Mark Mulliner, Elmhurst Mayoral Candidate

ELMHURST, IL — Mark Mulliner is one of three candidates running for Elmhurst mayor in the April 6 election. Here are his responses to the Patch questionnaire:

Mark Mulliner

Age (as of Election Day)

63

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Lincoln School - Elmhurst
Bryan Junior High School - Elmhurst
York Community High School - Elmhurst
Northern Illinois University
B.S. in Education

Occupation

Former Director of Technology - District 205 —24.75 Years
Former owner and president of School Technology Services — 15 Years
Currently - Retired

Campaign website

www.mulliner4mayor.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Former Elmhurst Library Board of Trustees
• Vice-Chair of Facilities Committee
• Chair of Facilities Committee
• Vice-President of Elmhurst Library Board of Trustees
• Currently - 7th Ward Alderman
• Committee member; Public Affairs and Safety
• Vice-Chair of Public Affairs and Safety Committee
• Chair of Public Affairs and Safety Committee
• Committee member; Finance, Council Affairs, and Administrative Services
• Committee member; Development, Planning and Zoning
• Vice-Chair of Development, Planning and Zoning Committee
• Committee member; City, Park and School District Committee
• Elmhurst Economic Development Commission; ex officio member
• Veterans Memorial Commission; ex officio member

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

As mayor, I will continue to build a community that is inviting and attractive to new residents. I will work to make sure that those residents, who have made Elmhurst what it is today, are able to afford to stay in Elmhurst after they retire.
I will balance the need for economic development while maintaining our fundamental character as a family friendly, residential community.
Here is one concrete example of what I mean: Let’s take the downtown “donut hole” (the parking lot behind the retail buildings between Addison and York, and First and Second Streets) and transform it from a paved parking lot into an entertainment venue; a grassy eating and play area surrounded by alfresco dining venues for citizens to enjoy live music or movies with their children during the warm weather, and an ice skating rink in wintertime.

Additionally, I will work to eliminate unnecessary government spending by working with all government agencies in Elmhurst identifying areas of overlapping operations and work together to find and implement increased efficiencies and achieve cost savings.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

RESPECT ELMHURST

Realizing I/we are human beings and sometimes make mistakes, I will make my best effort to…:

- LISTEN to those who have opinions which differ from mine/ours.
- TREAT others in a kind manner, regardless of their age, gender, political affiliation, religion, race, sexual orientation or any other differences we my have.
- REFRAIN from name calling, profanity or other practices only meant to hurt others and not be constructive.
- OPEN my/our mind(s) and, at least, consider other viewpoints.
- ALLOW others to share their views with me/us, so long as they treat me/us with the same RESPECT I/we am willing to give them.

…whether my/our comments are made in person, via social media, traditional media, or other written communication.

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

RESPECT ELMHURST

Realizing I/we are human beings and sometimes make mistakes, I will make my best effort to…:

- LISTEN to those who have opinions which differ from mine/ours.
- TREAT others in a kind manner, regardless of their age, gender, political affiliation, religion, race, sexual orientation or any other differences we my have.
- REFRAIN from name calling, profanity or other practices only meant to hurt others and not be constructive.
- OPEN my/our mind(s) and, at least, consider other viewpoints.
- ALLOW others to share their views with me/us, so long as they treat me/us with the same RESPECT I/we am willing to give them.

…whether my/our comments are made in person, via social media, traditional media, or other written communication.

What are your thoughts on the national and local coronavirus response? Do you favor measures such as limiting operation of non-essential businesses and restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a local mask mandate?

Safety is the most important thing for all. Businesses and individuals need to take personal responsibility. Our businesses are all essential to someone, whether it’s because of the services they provide or the livelihood that business provides for the owner and their employees.

I look forward to the day we are all vaccinated and life gets back to normal.

What are your thoughts on the state and local coronavirus vaccine distribution, and how do you think local governments should work together to handle vaccine rollout?

Safety is the most important thing for all people. It is important for the City Government to focus our resources to help the medical experts distribute the vaccine in the most efficient and effective way possible. The city can also play a role by providing up to date information on the rollout as we can, to our citizens. We can also direct people to the official websites for up to the minute information. Edward Elmhurst Healthcare has been working with the county, state and federal officials to get the vaccine out in an appropriate fashion. It is important that people contact their medical provider for the most up to date information about vaccine distribution.
For general information on the rollout, visit one of the following websites:
Dupage County — https://www.dupagehealth.org/6...
Edward Elmhurst Healthcare — https://www.eehealth.org/coronavirus/.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have lived in Elmhurst my entire life. Elmhurst is a fundamental part of who I am. I was educated in our community’s schools and graduated from York High School in 1976. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life working to make our town a better place to live. I spent the majority of my career working in our school district and over the past four decades, I’ve spent thousands of hours volunteering in our community, serving on the library board, serving as alderman, serving on the veterans memorial commission, the economic development commission, helping save and restore symbols of our past and and preserving our heritage like the copula from the old Elmhurst Hospital.

I bring a history of Elmhurst, a perspective of the operation of the City of Elmhurst, and City Council and vision for Elmhurst that is unique. Additionally, now that I am retired, I have the time to devote to being Mayor.
I’ve spent my life doing my best to make our city a better place to live, and making sure that Elmhurst continues to be the best place to live in Illinois.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

- I will work to preserve, and enhance Elmhurst as a family friendly community while ensuring those who have made Elmhurst a safe, prosperous, and inviting community can spend their retirement here.
- I believe that the City Council, the School District’s Board of Education and the Park District’s Board should meet together at least twice a year to create a short and long term vision for Elmhurst. We need to identify areas of overlap, and work together to to find economies of scale to reduce our citizen’s tax burden. For example: why does each agency mow their own grass? That task seems to be a natural function for Park District. We can divide the cost by acreage for each taxing body; why does the school district have a maintenance garage of it’s own? The city and parks share the public works garage, let’s invite the school district to share the city’s garage and implement a cost sharing program like the one we have with the Park District today why not have one, bigger, more cost efficient, paving contract each year to take care of all three agencies paving needs -and share the savings.
- As mayor I will work with all school districts (District 205, Salt Creek and District 88), the park district, the library and any other government agency to maximize the use of our tax dollars. We will hold semi-annual meetings of all overlapping government agencies in order to share our short and long term plans and improve communications.
- Our small to mid-sized businesses and the economic development they provide is the backbone to a healthy community. The City must do everything in it’s power to create an environment where businesses can safely operate. We need to all we can to help our businesses stay open and expand.
- Provide the leadership needed to keep the city’s overall infrastructure updated.
- Provide the leadership needed to keep the fire department staff highly trained and effective in fire fighting, emergency medical services, and specialized rescue, to maintain the city’s ISO Class 1 rating.
- Provide the leadership needed to keep the police department staff highly trained and effective, continue the use of social worker partnership, the Citizens Police Academy, the DARE program, the Public Roll Calls and the SALT program, in addition to general community outreach programs.
- Continue to promote community outreach through the fire department programs, the police department; learn not to burn, fire preventive week and the annual fire house open houses, to name just a few

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

- I worked with ComEd to get the electric grid in Elmhurst updated and improve it’s reliability, reducing the frequency of power outages in our neighborhoods.
- I worked to create intergovernmental agreements, for storm water mitigation , and agreements for economic development that helped increase the tax base in Elmhurst.
- As Alderman I worked to hold the line on excessive spending, while holding the line on taxation.
- I was a lead voice on the City Council to promote the discussion and implementation of the ballot question to oppose Dual Elected positions in Elmhurst.
- I listen to my constituents on a daily basis and relay any issues to the city and do my best to make sure they are addressed.
- When our streets flood, and in other times of crisis, you can find me driving or walking in my ward and/or city wide bringing my constituent’s concerns to the city administration in order to assist in any way that is needed.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

will make Elmhurst City Government work for the benefit of all people. I will work and plan with our intergovernmental partners, not force a plan upon them. I will work tirelessly to make Elmhurst the destination city among all of the Chicago suburbs. I will do my best to maintain our heritage of great schools, safe streets, and beautiful parks.

Why should voters trust you?

I do my best to earn our community’s trust every day. As I mentioned previously, judge me by my track record as an alderman and community volunteer

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

The City of Elmhurst is entrusted with150 million dollars each year of our taxpayer’s money. We employ professionals to carry out our daily business functions. The Mayor and all other elected officials are the Board of Directors of the City of Elmhurst.
I am a fiscal conservative. I will make sure we use every tax dollar wisely in order to improve the quality of life for our citizens. I will make sure we don’t ask our taxpayers for any money we don’t absolutely need to achieve that goal.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

I pledge to serve out my entire term as Mayor. Mayor is the only office I want. I’ve run for the position in the past, and I’m running again. Becoming your Mayor is not a stepping stone for me; I have no political ambitions to any higher office. I love our city and I want to do what is best for Elmhurst, and only Elmhurst, as your Mayor.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Listen; you may learn something, and in the end the outcome will always be better if we listen.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am a life-long resident of Elmhurst; I was born and raised in our Elmhurst community, attended college and then returned to Elmhurst. I married my wife, Barb, and we raised our two children, Jason and Amanda. together, while I worked in our school district, and then opened my own business, while Barb taught in our schools for her entire career. Our children have followed our example and live in Elmhurst, because there is no better place to raise a family.

I love Elmhurst and the people who live here. Since the early 1980′s I have been attending city council meetings and working to make Elmhurst a better place. I sat on the Elmhurst Library Board of Trustees for 6 years, before running for alderman of the 7th ward. I’ve been working as an alderman to help the city maintain its traditions as well as moving us forward into the 21st century.

I know there are a number of issues that continue to need to be addressed in the years to come. We need to make sure that the city provides those core items of infrastructure, streets, sidewalks, water and sewers as well as to provide opportunities for economic development in the city, thus increasing the tax base in order to keep homeowners taxes low.

I believe that Elmhurst is a city that people are proud to call home, and that we need to be inviting to the newest residents and work to make sure that those who came before should be able to afford to stay in Elmhurst after they retire.

I firmly believe Elmhurst is the greatest city in Illinois.