Civic Betterment Party election to nominate Village Trustee Slate of Three

We asked all Trustee Candidates Two Questions

  • I very much support making Glen Ellyn "a greener and more environmentally friendly Community." As a community, we are blessed with green spaces and resources that need to be protected and preserved. We also need to continue to encourage residents and homeowners to take the actions that can enhance our environment in all manner of ways from recycling programs to maintaining park areas to keeping healthy trees and plants and reducing activities that contribute to pollution. I would like to see Glen Ellyn continue to explore coalitions with organizations (such as yourselves) and sister communities to make sure that we are taking advantage of all county and state resources to protect the beauty of our community. I would also want us to increase our commitment to environmentally appropriate activities and actions as opportunities arise, as well as to initiate activities that are relevant to building a healthy and green community.

    Donna Jean D. Simon

  • 1) Yes, I think making Glen Ellyn greener and more environmentally friendly is a community priority. 2) I would like to have the Environmental Commission Report to the Trustee’s on the various ordinances and initiatives they would like to recommend. These recommendations should be vetted to the whole of Glen Ellyn with input from our residents, seniors, students, businesses and concerned citizens. I would like to see the Village support more recycling events, increase our tree planting investments, encourage developers to preserve and add trees to projects and continue to add Charging stations to public and private spaces. I would like to see a major solar project added to a Village property, and continue the purchase of hybrid vehicles to the Village Fleet. In addition, I was one of the chief sponsors and voted to support adding the US Bank site as an open space, green space, event center in our downtown!

    Steve Thompson

  • It would absolutely be a priority for me. I am quite pleased with the recent decisions that were made regarding Panfish Park, the US Bank site downtown and the construction approval for Willowbrook Wildlife Center. I reside on the edge of Panfish Park and have been advocating this past year to restore the natural features of the park while also leaving it as a dark sky spot within the Village. It is a wonderful park with a host of wildlife that reside there, and I am grateful that the Park District preliminary plans leave it in its natural state. As a result of the park's proximity, our various bird feeders are always busy! I understand that continuing development is healthy for our community, but every potential development needs to be considered in terms of how it will affect our trees, plants and wildlife. If I am fortunate enough to be elected as a Trustee, you can be assured that this topic will always be on my mind. I did not seek out the opportunity to run for Trustee; the opportunity was presented to me. As a result, while I am familiar with various ongoing conversations in the Village, I have no existing agenda. I am mostly a blank slate, who will listen, read, learn and then make the best conclusions I can. As a Trustee, the work and recommendations of the Environmental Commission will be important to me. One thing often on my mind is our farmer's market. I hope we are able to expand it and bring in farmers who practice sustainable farming techniques. We purchase quite a bit of our food direct from farmers and fishermen, and it would be wonderful if we could bring as many of these farmers as possible directly to Glen Ellyn.

    Robert Deitch

  • (Awaiting Comments)

    Kyle Boston

  • 1) Absolutely. One Thing I Hope To Do Is To Turn Volunteer Park (At The Corner Of Prospect And Pennsylvania) Into A Butterfly/Pollinator Waystation. I Also Hope To Do More To Encourage Dark-Sky Initiatives, More Native Planting, Green Roofs, Composting, Recycling, Etc. 2) I Hope We Can Craft A Tree Preservation Ordinance That Will Help Us Protect Old-Growth And Historic Trees And Will Help Prevent Developers From Clear-Cutting Property. Of Course, We Have To Weigh That With Property Rights. Everything In Balance.

    Kelli Christiansen

  • Thank you for the question. While there are a number of "go green" initiatives we can pursue I would like to focus on one, This one though could turn into many.This goes back to my business career. A large percent of the Villages expenses are for capital projects according to the new 2023 budget. The Village should request anyone submitting a bid to include two "go green" initiatives, first , what is their company doing to improve their green position and second what do they believe the Village can do to improve its "go green" initiative. In my prior career we as a supplier would review our customers processes and make recommendations on best practices, in the hope that the customer would value our efforts. Go green should be one. What can be gained is actually a multiplier at a number of levels, when asked what are you doing to improve your footprint, the potential supplier would review their own process plus ask their suppliers what they are doing that might be presented to the Village. The potential bidder can provide the Village with recommendations that generate additional opportunity at the Village level to "go green" based on dealing with other townships. The supplier introduces best practices to the Village. This creates awareness at an education level and potentially material substitutions or other related changes might occur. The Village could value the benefit of the proposal and make a decision of sourcing based on the quality of the idea. While I haven't done as much work as perhaps you have, my search indicates there is grant money for governments and businesses that "go green", perhaps at the state, federal or even private sector that may offset any potential higher costs if any. The process sends a message that Glen Ellyn is going green and if you want to do business here you better step up your efforts. It sends the same message to Village employees to take what we are learning and grow with it. This is an excellent educational tool to think this way as you work on your designs and supplier sources. This concept exists in the business world, it is received initially with pushback, confusion at times and for a period of time challenges a lot of traditional thinking but it is worth it in my opinion. I hope this gives you at least one idea that could having an impact on our Village

    Steve Szymanski