SAUK VILLAGE | After keeping his commitment to the residents of Sauk Village to advocate for open, honest and transparent government by holding the administration accountable, Trustee Derrick Burgess has announced his bid to seek re-election in April, 2015 as an Independent candidate.
“I have been asked by numerous residents to keep asking questions and ensure their voices are heard” Burgess said. “After careful consideration of the many residents who have encouraged me to run for office again, I have decided to announce that I will be a candidate for re-election as your Village Trustee” Burgess said. Burgess devotes full-time to his duties as Trustee since his recent retirement in 2014 from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Burgess has served as Trustee since 2006 and won re-election in 2007 and 2011. Burgess ran for Mayor in 2009 against Lewis Towers and again in 2013 only after securing the endorsement of then “acting-Mayor” David Hanks. Hanks subsequently went back on his word and ran against Burgess who lost in a 4-way race.
To give people the opportunity to voice their comments and concerns without time and subject limitations imposed during regularly scheduled Board and Committee meetings, Burgess instituted monthly Town Hall Meetings that are very popular with the residents who want answers to questions. Burgess routinely asks Hanks for clarification on proposed actions during board meetings and even voted no on the most recent budget, calling it “unbalanced” and “unrealistic”. Burgess illustrated his concerns about the mayor's proposed budget by presenting a 21 page analysis that highlighted in details the potential points of failure to which no other Trustee had done. “The purpose of the analysis was to point out to the Board that we could no longer continue with business as usual and we, as a Village Board must work together to bring solutions to the table. Some decisions and actions taken by the mayor and Board are done so based on their interpretation of "past practices". These "past practices" have proven to be flawed and have continued to lead us down an unsound fiscal road” Burgess said.
Burgess said he will continue to advocate for the residents and that his experience in municipal government has been invaluable.
“I’m not against moving the village forward, but I feel we have been heading in the wrong direction” Burgess said.
Burgess filed his nomination petitions at Village Hall today at 8am.
Also filing Monday morning were Jeff Morden who was elected to the unexpired term of former Trustee Robert Chavez in a special election in 2013. Morden has been without a Committee assignment for months.
Former School District 168 Board President Cecil Tates, who has lived in the Village for more than 30 years and also is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel.
Gary Holcomb, a supporter of Mayor David Hanks, and chairperson of the Housing Commission who has been the center of controversy over the summer. The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office is considering a Binding Opinion that the Housing Commission had violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
Resident Kelvin Jones also filed Monday. "I want to make a difference in the community. We don't need another rubber stamp or bobblehead' Jones said today.
The final candidate to file this morning was John Poskin, a staunch ally to Hanks. Poskin was Hank's appointment for 2-unexpired terms for Village Trustee and has been the longest serving unelected Trustee in the Village's history. Poskin will be running for the first time since 2005 when he ran with Hanks and lost.
All of the candidates who filed today, including Burgess are running as independent candidates.
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