational cannabis on the April 6 ballot. I agree with putting these questions out to the community in order to gauge what the people feel is in the best interest of Roselle.

The future stance that Roselle decides to take will be a very important one. Now that this is legal in the state of Illinois, the village must weigh the potential revenue stream from allowing recreational cannabis sales, with any potential adverse effects it could have on our community.

There is also the very real possibility that if Roselle decides not to allow it in our town, neighboring towns will grab our tax dollars as some of our residents go there to purchase what they want.

I look forward to much more discussion and debate on this topic in months to come.

Q: What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

A: I have always been an advocate for empowering our youth. They are not only the future of our village, but they are the present as well.

Therefore, I would like to explore the possibility of allowing some high school juniors and seniors to serve as nonvoting members of some of our appointed village boards and commissions.

This would allow our next generation to become civically involved while helping them gain valuable experience in how government works.

By allowing youth on such boards/commissions, we would have opportunity to hear their thoughts and gain their perspectives on issues important to them. This would also help foster my goal of "Building Community Together."