SAUK VILLAGE MAKING PROGRESS AND CHANGE UNDER BURGESS

BURGESS TAKES OATH IN 2017

By Steve LaRock

SAUK VILLAGE |  He retired from his job as an engineer from the University of Illinois, Chicago and works full-time as Mayor of Sauk Village at a salary of $20,000 per year.  He opted to forego a full-time Village administrator to save the residents more than $175,000 per year.  He is Derrick Burgess, a soft-spoken, 37-year resident and homeowner.  Derrick Burgess was elected mayor of Sauk Village in May, 2017.

How did he become mayor of 10,500 residents?  Burgess came armed with a charismatic style and aura that exudes sincerity and genuine concern.  Burgess crafted a positive campaign in 2017 focused on growth and getting Sauk Village on a Pathway to Progress.  He promised to get the Village’s finances back in order, focus attention on economic development and make Village government more efficient and better organized.  Burgess mounted a forward-looking campaign that also promised an end to negative rhetoric about past administrations and to put a stop to stagnation, status-quo and business as usual practice. He presented the residents with his Strategic Plan for Progress, a multi-point plan outlining how he planned to restore Sauk Village to a cleaner, viable community.  Burgess’ competitors, however, offered no real tangible plan but instead focused on backward thinking which would have continued the status quo which residents clearly did not want. Residents expressed they were tired of the negative politics and were ready for a leader that could save the value of their largest investment; their homes.  They wanted a leader that would deliver on what they promised, without lame excuses. Many residents told him of their frustration with the lack of community development, the deterioration of homes and the lack of property maintenance.  Burgess convinced the residents of his sincerity and determination to tackle  these challenges. After the 2017 election, Burgess hit the ground running and has delivered on these promises in just 21 short months!  

Burgess’ first initiative was to get the Village Board to adopt his Strategic Plan for Progress; the very first plan ever adopted by a Village Board in Sauk Village’s history.  The Plan called for much attention toward economic development and addressing the negative impact of vacant homes.  

A huge Standing Room only crowd came out to

 support Mayor Burgess for his Inauguration in 2017.

Burgess with the help of the progressive Village Trustees Beth Zupon, Ronald Carter, Rodrick Grant, Cecial Tates and his staff have forged ahead and have realized successes in:

• ·         obtaining a grant to mow the grass of 178 vacant homes.  Some of the vacant homes had not been mowed in 10 years.  Burgess plans on working collaboratively with the South Suburban and Cook County Land Banks as well as private investors to get the 360 homes back on the tax rolls and filled with families.

·         Eliminating and consolidating staff positions position from the prior administration, netted out a savings of over $275,000 in salary and benefits.  

·         Making great strides with the Village’s finances: 

o    replaced the hold over Director of Finance,

o    virtually eliminated the Village’s aging report, 

o    balanced the Village’s budget, 

o    meeting current budget projections by living within the Village’s means, 

o    refinanced existing bonds and obtaining a new $2 million dollar bond which saved money on interest at no cost to homeowners, 

o    Received the GFAO Budget Award for the first time since 2008.  

Burgess and the Trustees who support getting Sauk Village on the Pathway to Progress have applied, received or worked on over $1.7 million in grants and assistance in less than two years!  Grants for road repair, engineering, maintaining vacant homes, demolition of abandoned homes, police equipment and other critical matters.  

Burgess and the Trustees who support moving the Village in a new direction have supported increasing our housing standards by proper enforcement of the Village’s codes.  They have taken on many projects aimed at updating and bringing Sauk Village into the 21^st century.  The Village is finalizing a new Comprehensive Plan which will help the Village with growth and planning for the next 10 to 20 years.  The most recent plan was completed in 1985 and updated in 1999.  The new plan was funded by at $135,000 grant and recently the draft was discussed at an Advisory Committee meeting which calls for a New Town Center on the site of Surreybrook Plaza and a new concept for a Central Park, Community Center and Fire Station.

The progress the Village has made under Mayor Burgess’ leadership was so impressive that the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has provided the Village with a fully funded staff Planner for the Village for the next two years.   The goal of the planner is to assist the village with the objectives in the new Comprehensive Plan and to assist with grant opportunities among many other tasks.  

Mayor Burgess spoke about all the “progress” the Village has made during his recent State of the Village address and a $350,000 grant the Village received for a Phase 1 Engineering Study for expansion of rail spur access and roadways in the LogistiCenter Industrial Park.  Burgess also spoke about the $10 million investment that Gas-N-Wash is making in Sauk Village bringing a 12,000 square foot convenience store, a new Dunkin Donuts, gasoline station, Pops Roast Beef, Browns Chicken and a Truck Stop on the Northwest Corner of Sauk Trail and Illinois 394.  The Village sold the 32 acres of land to the developer Leonard McEnery for $1.35 million.  The Village owned the property for 14 years and did nothing to market the property until Burgess took office. Burgess and the Trustees who support the Strategic Plan for Progress did not wish to squander the profit the Village made on the land but instead put some $800,000 in reserve for a rainy day.  Recently the Village Board approved a budget amendment to allow the Police, Fire and Public Works departments the opportunity for some long overdue capital purchases and improvements.

Recently a local paper recently printed a retraction to a story in which a lone and rogue village trustee politically and personally opposing everything that Mayor Burgess and the group of progressive Trustees have been trying to achieve made untruthful, unverifiable and inaccurate information.  This last week that same publication ran their retraction in which they said “it was acknowledged that many things were said that ha been off base and inaccurate.  Allegations made against Mayor Burgess did not reflect that of verifiable truths…”  We applaud the South Suburban News for the retraction, clarification and printing the truth. 

Another local publication, with an apparent vendetta against Mayor Burgess and the progressive Trustees who support his Strategic Plan for Progress continuously puts wild inaccurate headlines and quotes only what politically motivated audience members ramble on about at the Village meetings but nothing of the content of the meetings and sends no reporter to the meeting. 

So, despite the personal attacks and wild allegations made during official Board meetings by a Trustee who has voiced her aspirations of challenging Burgess for mayor in 2021.  So this rogue trustee along with one lone publication that apparently enjoys printing negativity and misinformation created by those who politically do not support this administration, the Burgess administration will continue to focus on the progress for moving Sauk Village ahead and the objectives in the Strategic Plan for Progress. Burgess does not comment on the negativity because there is no truth to give it credence.

All in all Mayor Burgess has been doing the job and apparently well enough that he has landed a commercial development not done since 1998.  So apparently no matter how good of a job this Mayor does, there will always be politically motivated people who want to stop progress or they are simply C.A.V.E people (Completely Against Virtually Everything).