9 Joliet Milestones: Mayor O'Dekirk Proud He's 'Ultra Aggressive'

JOLIET, IL — For the first time since defeating Tom Giarrante in 2015, Joliet's two-term Mayor Bob O'Dekirk has a difficult re-election against popular Joliet businessman Terry D'Arcy of D'Arcy Motors. On Wednesday, O'Dekirk used his annual state of the city address to reflect on his eight years as mayor and where Joliet is headed over the next eight years.

O'Dekirk organized his PowerPoint presentation into nine different themes. He also began his presentation by making fun of The Herald-News, Joliet's small daily newspaper.

The mayor told the crowd of at least 350 people that he wanted to make sure he talked loud enough, so people seated in the back of the 176 West banquet hall heard his presentation.

"I'll talk loud and hopefully The Herald-News doesn't say I was screaming at the audience," O'Dekirk remarked, drawing lots of laughter and people exclaiming "Ha, Ha, Ha."

From that point forward, O'Dekirk's message took on a serious tone.

The mayor pointed out how Joliet's gambling revenue has continued to drop dramatically as new casinos have opened throughout the Chicago region, plus the influx of video gaming slot machines at bars and businesses.

At one point, Joliet made $36 million from Harrah's and Hollywood Casino, originally known as Empress Casino. In 2014, Joliet made $19.1 million and in 2020, Joliet's casino revenue was $13.8 million. Despite the huge drop in gaming revenue, "we've been able to overcome it," O'Dekirk remarked.

The main reason? O'Dekirk cited his "ultra-aggressive approach" attracting more business investment, private investment and development into Joliet.

When he first got elected to the Joliet City Council in 2011, O'Dekirk said City Hall did not even have an economic development director. In those days, Mayor Giarrante had a small committee of "local business guys" who met in private with Giarrante. No news media could attend and there was no meeting agenda, O'Dekirk told everyone.

Under his time as mayor, "there are no secret committees. There are no backroom deals," O'Dekirk told the crowd at 176 West.

As for his nine PowerPoint slides:

No. 1 New Will County Courthouse in downtown Joliet. The mayor said there was initially a push by some people to move the courthouse out toward New Lenox near the new Silver Cross Hospital campus close to Interstate 355. Joliet was able to retain the county seat and keep it downtown.

No. 2 Houbolt Road Bridge over the Des Plaines River at Route 6. It's expected to open in a couple of months to divert semi-trailer traffic away from Joliet thoroughfares including South Chicago Street and Briggs Street, O'Dekirk reminded everyone.

No. 3: Cullinan Property near Interstate 55 and Interstate 80, where infrastructure and new roads are well underway and construction of the new Hollywood Casino and hotel will begin this year. The Rock Run Crossings development includes "active discussions with entertainment, hospitality, health care, office, retail and restaurant users."

No. 4: Prison Redevelopment. Built in 1858, the Old Joliet Prison was left abandoned by the Illinois Department of Corrections for 15 years and became the target of repeat vandalism and multiple arson fires during the summer of 2017.

"I said enough is enough," O'Dekirk remarked during his state of the city. "The city needed to take it over, and the story has been tremendous. About 90 percent of the work and improvements were from volunteers who saw a value of saving that property."

No. 5: Development in the South, notably Amazon creating 3,500 new jobs, Lion Electric and NorthPoint. Lion Electric is the Canadian-based electric bus and school bus manufacturer that just opened its first plant in the U.S. here in Joliet off Youngs Road near Route 6. Excavation for NorthPoint got underway last summer along Route 53 near Elwood.

NorthPoint means billions of dollars of investment for Joliet, "A Billion with a B," O'Dekirk declared.

No. 6: I-80 Repairs And Improvements O'Dekirk cited $1.4 billion committed to Interstate 80 by the state of Illinois over the coming years for additional lanes of traffic along Joliet's I-80 corridor "and a whole new bridge built over the Des Plaines River."

No. 7: Evolution of Louis Joliet Mall. Five or six years ago, O'Dekirk said, there was a feeling the Louis Mall was probably on its way out and in danger of closing. Now, the overwhelming majority of stores in the mall are filled, the empty Sears property was just bought by a suburban Chicago luxury auto dealership and redevelopment around the perimeter of the mall remains strong.

No. 8: New Corporate Headquarters. O'Dekirk cited Joliet becoming the new corporate headquarters for four different companies.

No. 9: Water Project. Joliet worked out a long-time agreement to acquire its future drinking water from Chicago through a pipeline that will be built to Lake Michigan. Before he became mayor, O'Dekirk said, there was no discussion about the water crisis the city was facing.

The long-term deal with Chicago "is a complete overhaul of our water system," O'Dekirk remarked."

Reflections on 2022:

Last year included several major announcements for Joliet, O'Dekirk said. Last June, Tony's Fresh Market opened at the blighted and vacant Kmart property at Joliet's busiest intersection. Last February, VASA Fitness opened at the former Ultra Foods grocery store in the North Ridge Plaza, as did the nation's first Portillo's Pickup. Last year, Hollywood Casino announced it would stay in Joliet and build a new casino and hotel at the Cullinan Property. And last year meant th new construction for Joliet's new Olive Garden restaurant.

If the turnout for Olive Garden is anything like the interest in getting an Olive Garden for Joliet, "Olive Garden will probably be printing money," O'Dekirk said, laughing.

"Their opening is coming soon," Joliet's mayor assured the crowd.

On April 4, O'Dekirk will be on the ballot seeking a third four-year term. He's opposed by prominent long-time Joliet businessman Terry D'Arcy. A third challenger, Tycee Bell, is also on the ballot. Five Joliet City Council seats will all have contested races as well.