Edward O'Rourke Makes Election Plans for Plainfield Village Council

I am writing today to introduce myself, my name is Edward O’Rourke and I am running in the April 7 Consolidated Election as a candidate for Village of Plainfield Trustee.

My philosophy of public service is twofold:

1. To make my best decisions, in the interest of our residents, for the right reasons. I have no hidden agendas or alternative motives to serve as Village Trustee except to help make a positive contribution to the quality of life in our great community.
2. To provide our residents and business owners with a dependable level of village services. Balancing quality and cost to maintain a level of services that are acceptable to our community and will not bust our budgets.

I believe in making the right choices for the right reasons.

The top three (3) issues that I feel are important to our community include:

Traffic. Congestion is an issue that many residents continue to bring up as a concern. With traffic and all other Village issues, Balance is important. It is important to balance the cost of any improvements with the associated benefits.

• Short term – we need to look at optimizing and tweaking our current roadways and systems. We should be able to synchronize the timing of more traffic lights so that people are able to hit more green lights. Adding right turn lanes to major intersections would increase the amount of cars that get through each green light without having to construct completely new roadways. We need traffic reviews with the input from residents to help come up with viable solutions to reduce the speed of traffic within our subdivisions.
• Long term -- continue working with neighboring municipalities, state and federal agencies/officials on larger projects where we will need state or federal dollars to help with the cost; 143rd extension, I55 interchange, train overpasses.

Taxes. While the State of Illinois is in terrible shape financially, the Village of Plainfield is in good financial shape. I believe we always need to be vigilant in watching our expenses and budgets. A key priority for me is to work to keep taxes down while continuing to maintain a dependable level of village services. We need to live within our budget, while working to expand our retail and commercial tax base to take some burden off our homeowners.

Trains. Trains are a concern both in terms of inconvenient delays and also from a safety perspective. Higher train volumes have created more delays and increased the risk for a major accident or derailment. This is a difficult one to address given the Village has little control over the operations of the trains or tracks through our town. We need to continue conversations at our local level and also at the federal level for help with new laws and federal tax dollars that will help address some of the issues (overpasses).

Snow Plowing. After the winter of 2014/2015, we should probably include a fourth item – Snow Plowing. I believe the Village learned a lot from the blizzard of 2015 and trust they will continue to review its processes and procedures to be better prepared for next year. I feel this spring and summer will provide the time needed for a full review and possible “best practice” learning from other communities to help us be more prepared in the future. We need to be sure we have a solid plan going into our next winter.

Background/Experience:

Current Village of Plainfield Planning and Zoning Commissioner, (appointed)

10 years serving our community

Walker’s Grove HOA, Director 2 terms

Master of Science, Real Estate, Roosevelt University

B.S. Business Management, Eastern Illinois University

Corporate Real Estate, 20+ years.

I have worked for several national retail companies responsible for new store development. I know what retailers are looking for when they are deciding where to locate their next store. Attracting additional retailers to Plainfield will provide our residents with more shopping and dining choices while taking some of the tax burden off our homeowners.

Member: International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

A resident of the Village of Plainfield since 1996.