Dear Members:
Early voting for the April 4 Consolidated Elections will be available at Elmhurst City Hall (209 North York Street) and polling places across DuPage County will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Any eligible voter in DuPage can access any polling location within the county.
One Aldermanic seat in each of the Elmhurst City Council’s seven Wards is up for election, with four of those races being contested. Nine candidates are running for four seats on the Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 Board of Education and three candidates are vying for two seats on the Elmhurst Park District’s Board of Commissioners. Three of the nine seats on the Elmhurst Public Library District’s Board of Trustees are up for appointment.
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Elmhurst Police Chief Mike McLean, ECCI Board of Directors and Governmental Affairs Committee member Ben Neiburger of Generation Law and I represented Elmhurst and our Chamber at the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids event hosted by DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin in his Wheaton office on March 20.
The event’s purpose was to introduce state legislators to the perspectives and missions of sibling organizations—Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, Mission: Readiness and ReadyNation—to strengthen children’s well-being, and secure support for Illinois Senate Resolution 36 and Illinois House Resolution 37 to better fund home-visiting and Early Intervention programs.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) included in the 2021-22 Illinois Report Card, only 42.9 percent of Elmhurst School District’s kindergarteners were accessed as fully ready for school success—and that was among the highest percentages within DuPage County.
Economic Development Project
The Elmhurst City Council at its March meeting voted 11-0 and then 9-3 in opposition to a height variance request of 109 feet versus the by-right height of 77 feet within RSCK’s Planned Unit Development (PUD) proposal for construction of a 28-unit condominium building at 200 North York Street.
The City Council’s Development, Planning and Zoning (DP&Z) Committee at its February 27 meeting voted unanimously (3-0) in opposition to the height variance, following a 4-3 opposition vote by the City’s Zoning and Planning (Z&P) Commission.
Opposition voters feared that the requested height variance would set an unwanted precedent as the first redevelopment on that block and that eight condos in the two additional floors did not constitute enough additional density to the project.
21st Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon
A “Sold Out” crowd of some 270 will hear Leslie McGranahan, Vice President and Director of Regional Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, deliver the Keynote Speaker for the 21st Annual Multi-Chamber Economic Outlook Luncheon and Business Expo at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort in Oak Brook on Thursday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
ECCI members Elmhurst Bank, Elmhurst Magazine, Helping Hands Cleaning Service, Mosaic Counseling and Wellness, and See Your House Right Here @properties Elmhurst are among 39 exhibitors.
Elmhurst is among the 23 participating West Suburban chambers of commerce and one of two original event organizers, along with the Westmont Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau.
104th Annual ECCI Awards Gala
Click HERE to view Explore Elmhurst’s coverage of the one-hour awards program from our Chamber’s 104th Annual Awards Gala held at Elm West Banquets on March 10 or watch on local cable access TV on Comcast Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 in April on Saturdays at 7 p.m.
2022 honorees are A.J. “Toche” Terrones Business of the Year Helping Hands Cleaning Service, Ambassador of the Year Eva Sanchez of See Your House Right Here @properties Elmhurst, Chairman’s Award recipient Desiree Chen of Elmhurst University and ECCI Civic Hall of Fame inductee John DeVries of DeVries Animal Hospital.
New Members
Our Chamber welcomed three new members in March: Dara Agruss Design, Elmhurst Youth Baseball and Steve Beranek (formerly of House of Glass).
Upgraded Membership
Elmhurst Magazine upgraded its basic membership to the Investor Tier in March.
Dropped Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following five members in March: Al’s Cooling and Heating, Dr. Marianne S. Laskowski, D.C., Inland Bank, The Salvation Army (Oakbrook Terrace) and Sharing Connections.
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin, Elmhurst Police Chief Mike McLean, former Elmhurst Police Chief Pete Smith and I joined a March 18 gathering of family and friends in the Normandy Banquet Room at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 to celebrate the life of former Elmhurst Police Chief Bernt “Bert” Axel Monsen (1981-86), a Korean War veteran while serving in the United States Marine Corp, who passed away last December 11 at the age of 86.
Death in the Chamber Family
Thanks to all of who sent condolences by phone, text and e-mail on the March 26 passing of my sister, Trudy Zakowski of Bloomingdale, formerly of Elmhurst, at the age of 83. A memorial service is scheduled at the Elmhurst Community Funeral Home on Wednesday, April 5, from 3 to 8 p.m., followed by a gathering at Roberto’s Ristorante & Pizzeria. A private interment will take place at Queen of Heaven cemetery in Hillside on Thursday, April 6, at 9:30 a.m.