United We Still Stand

It has been four years since you last elected us to represent you as Village President, Village Clerk and Village Trustees. All five of us believe that Steger is a great place to live. That it is a great community filled with extraordinary people. We have definitely faced our challenges in the last four years, including a major flood, a polar vortex and a pandemic. Despite these challenges, we have accomplished much as a group, but our work is not done. We must continue to move Steger ahead, so that it continues to be the place we want to live.

When we had a major flood in our community in 2019, we were the first community in Illinois that had the Small Business Administration set up shop in our Village to help residents get low interest loans to cover repair costs not covered by their home owners insurance. We had Alicia Tate-Nadeau, Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, reach out to us at the direct request of Governor Pritzker. We had Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, Will County Commissioner Denise Winfrey, Will County Commissioner Laurie Summers, William Barnes Jr., the Executive Director of Cook County Emergency Management and Regional Security, and Harold Damron, Director of the Will County Emergency Management Agency, tour our community and provide critical support for us during this time. We also had Republic Services bring out dumpsters to many neighborhoods and our Public Works employees worked hard to help all of us recover from that flood. It was the fast response and efforts of Governor Pritzker and the tireless work from the Cook County Emergency Management and Regional Security, the Will County Emergency Management Agency and our very own Tom Johnston and the members of the Steger Emergency Management Agency that resulted in our community qualifying for the low interest loan program. None of our opponents have the relationships needed to get this type of attention and resources for Steger. We have this support and have proved it.

Governor Rauner's administration made Illinois come to a halt. During his four years, there were no grants. Governor Pritzker reopened the ability to get grants and we have been busy since then. We have been awarded $2,171,292 in grant money which we began to receive in 2020 (see Grants for more information) and will continue over the next few years. We have been contingently awarded another $1,982,840. We have applied, or are in the process of applying for, an additional $5,945,840. See Grants if you want to see further information.

Although the Kmart building is still empty, we have added new businesses and we have moved Steger forward. We knew Kmart would be empty for at least two years (which was November 2020) because of the way tax incentives work in Cook County. By the end of that two year period, we were in a pandemic. Despite this challenge, we have added businesses like the Gyros Express II, Brown Onion, Sweet Vine, Sam N' Irenes and El Monte Tacos. We have a new business owner working on a new Mexican grocery and deli which we expect to open soon. Austin Community Tavern is completing its renovation and will be opening soon. We are also working with the new owners of Dari Whip which will house another restaurant. We also continue to have discussions and work with Seritage Properties, the owner of the Kmart building, to help them attract a new business to that building that would fit our vision. We have been approached to put office space and storage units in that building, but that does not bring the revenue that has always been the heart of our economic engine. We have proven though that we can and do attract new businesses.

Although our work is not done, we have proven we get results. During this pandemic and decreased revenues to the Village, we have continued to provide the critical services, we continue to further reduce crime and increase safety, we continue to work on the revitalization of our downtown area, and to do this, we have proven we are fiscally responsible and make the most out of Steger's decreased revenues without putting more on the backs of our citizens. We have accepted all of these challenges and have made great progress. We deeply believe that our opponents do not have the knowledge or experience or relationships to accomplish what we have achieved nor will they be able to build on our foundation to continue Steger's growth.

STEGER NEEDS STABLE LEADERSHIP IN THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES! Village President Kenneth Peterson, Village Clerk Joseph Zagone, Village Trustees Ryan Buxton, Ernesto "Ernie" Lopez and Leonard "Lenny" Skrezyna give this stability with their knowledge, experience, vision, determination and drive. VOTE FOR ALL OF US ON APRIL 6, 2021!!!

As you explore the pages to our website, we hope you agree that we have proven that we are the leaders Steger needs and that our team only strengthens our community and our ability to overcome the issues we face. We are united like never before, united to take on our challenges, united to work together to work for you, we are United for Steger and United for Action. Please vote for all of us on April 6, 2021.