A Talk With The Mayor

IMG_7756 This week, I went to Mayor Roger Claar’s annual talk with the Bolingbrook Christian Clergy Association. It’s a nice tradition – it gives clergy a chance to have face time with him and ask questions, and he tells us a lot of interesting stuff about what’s happening in the Village. He’s actually a terrific speaker, and quite funny.

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This year, I decided to write down some of what he said because I though you might find it interesting to have a window into a local, suburban political landscape.

Mayor Claar started by pushing us to remind our congregations to vote – not how they should vote, but to VOTE. (A few clergy piped up defensively, “Some of us do!”) He quoted the depressing statistics of how few eligible voters show up at polls, especially for local elections. He also encouraged us to teach congregations to educate themselves about candidates, so they don’t just go down the list and “pick the names they like.”

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Big snowstorms loom large on local political radar. No one interacts more with local government, it seems, than when their street needs plowing. Claar told he hears all about how much people pay in property taxes, but that even if people pay $10,000 in property taxes, the village only gets about $800 of it. Also, this quip (my favorite): “People move to a cul de sac to get away from thru traffic, but when it snows they expect to get plowed the same time as I-55!”

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The mayor told us about his strategy to raise municipal funds through sales tax over the years by encouraging industrial and retail investment. Over 30 years, we’ve gone from about $300,000 to $31 million in revenue from local sales tax. Our local mall – the Promenade (home to IKEA Chicago South) – jumped 11% in revenue this year. This is good news for jobs, the economy, and hey, for having some shopping diversity right down the street.

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Bolingbrook is also home to Weathertech. You may have seen their SuperBowl commercial (also in 2014). This company has exploded in the last few years and their factory store is right down the street from our house. Don’t ask about the lines there at Christmastime! But they do keep them moving pretty fast, I have to say. A neat thing he told us about Weathertech is they aim for zero-waste in their production process, so all the little plastic bits of waste get put right back in the melters to make more mats.

The best part is when the pastors ask questions.

My friend, Rakel, a Lutheran pastor, asked about human trafficking. Mayor Claar and his Public Safety Director told us that they monitor Craigslist, Back Page, and other places where prostitution is advertised for mentions of Bolingbrook. They told us they see most activity in Naperville, Lombard, and Aurora, places with high numbers of business travelers and conventions, and almost no mentions of Bolingbrook. Our police have traced local runaway girls to sex trafficking in the city, with the help of their parents.

Another pastor asked if we would ever be the “City of Bolingbrook” instead of the “Village of Bolingbrook.” The mayor told us something I think few of us had realized, that when you categorize yourself as a “City of” in Illinois you must use an aldermanic system of governance, in other words, separate wards or neighborhoods each with their own representative or alderman (like Chicago). He feels a city council that represents all of Bolingbrook is more effective. That makes sense to me, so I guess we will just continue to smart a little bit at the hamlet, cowtown, BBC sound of “Village.”

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Another pastor asked whether the mayor was aware of any terrorist activity in Bolingbrook. (?) The mayor joked back, “You mean the kid who signed up for ISIS on the internet and got arrested at the airport?” He did express concern at the vulnerability of Lake Michigan as such a large water supply for so many people.

The mayor gave us a few logistical updates, too:

  • our airport (yes, Bolingbrook has an airport) will be closing for 6 months to extend the runway
  • the bridge and exit ramps at Weber and I-55 will be rebuilt this summer for better traffic flow (this will be amazing, but not while it’s closed for 18+ months in the process)
  • we’ll get our first roundabout (fun!) when Kings Road is extended to the south

IMG_7764 Bolingbrook has been in Money Magazine’s 50 Best Places to Live list for six years Mayor Claar reminded us, and what puts us over the top is our diversity. We’re “50% minority” (doesn’t that mean we can’t say “minority” anymore?), about 23% Hispanic, 23% African American, and 5% pan-Asian. Accordingly, he told us they’re always looking for recruits of minority races for the police department – especially if they speak Spanish or Urdu.

I don’t have space to include everything he talked about or what was asked, but I thought this would give you this glimpse of the world of Bolingbrook.

This isn’t meant to be an endorsement or official statement of anything Mayor Claar said to us – just a summary as I remember it and to give a flavor of the town and our conversation as clergy rather than a political statement of any kind. I’m not interested in debating anything in the comments or making this into a discussion of the next election or the mayor’s legacy. Thanks!

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Comments

  1. It sounds like open conversation was encouraged. How refreshing.