Jessica Petrow, Frankfort Village Trustee Candidate

FRANKFORT, IL — Jessica Petrow is a candidate for Village of Frankfort trustee. There are five candidates running for three open positions in this race.

The consolidated election is April 4.

You can find Petrow's answers to the Patch candidate questionnaire below:

Your Name:

Jessica Petrow

Age (as of Election Day):

42

Town/City of Residence:

Frankfort

Office sought:

Village board

Party Affiliation (if a partisan race):

Non-partisan

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My husband, Ryan Petrow, has worked for the Village of Mokena Public Works department as an operator since 2008.

Education:

Eastern Illinois University, Bachelor of Science - Business / Marketing, 2002

Lincoln-Way High School, 1998

Occupation:

I have spent 20 years working in the pharmaceutical / biotechnology industry and currently the National Director, Thought Leader Liaisons - Respiratory & Gastroenterology at Regeneron, a leading biotechnology company that invents, develops, and commercializes life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.

Campaign Website or Facebook:

HTTPS://www.petrowfortrustee.c...

HTTPS://www.facebook.com/petro...
HTTPS://www.instagram.com/petr...

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

Elected 2019 4-year term and currently serving as a Village of Frankfort Trustee
Appointed 2016-2019 Village of Frankfort Plan Commissioner
Appointed 2015-2016 Village of Frankfort Committee Member

The most pressing issues facing our (board, district, etc.) are _______, and this is what I intend to do about them.

1. Economic Development. I will work to attract more businesses to downtown Frankfort while preserving its historic value. We need to proactively recruit businesses to fill vacant properties and encourage infill developments. I will work with the board to apply fair, consistent, and transparent economic business incentives.

2. Public Safety. I will support dedicated police patrols to deter criminals from coming to Frankfort. Provide more resources for School Resource Officer training and expand daily foot patrols around and in our schools. Coordinate with other government entities for enhanced safety at large community events like Fall Fest and Frankfort Bluegrass Festival.

3. Fiscal Responsibility & Transparency. I will continue to maintain a balanced budget, while investing in essential village services. I will support critical infrastructure improvements to our local roads and village owned public utilities. Increase transparency by live-streaming ALL Village of Frankfort public meetings.

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

As a lifelong resident of the Lincoln-Way area and a fifth generation Frankfort resident I have experienced first hand the growth of our community. The biggest challenge with growth is balancing that with our town’s charm. Over the last eight years, I have been intimately involved with understanding just how we do that.

I have developed the foundations of knowledge to help lead our local government. This includes understanding our village’s history, our ordinances, planning and zoning, how to actively involve and host public comment, knowing the roles and responsibilities of your elected officials and developing rapport and relationships with your Village of Frankfort staff. I will leverage that experience to help further our economic development, ensure public safety, maintain our healthy fiscal position, and increase transparency.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)? Or what changes would you like to see?

N/A

Describe the other issues or ideas that define your campaign platform:

Frankfort has seen a significant amount of change in leadership over the last two years. We have a new mayor, a new fire chief, a new police chief and a new school superintendent. Surprisingly, on the heels of completing my first term as trustee I am one of the two senior trustees running for re-election. Serving as a committee member, plan commissioner and trustee has given me the opportunity to develop the necessary knowledge to lead our community effectively and collaborate with new community leaders. Our village board needs experience to ground us with where we have been and where we are going!

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

I currently serve as a Trustee and previously served as a Plan Commissioner for the Village of Frankfort. Professionally, I lead a national team where my responsibilities include leading with a vision, managing million dollar budgets, project management, and human resources.

Why should voters trust you?

My husband often jokes that I am your typical first-born, type A, rule follower, straight A student (p.s. he’s a middle child). Those who know me, interact with me, follow me, come to board meetings, attend committee meetings, participate in our local events know that my love for Frankfort comes a close second to my family. I have a proven track record of educating myself, working with our staff to further understand our village’s needs, and listening to you - the residents. I do “my homework”, come prepared to have discussions with the board, and do not shy away from bringing up resident concerns where we can have an impact. One of my goals during the last term was to connect more residents with our local government and we have been able to make significant progress by enhancing the Village of Frankfort website, updating our technology for payments / permits and even rolling out a new social media page. There is still work to be done and I would like to see us leverage our technology in place to also broadcast our committee meetings in the future.

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

My family and I have lived in our community for the past century. From my great grand parents to myself, it is important that our village continues to make progress. I believe that we have made progress over the past four years, but it is important to continue on that progress.

In my next term, one of the most important goals that I want to accomplish is to continue the economic development of our historic downtown, while preserving its charm. I want to see the village owned properties sold and / or developed to finish rounding out our beloved downtown Frankfort. What is exciting, is that we have momentum with renovations and new development - and momentum creates momentum!

We also need to stay current with evolving trends to market Frankfort to fill current vacancies. The Butera closing is a perfect example, where your village board and staff, can leverage new retail analysis that include cell phone data, which shows not only who lives in Frankfort but who comes to Frankfort. This can make our community more attractive to the developments that residents have asked for.

Lastly, we have approved a new economic incentive plan that is available to all our businesses and developments. One area that I would like to see increased utilization of these grants is for existing developments that want to invest in facade, parking and other enhancements. This helps keep Frankfort to the high standards we expect.

On a final note, it’s quite an honor to run for Village of Frankfort Trustee and be able to serve the community that raised me. I know my children and your children are watching the examples we show as community leaders.

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

One resident concern that runs true from all of Frankfort, is that we maintain a balanced budget while investing in our essential village services. As a trustee serving the Village of Frankfort, the combined funds balance nearly doubled from 2018 at $17,149mm to $34,647mm in 2022. This is due to proper budgetary planning, comprehensive audits and full transparency.

Residents of Frankfort expect the Village of Frankfort to utilize taxpayer dollars to invest in our community. Maintaining our local roads, sidewalks and village infrastructure is essential to ensuring Frankfort remains a beautiful place to live.

Frankfort’s economic base is built on our vibrant, local business district. I believe that proactively recruiting businesses and retaining our existing businesses is essential to our village’s continued success.

I will ensure responsible budgeting with the highest ethical standards.

Do you support the Illinois assault weapons ban, and would you support a local assault weapons ban in this community?

The Illinois General Assembly enacted an assault weapons ban this past fall. As a result, a series of lawsuits were filed in circuit courts across Illinois. My anticipation is that it will reach the level of the Illinois Supreme Court, where they will render a judicial decision.

It is important to review the decision by the Supreme Court and analyze their opinions prior to considering any ordinance.

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

Your Village of Frankfort board has made progress, but not in all areas and I think we can do more. One area that can easily include more diversity is bringing back our resident committees. These committees were instrumental in me “dipping my toe” into government without a large investment in time. Here more people can peek behind the curtain, get to know your elected officials, review policies, proposals, and truly advice from a resident lens. When leadership changed these committees were dismantled and I would like to see them renewed.

I often quote Aristotle when I think of a diverse board, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Do you support the SAFE-T Act? Why or why not?

I am proud of Frankfort’s excellent police force and robust public safety resources. I am committed to proactively working with our police force and other local law enforcement agencies to ensure quality public safety is being provided for all our residents.

I do not support the SAFE-T Act. It has caused law enforcement officers and myself to have concern over ending cash bail in our state. The Illinois Supreme Court will hear the case and I believe will be found to be unconstitutional or have many portions removed under the severability clause.

What are your thoughts on the crime rate in your community, and what more can be done to combat crime — especially violent crime — in town?

Everyone deserves to feel safe in Frankfort. Unfortunately we have seen crime rates flux over time. While serving on the board I voted in favor to increase our police officers. This allowed officers to have additional dedicated patrols and community policing officers including a Student Resource Officer to deter crime in your neighborhoods and schools.

I will continue to advocate for the coordination between local law enforcements, Will County Sheriff’s Department and the Illinois State Police to enhance security at large village events like Fall Fest and Bluegrass Festival. I want to further community policing by having police officers engage residents outside of their police cars - by foot, in business, on bike.

We can invite residents to participate in a community response team, which would educate people about disaster response skills, fire safety, rescue, first aid to assist in their local neighborhoods when first responders are not immediately available.

What is your view of the city's/village's approach to commercial and residential development?

If you want to be an expert in the understanding the village’s approach to commercial and residential development then you should apply for the plan commission. It was my years spent as a plan commissioner, attending annual American Planning Association training courses, helping to create Frankfort’s comprehensive plan and adopting that award winning plan in 2019 that gives me the utmost confidence in our village’s approach to development.

“Your Future, Your Frankfort” focuses on maintaining Frankfort’s high standards in both commercial and residential development. It highlights design guidelines that help keep our historic feel of Frankfort in our downtown commercial and residential areas. It identifies village-owned property suited for business use and economic development. It supports the redevelopment of existing buildings while maintaining existing charm.

As a trustee, I want to continue and expand on the successes your village board has started. I want to proactively recruit businesses through retail demand outlooks and highlight Frankfort for small market concepts. I will apply a fair, consistent, and transparent business incentive program and continue the revitalization of historic downtown Frankfort by expanding parking options to include electric vehicle stations.

When it comes to development, what are some key areas for improvement or additions you feel are most wanted by residents? What will need to be done to make this happen?

The board adopted our award winning comprehensive plan in December of 2019, which is truly a compilation of the resident’s input, planning commissioners, elected officials and your village staff coming together to outline the future of Frankfort. It is our job as elected officials and your village staff to look for opportunities to help bring this plan to life. I’ll highlight three that were reoccurring themes as I knocked on your doors this year.

1. Downtown Frankfort - you LOVE it! You want more access to it - i.e. bike trials / walkability / parking. You want more in it - arts, more dining, quick service dining, entertainment, music, lights. AND you want us to maintain the charm and feel of it!

2. No vacancy here! You want Frankfort to maintain its high standards for new and existing developments. You want “amazon proof” businesses, experiences, and small market concepts for our community.

3. Maintain & Invest in our Infrastructure! You want the roads resurfaced, maintained, plowed and cleaned. You also want us to invest in large scale projects that make sense for the community like Pfeiffer road extension and at the same time take care with new traffic and changes to local areas.

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

No

The best advice ever shared with me was:

1. Look for the quick wins! When you are taking on a new role or bringing a team together find a few areas where you can build consensus quickly and celebrate the “wins”!

2. Don’t let PERFECT, get in the way of BETTER! As a recovering perfectionist, this was a game changer - it allows you to think about small progress. I have learned over the last 8 years that things move slower (for good reasons: open meetings act, transparency, public comment) and it’s ok to make changes over time that better our community.

3. One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.

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

I have been married to my best friend / sign delivery man, Ryan, for 16 years. Ryan and I always knew we wanted Frankfort to be our home and we are raising our three children Carsyn (14), Harper (11) and Callan (6) here. They already have a love for our town and maybe know a little more about local government than your average student. My family knows that Frankfort is a special place to live, I’m proud to call it home and will do my best to represent this wonderful community as your Village of Frankfort Trustee.