Village Board Recap: New Trustee Welcomed, McGinn Honored

The Mokena Village Board said a tearful goodbye to one member and welcomed a new trustee at Monday night’s meeting.

Tears were flowing when board members thanked Trustee Jane McGinn for 20 years of service to the village, first as village clerk from 1991 to 2003 and then as a trustee from 2003 to 2011.

Among the well-wishers on hand in the packed room were members of McGinn’s family and two former mayors.

Village Administrator John Downs produced a short slideshow to honor McGinn, who retired from public life instead of seeking re-election in April.

Mayor Joe Werner thanked McGinn for her service and announced that a $1,000 scholarship in her honor would be handed out by the mayor’s charity foundation annually, starting in 2012.

After the almost hour-long tribute, returning trustees Debbie Engler and Dan Labriola along with newly elected Trustee Jim Richmond were sworn into office.

Permits OK'd for Sports Complex, Truck Dealership

Once it got down to action, the board wasted little time approving special-use permits for Quarry Fieldhouse, 8685 Spring Lake Drive, for an indoor softball and baseball training facility that expects to open this fall, and Central Illinois Trucking, for a Kenworth semi-truck dealership and service facility along Interstate 80 in the Corporate Corridors North industrial park between 88^th Avenue and 80^th Avenue.

Income Tax Reduction Formally Opposed

Trustees also quickly approved a resolution opposing the planned reduction in the state’s Local Government Distributive Fund.

As proposed by the General Assembly, local governments would see a reduction in their share of state income tax funds. For Mokena, that would translate to about $23.40 per resident, a total of $438,000.

Trustee Don Labriola called the proposed cutback “The king of dumb ideas.”

Trustee John Mazzorana said it was time for Springfield to “stop the shell game of moving money around without solving any of the problems.”

Trustee George Metanias said, “We can’t let them sneak this in. We did our job, now it’s time for lawmakers to do their job.”

Werner said the village has suffered through a bad economy and made some tough choices in balancing its budget. He said state lawmakers should do the same.

“If we give up this money, the residents are going to feel the pain,” he said. “It’s up to the public to hold them accountable, to make it stop.”