Meet Your Morton Grove Candidates: Bill Grear

The local election April 9 will be an important one, because village and school boards have more power over the property taxes you pay, and the local services you receive, than politicians in Washington do. Inform yourself by reading candidate profiles on Patch.com, and cast an informed ballot on April 9.

Bill Grear is an incumbent Village of Morton Grove trustee who is seeking re-election.

Name: William “Bill” Grear

Age: 55

How long have you lived in Morton Grove? 55 years

Family: 
 My wife Janice and I have been married for over 30 years. We have 3 adult children

Education:  St. Martha Elementary  & Notre Dame High School.

Occupation: 
 36 years USPS employee

Previous Elected or Appointed Offices (please include years of service): Village Trustee-4 years

Other community involvement: Lifelong resident of Morton Grove;  Coach, St. Martha –over 20 years; Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce-Village Liaison; Action Party member - 25 years;  Morton Grove Days Committee-Director & Raffle Chair;

Campaign E-mail address (for publication): friendsofdandimaria@gmail.com

Campaign committee (names and contact info): Friends of Dan DiMaria & Action Party of Morton Grove

c/o Bill Grear 847-966-5150

Campaign Website:
 www.dimariaformg.com & www.actionparty.org

Campaign Facebook: www.facebook.com/DiMariaForMortonGrove

Campaign Twitter: none

1. 1.       Why are you running for this office? It has been my privilege to have served the Village for the past four years as a Trustee. We have accomplished many positive things for the Village, but there is much more to be done. As a lifelong resident of the Village, I have a passion for Morton Grove. I enjoy working with our residents, businesses and employees, and I want to make sure that we maintain our excellent services at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers.

1. 2.       What is your assessment of Morton Grove's condition right now? Over the last four years we upgraded our water system and repaired miles of roads. We have worked hard to balance our budget without raising property taxes. However, we need to keep investing in our infrastructure, and I am concerned that some budget cuts have hurt our residents.

1. What does Morton Grove need to address? How should it address this issue or issues?

• Our police station is too small and needs major renovations. We need to establish a plan and a budget to repair or replace it.
• I share Dan DiMaria’s commitment to bring more businesses to our Village. We need to have a unified plan to market Morton Grove to new businesses, and help existing businesses succeed.
• We have outsourced services which has saved us money, but  in some cases, this has resulted in less service and/or more costs to residents. The Village should reevaluate how these services are provided.

1. Most of the candidates have said that if elected, they will focus on economic development for Morton Grove. What does this mean to you?   We should have a business friendly environment so existing business succeed and stay in Morton Grove and new business want to locate here. As the liaison to the Chamber of Commerce, I know that the last several years have been tough on businesses. I support programs that help businesses increase their sales which in turn bring more revenue to the Village and help pay for Village services.

1. 5.       Please give specifics about what you would do to bring more business into Morton Grove, and retain business already here, to strengthen the tax base. We should start with a strategic economic development plan so residents can provide input and support for incentive programs. We should consider joint marketing programs with our businesses (like Evanston currently does) and provide incentives (façade improvement grants or revenue sharing agreements) for businesses that want to locate here or expand.

1. What should the village's response be if Lakeshore Waste presents to the village an application to locate a recycling center on its property on Oakton? Our first response should be to get complete information from the business, and then share that information with the residents. The application would require public meetings before the Appearance Committee , Traffic & Safety Commission and the Plan Commission. These meetings are open to the public, and residents should be given a full opportunity to ask questions and express heir concerns. The application should only be approved if the business will not negatively impact the surrounding neighborhoods.

1. 7.       In its efforts to attract business, should the village accept businesses such as the Tilted Kilt restaurant and bar (an idea which was proposed and later withdrawn)? We should not accept or reject any business until we know all the facts.

1. 8.       Anything else you would like to add?  I want to thank the residents of Morton Grove for letting me be your representative. I am looking forward to working with our Village Board, employees, residents and businesses to improve our Village over the next 4 years. I urge everyone to get involved, and please contact me if you have any concerns or suggestions.