Government

Industry, Budget Tops State of the Village Address

Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar spoke to nearly 700 area residents during the Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce's 25th annual State of the Village address.

By Erin Sauder
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January 20, 2012

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Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar.

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Bolingbrook’s booming business industry took center stage at Mayor Roger Claar’s State of the Village address Thursday at the Bolingbrook Golf Club.

Claar listed a number of businesses that have moved to Bolingbrook in the last year, including G&W Electric and Diageo Americas Supply, both of which were mentioned in last year's state of the village address.

“They’ve been a real source of pride for us,” Claar said to nearly 700 people in attendance.

He also noted Ricoh, one of the world's largest electronics and imaging companies, which will soon consolidate its operations in as many as 12 states and relocate to Bolingbrook , as well as the numerous restaurants popping up in the village, including Jersey Mike’s sub-sandwich shop, Honey Jam Cafe, Buona Beef, and the Chick Fil-A, slated to open this spring.

“People will say, ‘It seems like there’s a lot of empty buildings out there,’ but that’s not necessarily true,” Claar said. “I tell these people these buildings are kind of like an apartment complex. People are coming and going all the time. They need more space and move to a building down the street or somewhere else, or the business changes and they need to downsize. That’s nature of the beast.”

Also during his address, Claar noted the economy is forcing taxing bodies “to get lean and mean.”

He said the village’s employee count has gone from 524 to 366.

“That’s a 30 percent drop,” he said. “As citizens and business owners, it’s getting very close to lean and mean in Bolingbrook and all of us taxpayers and users are going to have to be a little more understanding on what we can afford to do.”

While he said residents would likely balk at cutting back on services such as snowplowing and recycling, or decreasing the number of police and fire employees, “we have to do something.”

“We have snows here in this day and age where you don’t even need to have the streets plowed,” he said. “There’s not a car made today that won’t travel through some snow. Just slow down a bit. Every time we send a plow out, that’s what drives your taxes up. Police services go up, salt goes up, gas goes up. But if you want your taxes cut, you can’t have it both ways.”

Claar said village officials are continually looking at ways they can keep the budget in line.

“We’re trying to do what we can, but bear with us,” he said. “If you have some suggestions other than eliminating the position of mayor, let me know.”

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SLAG

6:45 am on Friday, January 20, 2012

You're sure you don't want to run for mayor again, Roger? Personally, I feel you put Bolingbrook on the map. By the way, I agree with your snowplowing comments.