Meet the Village Trustee Candidates: Gary Ledvora

What do you need to know about this spring's village board trustee candidates? We will be running one candidate profile each day this week (in alphabetical order for fairness's sake) at 11 a.m.

Have questions? Keep these profiles for reference prior to the Mar. 23 , sponsored by the Lisle Area Chamber of Commerce, where the dialogue will be driven by resident questions.

Looking for a specific candidate's profile? Here's when to find them.

Monday: Mark Boyle

Tuesday: Cathy Cawiezel

Thursday: Richard Wilkie

Friday: Ed Young

Gary Ledvora

Gary Ledvora is running for village trustee to rein in Lisle’s excess spending by concentrating on the basic services provided by government.

Ledvora, a 19-year Lisle resident, ran for mayor in 2009 against Mayor Joe Broda and lost by 233 votes. He said many reasons why he ran then, are still prevalent.

“Much of it has to do with fiscal responsibility and the lack of it,” Ledvora said. “We’ve been running deficits for the past several years. Our government reserves have shrunk dramatically since many of the trustees came into the office and they’ve shrunk another $7 million from when I ran for mayor two years ago.”

Capital projects are increasing taxes, Ledvora said, and there has been a 5 percent utility tax increase in 2008 for ComEd and Nicor bills and a property rate increases of 2.3 and 3 percent the last two years, confirmed by Finance Director Kim Schiller.

“I feel we are spending a significant amount on capital projects that aren’t benefiting the whole village,” Ledvora said. “They are benefiting one small area of the village—the downtown. While that’s important, it doesn’t represent the whole village, and it’s draining our financial resources that is causing higher taxes.”

Ledvora said the $20 million Lisle Master Plan is not attracting businesses well and should be postponed until the economy improves. He supports Navistar being in Lisle, but said the hearings were handled poorly and there should be more government transparency.

“There was definitely significant discussion concerning Navistar behind closed doors and most of the information that was to be made public was not made public,” Ledvora said. “We need to let the public know what’s going on.”

He is concerned the village borrowed more than $7.3 million from the water revenue fund to finance the downtown’s capital additions.

“If we get dramatic problems with our water system like a gage breaking or some ongoing repair or some other catastrophe, we may run out of money and be forced to borrow money to replenish those funds,” Ledvora said. “The village shouldn’t borrow from one fund; they should be self-sustaining.”

With local, state and federal governments struggling financially, Ledvora said the basic forms of government like providing police and public works, water lines maintained should be emphasized instead of capital projects.

Ledvora received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University and works as a chief financial officer for Chicago Display Marketing Corporation. He is married to his wife, Colleen, and has five children—Patrick, Kathleen, Brenna, Barrett and Timothy. 

He has been active in many areas, including being a Lisle baseball manager and Lisle Park District basketball coach, a St. Joan of Arc volleyball and basketball head coach, a participant in Lisle Teens with Character and a member of the St. Joan of Arc Prayer Network.