Meet Your April 9 Candidates: Mary Marusek

Meet candidate Mary Marusek, who is running for Niles village trustee in the April 9 election. Marusek, who frequently attends village board meetings, formerly worked in the village of Glenview's finance department. She recently helped circulate petitions for a term limits referendum in Niles.

Here is her Candidate Questionnaire; following are previous Patch articles about her.

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Name: Mary Marusek    

Age: 70

How long have you lived in Niles?  47 years 

Family: Husband of almost 50 years, John; Son, Paul; Daughters Mary Jane and Joan, and eight grandchildren, four boys and four girls ranging from college student to 4 year old
Education: BA Hiram College, major Elementary Education.  Also took accounting courses.
Occupation: retired from Village of Glenview, Finance Dept.

Previous  Elected or Appointed Offices (please include years of service):   

1. Commissioner, Niles Park District, appointed 1978-79, elected 1981-89. Served as President, Vice President and appointed as Treasurer.  
2. Appointed member of Village of Niles Community Relations Committee-  currently a member 

Other community involvement:  

1. Previously Member and President of League of Women Voters   
2. Member, Elder and former Treasurer of Niles Community Church   
3. Board member of Oakton Manor Homeowners Association   
4. Member of St. John Brebeuf Athletic Board   
5. Volunteer at various elementary schools   
6. Volunteer - English as a Second Language                     

Campaign E-mail address (for publication):  
Campaign committee (names and contact info): Responsible Leadership for Niles Party  312 307-9516
Campaign Website:www.Niles2013.com
Campaign Facebook: 

1. Why are you running for this office? 

Mary Marusek: We are at a crucial point in Niles now.  We need to make important decisions about future development and I feel I have the experience to contribute to those decisions.  I have the experience, energy and persistence to help Niles grow through honest and transparent government. 

Serving as a Niles Village Trustee is a continuation of my years of community involvment. I ran as an independent candidate with Carol Panek in 1991 and again with Rosemary Palicki in 2011. 

I have attended village board meetings and frequently spoken to issues such as open budget meetings. I have been involved in local government for over 40 years.  

2. What are the top issues facing the village of Niles right now, in your view?

Niles needs to commit to providing great services at a time while we are all facing financial challenges.   We need to ensure that through strong and honest management and efficient spending we can keep Niles a village that is desirable as a place to live and is recognized by others with awards.  

3. How should the village be addressing these issues?

We should listen to new ideas and be very open to residents' concerns.  The goals we have for the future of Niles will depend on strong professional experience, from the board members as well as the employees. 

We cannot tolerate the secrecy of the past. 

The more information is shared and choices are explained, the greater the opportunity for wise, informed decision. 

4. What ideas do you have to improve the village, whether in services, economic development, transportation, outreach to residents, communication, environment or other areas?   

We need to listen to the citizens of Niles as well as being open with the citizens about all decisions that are made by Village leadership.  I have advocated more community involvement for years now. 

After waiting for years, and long after all the neighboring communities have adopted open meetings, all committee and budget meetings are open to residents and board meetings are televised. 

We need to protect that progress and insure that we take advantage of all opportunities to encourage resident input.  I am committed to two-way communication with all citizens of Niles. 

Development and transportation are areas that especially depend on good management and planning.  The new board members will be involved in a search for a new villlage manager in the coming months.  An important part of that search should be to insure the new manager has the professional experience, integrity, and knowledge to ensure Niles' ability to continue to grow. 

5. What accomplishments, in public or community service or your professional life, would you like voters to know about?

I have years of experience with municipal funding, budgeting and in planning for future development.  

While on the park board, we refinanced the park district’s debt to save the district and the taxpayers money. 

I have always been an independent voice on any board I have served on.  I have never been a rubber stamp for any leader.  I think it is important that as a member of community boards I have been able to work through diverse opinions and views to reach a consensus and achieve common goals. 

Being able to serve as an effective board member when the board is divided is a skill I will contribute to the board. 

6. Niles has a reputation as a thriving business community and it won the Best Affordable Place to Raise Kids honor from Bloomberg/Business Week. What do you envision for its future?

I expect Niles to continue to be as great a place for families as it has been in the past. My husband and I have lived in Niles since we purchased our first home here over 40 years ago.  It has been a great place for our family as well as a wonderful place for my elderly mother who moved here to be near me. 

It is up to the board to ensure that Niles remains affordable to families and seniors who have spent their whole lives here. These are not easy economic times, and we simply can’t afford any waste, special pension deals, or favors for friends. We need to look for efficient ways to continue to provide services for all ages: young families, teens, and seniors.  I believe we will do that with good planning, and excellent management of money and staff resources. 

7. Niles is divided between two townships, two high school districts and multiple elementary school districts. It does not have a downtown or a high school. In light of this fractionalization, what can be done to give Niles a sense of unity?  

Community does not have to be centered around a place.  It can be built around a group of people.  We have a teen center as well as a senior center.  Park programs bring together people not only from various school districts but also from private schools.  We have churches that bring people together.  

Cooperation between the village, schools, the park district and library district can enhance the community feeling. We need to encourage activities that unite us and neighborhood activities that the Oakton Manor Homeowners Association used to organize. 

We had a neighborhood parade, 4th of July party, a Santa visit and even a kazoo band -The Merry Merrill Marchers. 

8. Anything else you would like to add? 

We can learn from the past but there is no need to dwell on it as "the Good Ol Days".  I believe Niles has many many good days in its future.  We need to concentrate on what we can do to ensure that our future is not just good, but great!  Through honesty and openness, I will work with all the people of Niles to keep improving Niles so it will continue to be a very special place to live.

Previous articles about Mary Marusek

Letter to the Editor from Mary Marusek: Need to End the Secrecy of Niles' Corrupt Past