Annual dinner also highlights Aurora Mayor Weisner as Leader of the Year
Reforming public safety pensions and protecting local government funding are atop the list of legislative priorities for the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference in 2015, the 33-member council of government announced during its 2015 Legislative Reception and Dinner last week.
In addition, DMMC awarded Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner its 2014 Governmental Leader of the Year award during the annual event held in Lisle.
Roselle Mayor Gayle Smolinski, who also serves as DMMC Vice President, presented Weisner with the award and recognized the three-term mayor for his leadership on regional issues such as reforming public safety pensions, improving rail freight safety and promoting sustainable water planning.
“Mayor Weisner is a leader on the regional, state and national level,” said Smolinski, noting that Weisner represents the second largest city in the state and recently served as Chairman of the Chicago Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. “He has set a strong example for his fellow municipal officials with his innovation and efficiency in Aurora.”
Legislative objectives
DMMC also laid out its legislative agenda, noting that for the past several years, cities and villages throughout the county have been cutting back to balance their budgets and doing more with less as costs have continued to increase. As a result, local governments had been forced to begin eliminating essential programs, curbing constituent services, delaying projects and laying off workers, including police and firefighters.
DMMC warned that the skyrocketing costs of police and firefighter pensions are placing an unsustainable burden on local governments as the gap between what municipalities pay each year and what is owed continues to increase. Meanwhile, DMMC is voicing concerns that the state could try to take money from the Local Government Distributive Fund, or locally generated revenue that is legally owed to local communities for local services.
“This is a critical time for cities and villages throughout the state,” said DMCC Executive Director Mark Baloga. “The decisions made by the State Legislature and Governor Rauner this session will have a profound impact not only on the future of local government but the local property taxes that residents pay, the essential services that municipalities provide for their citizens and the future retirement benefits of municipal employees. We all have to work together to find common ground and long-term solutions that will fix these problems.”
In addition to pension reform and protecting local funds, DMMC also called on lawmakers to amend the state’s Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA), the Illinois Labor Relations Act and the Workers’ Compensation Act to reduce the burden on municipalities and level the playing field for local governments in an effort to protect taxpayers against duplicative and exorbitant pay outs.
In addition, the DuPage mayors are calling on lawmakers to remove the distinction between home rule and non-home rule communities to recognize the ability of all municipalities to govern themselves, regardless of population.
DMMC is also urging lawmakers to support a “true” western entrance to Chicago O’Hare International Airport via the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway and to adopt a new metric for measuring sound to provide communities near O’Hare with a more accurate means of documenting airplane noise.
Which municipalities are members of DMMC?
The 33-member conference is comprised of Addison, Village of; Aurora, City of; Bartlett, Village of; Bensenville, Village of; Bloomingdale, Village of ; Bolingbrook, Village of ; Burr Ridge, Village of ; Carol Stream, Village of;
Clarendon Hills, Village of ; Downers Grove, Village of; Elmhurst, City of; Glen Ellyn, Village of; Glendale Heights, Village of ; Hanover Park, Village of ; Hinsdale, Village of ; Itasca, Village of; Lisle, Village of; Lombard, Village of; Naperville, City of; Oak Brook, Village of; Oakbrook Terrace, City of; Roselle, Village of; Schaumburg, Village of; Villa Park, Village of; Warrenville, City of; Wayne, Village of; West Chicago, City of; Westmont, Village of; Wheaton, City of; Willowbrook, Village of; Winfield, Village of; Wood Dale, City of; and Woodridge, Village of.
For more information, visit www.dmmc-cog.org.
News release submitted by Robert Klaus
