Maywood Visionary Party

Village Free Press Candidate Questionnaire

Mayor of Maywood

Name: Antonette "Toni" Dorris

Age: 49

Preferred contact: 708-724-2559

Previous political experience: School District 88 Board Member (1 term); School

District 89 Board Member (2.5 years); Village of Maywood Trustee (1 term)

Previous community experience: Maywood Park District, Executive Administrative

Assistant to Mayor, Village of Maywood Family Day Liaison and Vision of Restoration
Partner

Occupation: Executive Director of the Maywood Park District

Education: Master in Business Administration

Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability. Full disclosure: parts,
or all, of your answers are likely be published:

What is your understanding of the role and functions of the position of Mayor of Maywood?

My understanding of the role and function of the position of the Mayor of

Maywood is to work very closely with the Village Manager to ensure the
directives of the board and needs of the constituents are met. The Mayor chairs
all council meetings, promoting good relationships between council members,
staff and the community. The Mayor should model good conduct by
establishing standards of good governance behavior and ethics while
simultaneously understanding, prioritizing and executing policies, procedures
and finances of the village.

What is your understanding of the role and functions of the Maywood Board of Trustees?

My understanding of the role and function of the position of Trustee is being

accountable in setting a high level yet strategic process that sets the vision of the
community. A Trustee must always work to maintain and develop strong policy
and procedures while being fiscally responsible for the community.
Networking plays a huge role as well to bring possible resources back to the
constituents of the village.

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What is your understanding of Maywoods structural strengths and weaknesses? List a few
structural strengths and weaknesses that you may perceive the village to have? My
understanding of our structural strengths and weakness are:

(Strengths)
o 1. The people of Maywood are our strength.
o 2. We have completed what was needed to make our entire vacant land
properties shovel ready.
o 3. We have corrected "some" flooding issues by adding larger drains
throughout the town.
o 4. We have identified our weak underground water connections in an effort
to become proactive in decreasing the amount of water main breaks-which
add to high water bill costs.
o 5. We are up to date with all annual audits.
o 6. We have updated our Fire Department with state of the are vehicles and
equipment to better serve our constituents.
(Weakness)
o 1. We must STOP MAKING EXCUSES and be accountable for what we do.
o 2. We need to expeditiously find resources to fully address flooding issues
throughout the town.
o 3. Our reputation.
o 4. We must become better in providing customer service
o 5. We need to aggressively capitalize on opportunities for businesses to
come and build upon our vacant land.
o 6. We must improve and remain consistent in providing public safety and
services.

What do you understand about Maywoods property taxes? Do you think theyre too low, just at
the right level or too high? If too high or low, what are some of your ideas for bringing them
to the level you believe is sufficient?

I understand that property taxes are too high. The Maywood Visionary Party is
currently researching capital dollars and alternative energy resources that will
create tangible dollars for this community. By doing this, we will be able to use
these dollars to pay for all streets and alleys to be paved and much more-
without using tax dollars. This builds the community and invites economic
development which will eventually lower our property taxes.

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What is your understanding of Maywoods general business climate? Do you think Maywood
can improve its business climate and, if so, how?

My understanding of Maywood's general business climate is at a deadlock. I

unquestionably KNOW that Maywood can improve its business climate first by
rebranding this community. To do this, you must have the proper people in
place who are willing to work hard to make this change. You must have
individuals who are not afraid to seek resources outside of the norm that will
attract small & large companies to our community.

What is your understanding of Maywoods reputation in certain industry circles (i.e., retail,
manufacturing, etc.) as a place to do business? Do you think Maywood can improve its
reputation and, if so, how?

In a nutshell, tax relief businesses are fearful in coming to our village due to the
character of us not being safe. We must increase our policing strategies to
ensure safety for all. The Village of Maywood can do all things when we
consistently work hard together being both municipality and constituents.

What is your understanding of how Maywood is zoned? Do you believe that Maywood is zoned
just right or can the village's zoning codes be improved? And what is your opinion of how the
village currently enforces its zoning codes?

I understand how and why our village is zoned in this manner because it is to
align with the comprehensive plan. The Maywood Visionary Party has found
three code additions that are currently not on our books that would generate
small business growth. We should never become stagnant in finding ways to
better our community so yes, improvement is always needed. Some codes are
similar to other prospering towns and we must be consistent and execute them.
One example Ive seen as a Trustee is - if a code officer writes a valid citation to
a business in the amount of $1,500.00, by the time the owner attends their
hearing, management will have decreased the fine to $150.00. This has to stop!

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What is your understanding of TIF zones? Do you believe that they have adequately mitigated
blighted areas in the village? Would you consider approving a plan to create a new TIF
district if it ever came to that? Do you have some ideas about how TIF surplus funds should
be distributed?

My understanding of a TIF zone is an area designated for public funds to be

used as a subsidy for redevelopment. I know particularly our Madison TIF
corridor has not fully relieved our businesses due to the loss of funding it has
experienced over the past eight years. Our current Village Manager has
corrected many flaws that occurred annually which resulted in lost revenue. He
has now created a positive Madison TIF plan that has taken us from loss to gain.
I support creating new TIF zones and am interested in discussing and
implementing more CRL's (Community Redevelopment Levy) that would create
more incentives for redevelopment groups.

What is your understanding of Maywood's comprehensive plan? Do you believe that it is an

effective tool for managing the village's long-term economic and infrastructural
development?

I completely understand the village's comprehensive plan to be the map for

current and future development in the village. I believe this is an effective tool
for managing our short and long-term economic and infrastructural
development. We must implement more of it.

Do you believe that the village spends not enough, just enough or too much money on outside
contractors, in general, and legal fees, in particular? If you believe not enough or too much
money, what are some of your ideas for getting those expenditures to a level you believe is
sufficient?

I believe that we spend too much money on outside contractors particularly in

Public Works and Economic Development departments. Great contributors of
our high legal fees are due to the mismanagement of employees and police
conduct. We are providing training for all employees to ensure that what
occurred in the past does not happen in the future and hold them accountable
to proper discipline. This will reduce cost and empower our employees.

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Do you believe that Maywood is, generally speaking, a safe community? If so, what are some
things that make this so? If not, what are some ideas you have to make the village safer?

I believe we are a safe community however; we are lacking in technology that

would divert possible crime. Some ideas Trustee Lightford and I have already
brought to the board would be the Verizon Camera System which has been in a
testing phase and should be discussed at our upcoming budget meeting. Other
technology options are: Shot Spotter, the Community on Patrol App and many
others. Our police departments atmosphere has to immediately change to a
place where all officers are working for the common good of all citizens.

Do you believe that the village spends not enough, just enough or too much money to settle
police misconduct and workmans compensation cases? If you believe too much or too little
money, what are some of your ideas for getting those expenditures to a level you believe is
sufficient?

As a sitting Trustee, over the past four years, we have seen a decrease in our
workman's compensation cases. The police misconduct issues are beginning to
decrease due to training that has been put in place to ward off such offenses. We
have put additional procedures in place to stop the abuse of frivolous law suits.

From what you can tell, is there currently a system in place that effectively evaluates the
performance of village administrators and employees? If not, do you think one needs to be
implemented?

Prior to our current Village Manager, in my opinion, there wasn't a system in

place that effectively evaluated the performance of village administrators and
employees. Now that he's here and has an HR Director in place, administration
will be evaluated within the next 30 days and employees will be reviewed at
their specific times.

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the following village administrators
(please make sure to express your opinion on each employee):

o Village Manager Willie Norfleet, Jr.,

- Satisfied. Mr. Norfleet came to our village
knowing that we had a bag full of holes and that it would take 2-3 years
before he could either plug those holes or get a new bag. In my opinion,
he is preparing for a new bag as he continues to run the day to day
processes of the village.

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o Police Chief ValdimirTally Satisfied. Chief Talley has implemented some new
things in our police department and throughout the community however I
would like to see the Chief create and foster a better work environment
that includes team building, improve communication, allow those in
leadership or supervisory positions to do so and build transparency.
When you have this, policing services move in the direction of a safe
community.
o Fire Chief Craig Bronaugh - Satisfied. Chief Bronaugh has brought our fire
department into the millennium and is still working with staff to take us
to the next level.
o Public Works Director John West Satisfied. Mr. West has done all that he can
but I am looking for better: processes, management, turnaround times,
consistency, more multi-tasking, less outside contracting and more
efforts of being proactive.
o Finance Director Lanya Satchell Satisfied. Mrs. Satchell has kept our finance
department afloat but I would like to see more innovative and creative
financial planning strategies that would improve our water billing issues,
business license and village sticker processes. I would like to see public
and private financial partnering strategies and the creation of a successful
financial marketing plan that would be used to strategically position the
village for any and all projects. I would also like to see more investment
opportunities than what we have.
o HR Coordinator LaSondra Banks - Mrs. Banks just joined our staff less than a
year ago and thus far, I am satisfied.

The population of Maywood has changed rather dramatically in the last 10 years, with the
village having experienced a significant infusion of Hispanic residents. For instance, the
student population of both Districts 89 and 209 is more than 50 percent Hispanic. Do you
believe that this growing demographic is adequately represented in the village? If not, what
are some of your ideas for reaching out to the Hispanic community in Maywood?
I believe that all efforts by our board should work for all Maywoodians no
matter the race. We, the board, are currently looking into the pros and cons of
a "Welcoming City" vs. a Sanctuary City. As Mayor, I would ask the board to
create and foster relationships, services and programming with
Latino/Hispanic organizations that would begin to encourage more community
involvement from our Latino/Hispanic residents.

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Do you believe that Maywood should be a sanctuary city? Explain why or why not?

In the United States and Canada, a sanctuary city is a loosely defined term for
a city that welcomes refugees and illegal immigrants. President Trump has
stated that cities who deem themselves in this capacity could risk a major
decrease in federal funding that we need. Our board will be entering into
discussion regarding the pros and cons of being either a welcoming or
sanctuary city. I would like to have more discussion on this topic and
continue to watch for rulings to make sure that the best decision is made for all
Maywoodians.

What is your general approach to economic development? How involved do you feel board
members should be in the process? And do you feel that village officials are too aggressive,
not aggressive enough or just right in their pursuit of development opportunities?

My general approach to economic development is that we need it badly and

assertive efforts need to occur immediately. Board members should be
networking outside the village seeking resources and possible business
initiatives that could work in the village. Not implementing the day to day
efforts but giving what theyve found to staff so they can decide if in fact, it
aligns with the comprehensive plan. As a sitting Trustee, I have experienced an
aggressive village official who has halted staff in bringing possible
opportunities to the village in fear of being spoken to in a revile manner. Board
members should ALWAYS remain humble in what they do and stay in their
lanes.

The village owns a substantial amount of commercial property throughout Maywood. What are
your thoughts on how the village should go about selling (or preserving, if you don't believe it
should be sold) the land and/or properties that it owns? Are there instances in which you
would support a prospective developer acquiring village-owned property at a significantly
lower price than the propertys appraised value? Do you have ideas on how the village can
expedite the process of getting the property that it owns back on the tax rolls (if you feel that
the process needs to be expedited)?

I believe if we implement some zoning additions, it will allow the village to

bring vacant properties up to standards to sell at a value that works for both the
village and the buyer. I would ask the board to look at village property that has
been vacant for a long time and has not generated any tax revenue, to consider
selling the property at the appraised or slightly below the appraised amount. I
believe we must encourage pricing that reflects our local economy as we begin
to rebuild. This will create something versus nothing which is what we have
been receiving. We must instantly begin to rebrand our village and create

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growing and changing demands for goods and services that cater to the
emerging millennial generations buying power as well as the significant baby
boomer capital holdings. We cannot continue to do what we've been doing
expecting different results. At this point, we must start somewhere so that we
can begin our rebuilding process and staff needs to be ready to do so. Sitting
stagnant another four years, asking our residents to wait would be ludicrous.

If elected, what are the three things that youwould do as mayor right after your swearing-in
(and right after means within your first two months as mayor)? Be as specific as possible.

If elected, I, along with the Maywood Visionary Party would:

1) Fix our broken water system once and for all such as: the elimination of
estimated bills, set process in place to correct weak water mains before
they break, institute other governing entity and businesses who have been
using our water and not paying to begin to pay the village, incorporate
better technology for payments and water services etc.

2) Look at the recommendations of the Village Manager as it pertains to

REFORM within the village such as: replacing management that has not
performed to the capacity that our residents need, restructuring
departments to be more efficient, eliminating trivial steps to processes
that make doing business with the village outlandish, begin proper
lobbying efforts to obtain public and private funds to begin alley and
street pavement and much more.

3) Begin processes of rebranding this village by requiring the Village

Manager to begin time driven projects with his staff that will increase
policing efforts, develop consistent cleaning of this community, request
updates on the process of selling vacant properties/land and begin to
strengthen the efforts of bringing economic development to our town.
We would work to get the 911 center to be the number one hub for
Maywood and other surrounding towns which would create jobs and
provide a safer community.

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If you have a specific "vision" for Maywood, please lay out, in detail, what that is.

The Maywood Visionary Party's vision for the people of Maywood is to Increase
Constituent Service and Employee accountability; Boost economic development
on our vacant land and revive small business growth; Improve public safety;
execute plans to lower taxes; implement more sensible senior services from the
village, work towards eliminating estimated water bills and create more fiscal
accountability. My team has already aligned ourselves with resources that will
garner funding to capture and execute the above. We are already working for
the people of Maywood! We are already prepared to make the hard decisions
that have kept this village in bondage and will do so gracefully while reminding
you that we will get through this TOGETHER! It will take ALL CANDIDATES on
my ticket to make these things happen as we work WITH the current sitting
trustees. MVP is RESULTS driven!

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