February 5, 2025 • 23 mins
This is was the first candidate meet and greet for the Village Board and Mayoral races. Mayor Frank Fleischer's "Mokena's Future" slate provided a spread of coffee, pastires and a chance to hear from their candidates.
When I planned to attend this event I thought I could put a quick set of clips together but the Mayor and his slate, for the first time, laid out their plans as well as talked about their opponents and how they differ. I think that a shorter video wouldn't have shared the message as well as I intended so you get to hear it all.
Let us know what you think and lets hear what is important to YOU this election! Share in the comments and please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Our website has a page dedicated to local elections, with the candidate interviews (as they are released) and election updates throughout! This is meant to better inform the public so please don't hesitate to send us your questions and we will do our best to get an answer!
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hi, I'm O'Kena.
We're out here at Clancy's andtonight is the very first
candidates forum, and so I cameout here and we'll talk to some
of the candidates, find outwhat's important to them in this
election, as well as, hopefully, talk to some people attending
and find out what's important tothem as well.
So let's go check it out.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm really hoping the downtown area can be built up a
little bit more.
Maybe some new restaurants,some new stores down there.
I want to have a cute downtown,like all the surrounding
communities have.
We have the opportunity to doit.
I mean, we have enough spaceand everything here, but we're
just hoping we can do that.
That's one of my biggest things.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Kim, you're running for trustee this election, so
tell me, what do you think isimportant to Mokina voters this
election?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know, I think most voters are concerned about
our downtown area and I wouldlike to revitalize the downtown
area to make it family friendlyand make it a location where
it's a destination and not adrive-thru.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Hi, I'm Kiri Abrahamson.
What I think is important inthe upcoming election is
obviously a lot of growth inMokena.
I have been here 28 years.
I built my house I'm in thesame home that I built 28 years
ago and I love it but what it'smissing is the growth of our
community, the Front Street,like was mentioned here tonight.
(01:49):
You know, my sisters live inthe western suburbs and I'm
going to Hinsdale and I'm goingto their little store there
because they have the bestchicken salad.
Or I'm going, you know, toWestern Springs for the same
bakery and I want that to cometo Mokina, where people are
going to come Springs for thesame bakery and I want that to
come to Mokina, where people aregoing to come to Mokina for
(02:10):
these businesses.
I do believe Clancy's Brothershas been a big start to that and
I'm here a lot and it's acommunity that I love to see.
So I want that brought to otherbusinesses on Front Street.
My name is Glenn Iden.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
My wife and I have been brought to other businesses
on Front Street.
My name is Glenn Iden.
My wife and I have beenresidents of Rokina for over 10
years.
I served on the executivecommittee for the homeowners
association of Foxboro Estatesand I've known our current mayor
for over 10 years, PresidentFrank Fleischer and I fully
endorse him because of hisfiscal responsibility, fiduciary
(02:48):
responsibility to the town.
He watches where everythinggoes and how it's being run.
He's always been veryresponsive, very energetic and,
again, responsive to my and oursubdivision.
I live in needs as well aseverybody in Mokena.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Thank, you the downtown and I think for me
personally that's a bigmotivator and influence of why
I'm running in the first placeis because the people of Mokena
want to have a viable downtown.
They want to have a placethat's filled with vibrant
businesses and they don't wantto have a place that's filled
with vibrant businesses and theydon't want to have to travel.
They want to have peace of mind, knowing that they don't have
to go far away to get everythingthey need in their community.
(03:30):
And to me, that starts with ahub, a downtown that just has
everything that you would want,and so I want to help build that
.
I want to help make that areality.
I believe the mayor has a goodvision for that and he's
assembling a good team toexecute on that vision.
So I'm just excited to be a partof it and yeah, just trying to
have a good time and listen.
Speaker 7 (03:56):
I've been doing this for a long time and I hope you
will not.
A lot of us have known eachother for a lot of years and
everything I do here is for theright of the community and I
really want people to understandand to know that.
And to see this many peoplecome out tonight for our first
meet and greet really reallymakes me and my candidate feel
(04:19):
really, really good.
So thank you very much.
So we're going to do tonightlike I said, I'm welcoming you
what we're going to do tonight.
I'm going to hand off to NickFranci, who put all this stuff
together, did a beautiful jobwith it, and then, if you have
any questions, we'll stand uphere and just ask you some
(04:41):
questions.
I want you to get to know us,but if you have some concerns
everybody's got a couple ofconcerns don't worry about
bringing those up tonight at all.
I'll try to answer what youhave.
I've been doing this for a longtime.
I don't run away from questions.
That's not what I'm here for.
I've been your president for along time and hopefully I'm
(05:03):
gonna be your president for fourmore years.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
So Nick, thanks for being here.
Everybody, to echo what themayor had to say, this is really
great just to see a packedhouse of people in the community
that care and are interested inlocal politics and are
interested in talking aboutwhat's important to us and to
this town.
So why I'm running reallyquickly just to give you a quick
(05:30):
snapshot into what I'm up heredoing, talking and conversing
with you guys, is just becauseof what we were able to
accomplish with this businesshere, kinesy Brothers.
So we drove through Wolf Roadthree years ago and we saw this
bank building and it was empty.
It was vacant.
And we're like man, that's kindof a crazy scenario.
(05:51):
To have this amazing buildingvacant and then to hear the
conversations about how long itwas vacant was just kind of like
wow, there's so much untappedpotential in this town.
And then you go down to Wolfand you make a right on Front
Street and you just blow it awaythat this is such a great
community and there's so muchright development that I think
(06:12):
is just on the cusp of exploding.
But we need the right people,we need the right effort, we
need teamwork, but mostimportantly, we need a vision,
and I believe that Mayor FrankFleischer has that vision and
now we are assembling a team toget to work to actually take
that vision and start to put putour hands together and start to
(06:35):
give Mokina a downtown, startto give Mokina some really great
pedestrian safe uh pathways,bikeways, walkways, and just to
grow this town and to make usproud of just living here.
So thank you for being here.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
Hello everybody, I'm Kimberly Hildman For those of
you who don't know me, thank youso much for coming out tonight.
I do want to thank Frank, nickand Jim for bringing the run as
a slate.
I think it's a really powerfulslate that we are going to
present to the people of Molkina.
I also want to thank Mark,who's the man behind the slate
(07:13):
doing all the work.
So, if we can really quick, I'mrunning because I believe in
honoring Molkena's rich historywhile building towards a vibrant
and modern future for thefamilies of Molkena.
This campaign is reallyimportant to me because I want
(07:34):
to show my kids who one of themwas here but had to swim and the
other was at soccer.
so you may see them running itout, but I want to show them
it's important to have a voicein your community as well as
make a difference in the placethat you call home.
Moketa has such potential togrow and expand and, as trustee,
(07:55):
I really do want to revitalizeour downtown area to make it
family friendly and to attractnew families, as well as support
and grow the families that arealready here, to make it more
collaborative, to allow to havea voice in terms of family
(08:17):
connections, which is reallyimportant.
I do thank everybody for comingtonight.
I think if we work together andeverybody comes out to vote on
April 1st, then we can leadMokena into a future that will
not only bring Mokena's charm tolife, but values to life to
have it shine for the future.
(08:38):
So thank you everybody.
Speaker 9 (08:48):
I moved into Mopena back in 1990, so I've been here
a long time.
I moved in with my wife and Ihad three daughters at the time.
Now we've grown to a biggerfamily of nine grandkids.
I originally ran for the firsttime back for trustee back in
96-97.
I had some ideas of where Ithought the village should go
and what direction it should beheading in, and it didn't seem
(09:10):
like that was being done.
So I figured I'm gonna try andsee if I can't get a seat and
give a voice to where Mocena'sfuture should head.
I didn't win that year.
I called Frank Sensen and I'vegot video.
We did a debate.
I got video crashed me prettygood that year.
So here we are now.
(09:31):
We're in the same slate now.
But, um, the things over theyears, they really haven't
changed since 1990 after thesame stories from the residents.
Uh, in the village, as I heartoday, a lot of people want to
see something done downtown,clean it up, do something with
it, and um, and the other pointwas about the traffic in the
village.
Back in the late 90s we werewere already seeing traffic
(09:54):
cutting through our village toridiculous amounts.
And now we're 20-some yearslater.
We've done nothing about it.
And now it's basicallygridlocked, with our major
thoroughfares north and south,and we're cutting through on the
Fort Road 191st.
And where are we going to be in15 or 20 years if we don't look
at that issue now?
Yeah, so, um, growth is nothappening in boquina residents
(10:18):
and speaking as much as it is,surrounding communities, so we
have to find a way to take someof the burden off of our streets
, of our neighborhoods, andthat's part of what we've got
the uh re-motivated into it.
And then last fall Frank calledme.
We'd been talking about, youknow, I'm always thinking about
what can make things better, andI had this crazy idea about how
(10:40):
ridiculous internet service isin the village.
And I said so.
I called him and I said isn'tthere a way we can look at it as
a utility and negotiate ratesas a city, as a village, so that
everybody could have the samerates at a more affordable price
?
And so we had a fewconversations and then, all of a
(11:02):
sudden, frank called me one dayand said hey, I have an opening
on the board.
Would you be interested infilling it?
So that was probably a mistake.
I said yes.
So I agreed to do that, and onNovember 11th I was appointed to
the board and I've been atrustee ever since.
I've learned a lot already.
(11:23):
It's a lot more than I thoughtit was, and there's a lot going
on in the village that theresidents don't know.
No one goes to our boardmeetings I don't know how many
people watch it, but theresidents for the most part are
not engaged in what's going on.
So when we get bad things andthey look back and they slip the
(11:43):
trustees or whatever.
But if you didn't make adifference in some sense, then
we're all blamed for it.
A difference in some sense,then we're all blamed for it,
and so I'm thrilled to be havingthis opportunity to run and
hopefully get elected to anappointment, and I hope to be
able to make a difference forthe future of Mokina and leave
it in a better place than when Icame to it, and that's why I'm
(12:07):
kind of here.
Speaker 7 (12:17):
I'm kind of here.
All of us feel the same wayabout a lot of the stuff we're
doing together.
The downtown is ridiculous.
I haven't finally hit adowntown since I was a trustee
years ago.
I took a poll last year andtook another poll this year.
70% of the residents make nodifference about age, make no
difference about gender, want aviable downtown.
(12:39):
They want a downtown.
And I've been fighting with thesupposedly friends of Mokina
which is what they callthemselves for the last 12 years
to work with me on this.
Don't want nothing to do withit.
They didn't work with me at all.
Well, that election's coming up, so they'll probably say
(12:59):
literature says, oh, we're fordowntown.
They were never for downtown.
We needed traffic study done.
How do you like the traffic outof the Grange and Wolf Road?
Because there's only two roadsthat get you out of Mokinas.
We should have had this plannedout years ago.
They wouldn't let me put atraffic study together and
(13:22):
that's considered a Phase 1traffic study.
The only way you're going toget grant money is to prove that
you need it, and that's what aPhase 1 would do.
Grant money is to prove thatyou need it, and that's what a
phase one would do.
We'd have engineers come in.
They would tell us what we need, where to put the roads, and if
they were important enough atthe time, we could get grant
(13:43):
money to get it done Again.
They fought me every step ofthe way.
Not because they're bad people,they just don't know what
they're doing.
That's the way.
Not because they're bad people,they just don't know what
they're doing.
That's the problem.
They're not bad people.
They just sit up there forwhatever reason and don't go to
seminars, don't go toconferences.
(14:06):
That's going to be differentfor the free people.
We're going to have a goodcohesive unit that's going to
work for you folks.
So when you see us walkingaround the building, knocking on
(14:28):
your doors, these people arewide open to talk to you
whenever you want.
That's not a problem.
And tonight, please, anyquestions, let us know.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
Good, it's just a nice long stretch of property,
and so I think it only makessense to have a front street
that just has this sense ofconsecutive businesses that are
all businesses, that are allbusinesses that we want to have
in the community.
You can ride your bike, parkyour bike and walk and frequent
(15:00):
these businesses.
Then it's got a nice horseshoepattern, so you start developing
the other side of the traintracks and you can just walk
around and then, hopefully,behind you know, yunkers Farm,
yunker Park, back there there'sso much great potential on that
property of, uh, you know,amphitheaters and just opening
up that back spot behind uh, etcetera, zap taco back there,
(15:23):
just really creating a place forfamilies to come in and just
enjoy that space I would agree,like having more gathering
places where families can come.
Speaker 8 (15:33):
Well, anybody of any age can come and just sit and
enjoy the downtown area, getsomething to eat, get something
to drink.
I'd love to see more greeninitiatives.
Bring in local art, bring inlocal history to be able to
capitalize on that Mokina we'rethe only Mokina in all of the
nation.
There's no other Mokina in thenation.
(15:53):
So I feel like that's somethingthat we can capitalize on and
so make a name for ourselves.
We already have a name, butwhat else can we do to bring
Mokina to everybody's?
Speaker 9 (16:06):
home.
I think that's a good point andone of my ways about the
downtown areas.
We just can't open a bunch ofbusinesses and fail.
It's not really our position tomake it accessible to people
easier.
I think that's where our jobcomes in.
They have to make.
I'm sitting right now in thefive-year comprehensive plan of
the park district.
(16:26):
They can do, and my part withthat really is representing the
village, and I'm very interestedin seeing bike paths extended
from the park all the way intodowntown, circling the farm
field and making it much easierfor bike riders and joggers and
walkers to get into the downtownarea.
(16:47):
And once we do that, we mightthen find a few businesses that
might take a risk and gamble onus to open some.
But with a little bit oftraffic that we're getting on
street right now, no one's goingto open a business and put a
big investment.
We're going to have to makemore money and I think that's
where we as board members, whatwe have our day.
Speaker 10 (17:07):
I mean one of the things that I think about is the
real property lot itself.
Yeah, it can bring somethingWell during the yeah, I mean
right, there's a little parkinglot itself.
Speaker 9 (17:12):
Yeah, Well, during the day, for sure, I see there's
more to it.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
Like Jim and I have been talking about, you need to
get more accessibility.
You're going to have to takeWillow Road, bring it over the
top of the park district,connected from the government.
Now that kids go biggerdowntown, that gives it better
access to downtown and that'sthe kind of stuff again we need
(17:41):
somebody smarter than us, that'sa consultant.
Let's bring a consultant in.
Don't just sit up there and sayno, because we're all pretty
good about downtown.
Speaker 10 (17:54):
I mean, like I said, 70% of the people, that's a
pretty good percentage wantdowntown.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
You know, I think the downtown area also looking at
what type of businesses fitdowntown For me I was talking to
someone earlier today about me.
You know I got, I think, aboutthe type of business I'd want to
see down there, but then Iasked my daughter to know that
it should be sushi, to be an icecream shop and things like that
, you know so.
(18:20):
So people of my age we kind ofwent to different restaurants.
We did so.
We really need to reach out andsee what the unit of the
village one here, once it are,you know, walking the bike
trails once that are going tocome in to walk downtown to get
an ice cream or candy bar or gettheir sushi and things like
that.
So the kind of businesses Ithink that are going downtown
(18:42):
are different than what Ipersonally would think.
If you are sitting in ourbuilding, this is going to
really direct that to us of ourcity, our building is gonna
really direct that to us.
I have a question.
You know it sounds great makingFront Street beautiful and
everything, but that's you knowyou guys gotta work together
with Park District, right?
(19:03):
What kind of relationship doesthe current-.
Speaker 7 (19:07):
Very good, very good.
One of the things we wanna dowhen you ask a question.
The Park District part of thatis the Park District.
That's the best board in thebuilding.
I don't know what the next inline is.
They work extremely welltogether.
Very well.
It was fantastic job over there.
As we've talked about movingthe train station parking over
(19:31):
there behind, etc.
And combining park districtparking and village, you know
commuter parking in that onearea.
So now you've got some place topark for.
You know events downtown orthings like this, and then we
open up our downtown.
(19:51):
So yeah, we have been lookingat it and the park district is
very easy to work with.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
Thanks for that question.
You know we have a we knew acomprehensive plan in the last
year in in 2002 I believe it wasand we're currently working on
a new comprehensive plan.
I spent some time readingthrough it.
After I ended up on the boardhere, I found out that about 90%
of what we did back in 2002 wecould just like copy and run
(20:24):
again because we didn't have agun and um, because we're not
the same age, the agenda has tobe put forward at the beginning
of the session.
Our administrators got to dotheir background work and then
we ask trustees to have thatfaith to hold and make these
changes.
And that's where it seems to bestalling is that we're not
getting.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
We're not getting trustee support when we do get
into that point, getting trusteesupport when we do get to that
point let me just make a point.
I worked 40 years for thetribune so I covered many, many
boards and commissions, artdistricts, school awards, and I
did a lot of editing.
Well, my first big job was Icome to edinston and they had a
(21:04):
city council.
I knew the members, I knew thecity clerk, I knew the city
clerk, I knew the manager and Iwould marvel at how they would
waste money.
Just, it was completely stupidin my mind, but I was right
enough and I didn't always haveto say that, well then other
places, people at work would sayyou know that town is run by
(21:24):
the mafia and we knew that.
All right.
So I've lived in Mokina since1951 and I never wanted to live
anywhere else.
And I was in Vietnam for a yearand I thought of one thing just
get back to Mokina.
So then I married a woman fromTexas.
I told you my brother was hereat the second.
(21:48):
We had about 900 people, as Irecall Now what we got 20,000?
And in my mind the way peoplehonestly served us and given us
(22:14):
an orderly future.
Through those what?
70 years, 75 years.
They've done a great job and tothis day I still want to live
in Milwaukee.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you, thank
you, thank you, thank you,thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you bring
(22:48):
back channel.
Speaker 8 (22:49):
Okay, so that's showing my age.
Hey, I get that one, don'tworry you.
Hi, I'm O'Kena.
We're out here at Clancy's andtonight is the very first
candidates forum, and so I cameout here and we'll talk to some
of the candidates, find outwhat's important to them in this
election, as well as, hopefully, talk to some people attending
and find out what's important tothem as well.
So let's go check it out.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm really hoping the downtown area can be built up a
little bit more.
Maybe some new restaurants,some new stores down there.
I want to have a cute downtown,like all the surrounding
communities have.
We have the opportunity to doit.
I mean, we have enough spaceand everything here, but we're
just hoping we can do that.
That's one of my biggest things.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Kim, you're running for trustee this election, so
tell me, what do you think isimportant to Mokina voters this
election?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know, I think most voters are concerned about
our downtown area and I wouldlike to revitalize the downtown
area to make it family friendlyand make it a location where
it's a destination and not adrive-thru.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Hi, I'm Kiri Abrahamson.
What I think is important inthe upcoming election is
obviously a lot of growth inMokena.
I have been here 28 years.
I built my house I'm in thesame home that I built 28 years
ago and I love it but what it'smissing is the growth of our
community, the Front Street,like was mentioned here tonight.
(01:49):
You know, my sisters live inthe western suburbs and I'm
going to Hinsdale and I'm goingto their little store there
because they have the bestchicken salad.
Or I'm going, you know, toWestern Springs for the same
bakery and I want that to cometo Mokina, where people are
going to come Springs for thesame bakery and I want that to
come to Mokina, where people aregoing to come to Mokina for
(02:10):
these businesses.
I do believe Clancy's Brothershas been a big start to that and
I'm here a lot and it's acommunity that I love to see.
So I want that brought to otherbusinesses on Front Street.
My name is Glenn Iden.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
My wife and I have been brought to other businesses
on Front Street.
My name is Glenn Iden.
My wife and I have beenresidents of Rokina for over 10
years.
I served on the executivecommittee for the homeowners
association of Foxboro Estatesand I've known our current mayor
for over 10 years, PresidentFrank Fleischer and I fully
endorse him because of hisfiscal responsibility, fiduciary
(02:48):
responsibility to the town.
He watches where everythinggoes and how it's being run.
He's always been veryresponsive, very energetic and,
again, responsive to my and oursubdivision.
I live in needs as well aseverybody in Mokena.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Thank, you the downtown and I think for me
personally that's a bigmotivator and influence of why
I'm running in the first placeis because the people of Mokena
want to have a viable downtown.
They want to have a placethat's filled with vibrant
businesses and they don't wantto have a place that's filled
with vibrant businesses and theydon't want to have to travel.
They want to have peace of mind, knowing that they don't have
to go far away to get everythingthey need in their community.
(03:30):
And to me, that starts with ahub, a downtown that just has
everything that you would want,and so I want to help build that
.
I want to help make that areality.
I believe the mayor has a goodvision for that and he's
assembling a good team toexecute on that vision.
So I'm just excited to be a partof it and yeah, just trying to
have a good time and listen.
Speaker 7 (03:56):
I've been doing this for a long time and I hope you
will not.
A lot of us have known eachother for a lot of years and
everything I do here is for theright of the community and I
really want people to understandand to know that.
And to see this many peoplecome out tonight for our first
meet and greet really reallymakes me and my candidate feel
(04:19):
really, really good.
So thank you very much.
So we're going to do tonightlike I said, I'm welcoming you
what we're going to do tonight.
I'm going to hand off to NickFranci, who put all this stuff
together, did a beautiful jobwith it, and then, if you have
any questions, we'll stand uphere and just ask you some
(04:41):
questions.
I want you to get to know us,but if you have some concerns
everybody's got a couple ofconcerns don't worry about
bringing those up tonight at all.
I'll try to answer what youhave.
I've been doing this for a longtime.
I don't run away from questions.
That's not what I'm here for.
I've been your president for along time and hopefully I'm
(05:03):
gonna be your president for fourmore years.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
So Nick, thanks for being here.
Everybody, to echo what themayor had to say, this is really
great just to see a packedhouse of people in the community
that care and are interested inlocal politics and are
interested in talking aboutwhat's important to us and to
this town.
So why I'm running reallyquickly just to give you a quick
(05:30):
snapshot into what I'm up heredoing, talking and conversing
with you guys, is just becauseof what we were able to
accomplish with this businesshere, kinesy Brothers.
So we drove through Wolf Roadthree years ago and we saw this
bank building and it was empty.
It was vacant.
And we're like man, that's kindof a crazy scenario.
(05:51):
To have this amazing buildingvacant and then to hear the
conversations about how long itwas vacant was just kind of like
wow, there's so much untappedpotential in this town.
And then you go down to Wolfand you make a right on Front
Street and you just blow it awaythat this is such a great
community and there's so muchright development that I think
(06:12):
is just on the cusp of exploding.
But we need the right people,we need the right effort, we
need teamwork, but mostimportantly, we need a vision,
and I believe that Mayor FrankFleischer has that vision and
now we are assembling a team toget to work to actually take
that vision and start to put putour hands together and start to
(06:35):
give Mokina a downtown, startto give Mokina some really great
pedestrian safe uh pathways,bikeways, walkways, and just to
grow this town and to make usproud of just living here.
So thank you for being here.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
Hello everybody, I'm Kimberly Hildman For those of
you who don't know me, thank youso much for coming out tonight.
I do want to thank Frank, nickand Jim for bringing the run as
a slate.
I think it's a really powerfulslate that we are going to
present to the people of Molkina.
I also want to thank Mark,who's the man behind the slate
(07:13):
doing all the work.
So, if we can really quick, I'mrunning because I believe in
honoring Molkena's rich historywhile building towards a vibrant
and modern future for thefamilies of Molkena.
This campaign is reallyimportant to me because I want
(07:34):
to show my kids who one of themwas here but had to swim and the
other was at soccer.
so you may see them running itout, but I want to show them
it's important to have a voicein your community as well as
make a difference in the placethat you call home.
Moketa has such potential togrow and expand and, as trustee,
(07:55):
I really do want to revitalizeour downtown area to make it
family friendly and to attractnew families, as well as support
and grow the families that arealready here, to make it more
collaborative, to allow to havea voice in terms of family
(08:17):
connections, which is reallyimportant.
I do thank everybody for comingtonight.
I think if we work together andeverybody comes out to vote on
April 1st, then we can leadMokena into a future that will
not only bring Mokena's charm tolife, but values to life to
have it shine for the future.
(08:38):
So thank you everybody.
Speaker 9 (08:48):
I moved into Mopena back in 1990, so I've been here
a long time.
I moved in with my wife and Ihad three daughters at the time.
Now we've grown to a biggerfamily of nine grandkids.
I originally ran for the firsttime back for trustee back in
96-97.
I had some ideas of where Ithought the village should go
and what direction it should beheading in, and it didn't seem
(09:10):
like that was being done.
So I figured I'm gonna try andsee if I can't get a seat and
give a voice to where Mocena'sfuture should head.
I didn't win that year.
I called Frank Sensen and I'vegot video.
We did a debate.
I got video crashed me prettygood that year.
So here we are now.
(09:31):
We're in the same slate now.
But, um, the things over theyears, they really haven't
changed since 1990 after thesame stories from the residents.
Uh, in the village, as I heartoday, a lot of people want to
see something done downtown,clean it up, do something with
it, and um, and the other pointwas about the traffic in the
village.
Back in the late 90s we werewere already seeing traffic
(09:54):
cutting through our village toridiculous amounts.
And now we're 20-some yearslater.
We've done nothing about it.
And now it's basicallygridlocked, with our major
thoroughfares north and south,and we're cutting through on the
Fort Road 191st.
And where are we going to be in15 or 20 years if we don't look
at that issue now?
Yeah, so, um, growth is nothappening in boquina residents
(10:18):
and speaking as much as it is,surrounding communities, so we
have to find a way to take someof the burden off of our streets
, of our neighborhoods, andthat's part of what we've got
the uh re-motivated into it.
And then last fall Frank calledme.
We'd been talking about, youknow, I'm always thinking about
what can make things better, andI had this crazy idea about how
(10:40):
ridiculous internet service isin the village.
And I said so.
I called him and I said isn'tthere a way we can look at it as
a utility and negotiate ratesas a city, as a village, so that
everybody could have the samerates at a more affordable price
?
And so we had a fewconversations and then, all of a
(11:02):
sudden, frank called me one dayand said hey, I have an opening
on the board.
Would you be interested infilling it?
So that was probably a mistake.
I said yes.
So I agreed to do that, and onNovember 11th I was appointed to
the board and I've been atrustee ever since.
I've learned a lot already.
(11:23):
It's a lot more than I thoughtit was, and there's a lot going
on in the village that theresidents don't know.
No one goes to our boardmeetings I don't know how many
people watch it, but theresidents for the most part are
not engaged in what's going on.
So when we get bad things andthey look back and they slip the
(11:43):
trustees or whatever.
But if you didn't make adifference in some sense, then
we're all blamed for it.
A difference in some sense,then we're all blamed for it,
and so I'm thrilled to be havingthis opportunity to run and
hopefully get elected to anappointment, and I hope to be
able to make a difference forthe future of Mokina and leave
it in a better place than when Icame to it, and that's why I'm
(12:07):
kind of here.
Speaker 7 (12:17):
I'm kind of here.
All of us feel the same wayabout a lot of the stuff we're
doing together.
The downtown is ridiculous.
I haven't finally hit adowntown since I was a trustee
years ago.
I took a poll last year andtook another poll this year.
70% of the residents make nodifference about age, make no
difference about gender, want aviable downtown.
(12:39):
They want a downtown.
And I've been fighting with thesupposedly friends of Mokina
which is what they callthemselves for the last 12 years
to work with me on this.
Don't want nothing to do withit.
They didn't work with me at all.
Well, that election's coming up, so they'll probably say
(12:59):
literature says, oh, we're fordowntown.
They were never for downtown.
We needed traffic study done.
How do you like the traffic outof the Grange and Wolf Road?
Because there's only two roadsthat get you out of Mokinas.
We should have had this plannedout years ago.
They wouldn't let me put atraffic study together and
(13:22):
that's considered a Phase 1traffic study.
The only way you're going toget grant money is to prove that
you need it, and that's what aPhase 1 would do.
Grant money is to prove thatyou need it, and that's what a
phase one would do.
We'd have engineers come in.
They would tell us what we need, where to put the roads, and if
they were important enough atthe time, we could get grant
(13:43):
money to get it done Again.
They fought me every step ofthe way.
Not because they're bad people,they just don't know what
they're doing.
That's the way.
Not because they're bad people,they just don't know what
they're doing.
That's the problem.
They're not bad people.
They just sit up there forwhatever reason and don't go to
seminars, don't go toconferences.
(14:06):
That's going to be differentfor the free people.
We're going to have a goodcohesive unit that's going to
work for you folks.
So when you see us walkingaround the building, knocking on
(14:28):
your doors, these people arewide open to talk to you
whenever you want.
That's not a problem.
And tonight, please, anyquestions, let us know.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
Good, it's just a nice long stretch of property,
and so I think it only makessense to have a front street
that just has this sense ofconsecutive businesses that are
all businesses, that are allbusinesses that we want to have
in the community.
You can ride your bike, parkyour bike and walk and frequent
(15:00):
these businesses.
Then it's got a nice horseshoepattern, so you start developing
the other side of the traintracks and you can just walk
around and then, hopefully,behind you know, yunkers Farm,
yunker Park, back there there'sso much great potential on that
property of, uh, you know,amphitheaters and just opening
up that back spot behind uh, etcetera, zap taco back there,
(15:23):
just really creating a place forfamilies to come in and just
enjoy that space I would agree,like having more gathering
places where families can come.
Speaker 8 (15:33):
Well, anybody of any age can come and just sit and
enjoy the downtown area, getsomething to eat, get something
to drink.
I'd love to see more greeninitiatives.
Bring in local art, bring inlocal history to be able to
capitalize on that Mokina we'rethe only Mokina in all of the
nation.
There's no other Mokina in thenation.
(15:53):
So I feel like that's somethingthat we can capitalize on and
so make a name for ourselves.
We already have a name, butwhat else can we do to bring
Mokina to everybody's?
Speaker 9 (16:06):
home.
I think that's a good point andone of my ways about the
downtown areas.
We just can't open a bunch ofbusinesses and fail.
It's not really our position tomake it accessible to people
easier.
I think that's where our jobcomes in.
They have to make.
I'm sitting right now in thefive-year comprehensive plan of
the park district.
(16:26):
They can do, and my part withthat really is representing the
village, and I'm very interestedin seeing bike paths extended
from the park all the way intodowntown, circling the farm
field and making it much easierfor bike riders and joggers and
walkers to get into the downtownarea.
(16:47):
And once we do that, we mightthen find a few businesses that
might take a risk and gamble onus to open some.
But with a little bit oftraffic that we're getting on
street right now, no one's goingto open a business and put a
big investment.
We're going to have to makemore money and I think that's
where we as board members, whatwe have our day.
Speaker 10 (17:07):
I mean one of the things that I think about is the
real property lot itself.
Yeah, it can bring somethingWell during the yeah, I mean
right, there's a little parkinglot itself.
Speaker 9 (17:12):
Yeah, Well, during the day, for sure, I see there's
more to it.
Speaker 7 (17:17):
Like Jim and I have been talking about, you need to
get more accessibility.
You're going to have to takeWillow Road, bring it over the
top of the park district,connected from the government.
Now that kids go biggerdowntown, that gives it better
access to downtown and that'sthe kind of stuff again we need
(17:41):
somebody smarter than us, that'sa consultant.
Let's bring a consultant in.
Don't just sit up there and sayno, because we're all pretty
good about downtown.
Speaker 10 (17:54):
I mean, like I said, 70% of the people, that's a
pretty good percentage wantdowntown.
Speaker 9 (18:00):
You know, I think the downtown area also looking at
what type of businesses fitdowntown For me I was talking to
someone earlier today about me.
You know I got, I think, aboutthe type of business I'd want to
see down there, but then Iasked my daughter to know that
it should be sushi, to be an icecream shop and things like that
, you know so.
(18:20):
So people of my age we kind ofwent to different restaurants.
We did so.
We really need to reach out andsee what the unit of the
village one here, once it are,you know, walking the bike
trails once that are going tocome in to walk downtown to get
an ice cream or candy bar or gettheir sushi and things like
that.
So the kind of businesses Ithink that are going downtown
(18:42):
are different than what Ipersonally would think.
If you are sitting in ourbuilding, this is going to
really direct that to us of ourcity, our building is gonna
really direct that to us.
I have a question.
You know it sounds great makingFront Street beautiful and
everything, but that's you knowyou guys gotta work together
with Park District, right?
(19:03):
What kind of relationship doesthe current-.
Speaker 7 (19:07):
Very good, very good.
One of the things we wanna dowhen you ask a question.
The Park District part of thatis the Park District.
That's the best board in thebuilding.
I don't know what the next inline is.
They work extremely welltogether.
Very well.
It was fantastic job over there.
As we've talked about movingthe train station parking over
(19:31):
there behind, etc.
And combining park districtparking and village, you know
commuter parking in that onearea.
So now you've got some place topark for.
You know events downtown orthings like this, and then we
open up our downtown.
(19:51):
So yeah, we have been lookingat it and the park district is
very easy to work with.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
Thanks for that question.
You know we have a we knew acomprehensive plan in the last
year in in 2002 I believe it wasand we're currently working on
a new comprehensive plan.
I spent some time readingthrough it.
After I ended up on the boardhere, I found out that about 90%
of what we did back in 2002 wecould just like copy and run
(20:24):
again because we didn't have agun and um, because we're not
the same age, the agenda has tobe put forward at the beginning
of the session.
Our administrators got to dotheir background work and then
we ask trustees to have thatfaith to hold and make these
changes.
And that's where it seems to bestalling is that we're not
getting.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
We're not getting trustee support when we do get
into that point, getting trusteesupport when we do get to that
point let me just make a point.
I worked 40 years for thetribune so I covered many, many
boards and commissions, artdistricts, school awards, and I
did a lot of editing.
Well, my first big job was Icome to edinston and they had a
(21:04):
city council.
I knew the members, I knew thecity clerk, I knew the city
clerk, I knew the manager and Iwould marvel at how they would
waste money.
Just, it was completely stupidin my mind, but I was right
enough and I didn't always haveto say that, well then other
places, people at work would sayyou know that town is run by
(21:24):
the mafia and we knew that.
All right.
So I've lived in Mokina since1951 and I never wanted to live
anywhere else.
And I was in Vietnam for a yearand I thought of one thing just
get back to Mokina.
So then I married a woman fromTexas.
I told you my brother was hereat the second.
(21:48):
We had about 900 people, as Irecall Now what we got 20,000?
And in my mind the way peoplehonestly served us and given us
(22:14):
an orderly future.
Through those what?
70 years, 75 years.
They've done a great job and tothis day I still want to live
in Milwaukee.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you, thank
you, thank you, thank you,thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you bring
(22:48):
back channel.
Speaker 8 (22:49):
Okay, so that's showing my age.
Hey, I get that one, don'tworry you.
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