Meet Stephen A. Winz: Lisle Mayoral Candidate

LISLE, IL — Stephen A. Winz is running for Lisle mayor in the 2021 Consolidated Election, which is April 6. Below, you'll find Winz's answers to the Patch candidate questionnaire.

Stephen A. Winz

Age (as of Election Day)

44

Town/City of Residence

Lisle

Office Sought

Village board or city council

Party Affiliation (if a partisan race)

Non-Partisan/Independent

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Sister in the State of Washington Department of Health

Education

Lisle Sr. High School, Apprenticeship Skill Improvement Program-Vocational Training. Cert. Global Labor Studies University of Illinois.

Occupation

Crane Operator-25 years

Campaign website

stephenwinz.com https://www.facebook.com/steph...

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Village of Lisle Trustee Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

- DEVELOPMENT
The village of Lisle needs to be more friendly to development and businesses. Recent years have given the Village of Lisle the reputation of being “hard to work with and the results are evident in boarded up and blighted buildings on display in our downtown Lisle business District. The Village has been derelict in its duties of updating our Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). The CLUP update was to be accomplished every five years and seems to have been laying in wait since 2004.

The Village code for planning and zoning has experienced similar delays. Finally, we are in the process of the Zoning Code Re-write where I am taking a continually active role in communicating with the Planning and Zoning commission during the process. While these steps are vital to the process; they are most certainly not the only factors. There are many intangibles that include a welcoming presence from the village staff and elected officials, an element of personality that is communicated to the business community that Lisle wants to be in a partnership with them and genuine empathy towards these people; understanding the complications that come from the entire process.

It is imperative that we accomplish this if Lisle is to remain one of the lowest taxing bodies. Currently 27% of our general fund comes from property tax and 25% from sales tax. The Village of Lisle should be looking for sustainable ways to not just freeze our taxes but to lower them and keep them low. I believe the best way to do this is through actively partnering with quality developers seeking to take advantage of our many amenities like Metra and our location at the corner of 88 and 355.

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

The current world in which we live seems that no good cause or movement can be made without the most extreme hijacking its momentum and ultimately changing the narrative. We have seen this as peaceful protests gave way to violent crime and vandalism in the Black Lives Matter movement. The same is true for the Blue Lives Matter movement.

In its origins, I believe it has roots in families and friends of police showing their love, support, and concern for each other. What we saw at the January 6th Riot in DC was the equivalent of the Black Lives Matter movement being hijacked by the same type of people’s extremist actions. I want to be very clear; I support the portions of the Black Lives Matter movement that follow in the footsteps of our greatest civil rights leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In April 2009, I was asked to be the closing speaker, to nearly ten thousand people at the “We Are One” rally in Chicago honoring MLK and his works as a civil rights and a labor leader. In 2020 I participated in a Black Lives Matter event hosted by the Dupage AME Church’s Pastor James Miller and Lisle’s Police Dept.

While I was proud of these events, my heart broke as the violence occurred. I knew that so much work by these leaders would be diminished by the violent outbreaks. I strongly believe that human beings are created in an image of love. I believe fear, anxiety and worry work their way into our hearts causing confusion and mistrust. I believe the best of us will root these emotions out along with the extremists and we will one day fulfil King’s dream.

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

I do believe Lisle is making strides and efforts to communicate with minority communities. Given the certain climate of our nation however it seems the work is never done. Long before I was elected to the Village of Lisle as a Trustee, I attended some events hosted by Unity Partnership in conjunction with the Lisle Police Dept. These actions by the Village were proactive in their origins and not simply reactive to the problems we saw going on elsewhere around the country.

I have inquired with the Lisle Police Department about diversity in hiring and if elected to Mayor I intend to make greater efforts so that when residents of Lisle see the Lisle Police Department, they can see a face that resembles that of their own.

I have personally been working with founding members an organization called the Illinois Hispanic Hospitality Association. The IHHA has recently submitted their status as a nonprofit and currently is waiting on the 501c application process. I am honored to offer any help to this organization. These types of efforts and energies are producing a more diverse approach to the Village and I fully intend on continuing and increasing those efforts.

What are your thoughts on the national and local coronavirus response? Do you favor measures such as limiting operation of non-essential businesses and restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a local mask mandate?

I believe the national response to COVID-19 in the early stages became too politically divisive. While it was a developing situation many people spoke in absolutes; ultimately committing themselves to positions that then made it hard to retract. This included responses from the White House but also the CDC and the WHO. I believe these mistakes are what led to state governments having to make decisions that blanketed regions; regions that have a wide variety and diverse make up of municipalities in the state.

These states then seemed to follow partisan lines and those partisan lines led to partisan bickering instead of working on real solutions both locally, nationally, and even from a global perspective. I think with better national leadership from the White House and the CDC people would have gotten the correct message that wearing a mask was simply the right thing to do to prevent the spread of a virus. Instead, discussions of “mask mandates” were needed. Appropriate leadership could have prevented all this. I urge the reader to remember however, that I am speaking from hindsight and I am doing my best to recall my feelings as the facts came in back in March of 2020.

I believe the state restrictions on the closing became important in the attempts to flatten the curve and I believe they worked as we saw second waves. However, I believe in the Village of Lisle a unique small community the restrictions were too overreaching. I believe, in our community that is so close and tight knit, these restrictions could have been voluntarily accomplished from our community members who care about each other so much. So many of our local business are small and sometimes do not see a total of ten patrons in the store in a whole day, let alone at one time.

A total shutdown of business in this manner could have been avoided. I now wear two masks when I am in public following advice from the CDC voluntarily. I want to see the eradication of the virus ASAP so we can all get back to the life we once knew. I believe legislation needs to be enacted on the federal and state level to make certain we have a defined response for future events like this that science seems to assure us will happen again. As Mayor I will lobby these governments to create that legislation.

What are your thoughts on the state and local coronavirus vaccine distribution, and how do you think local governments should work together to handle vaccine rollout?

So far I believe the roll out has been too slow. Recently we have seen an increase in its availability but the need is there and as Mayor I will work to make sure Lisle has the same availability to the vaccine that our larger neighbors receive

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I believe there are many critical differences that I offer to the voter. I am well known in the community because of my family’s connection to Lisle for five generations. However, I offer something new to the community of Lisle never accomplished before. I operate a public Facebook page under the name Stephen A. Winz.

I do livestream/podcast type live videos reaching thousands of viewers. These are often detailed presentations about agenda items that face the board. I offer short stories of myself to the community to help them understand who I am and why I come to the decisions that I do. I am transparent in much of my personal life in this way and I think that transparency will be reflected in the way the Village of Lisle governs.

I would like to create a quarterly or even weekly public video address to the community, either by myself as Mayor or by a representative of the Village from staff. I want to make government less intimidating to those in the community that might feel that it is. In turn this will create the most educated and informed residents and subsequently a government for the people; by the people.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

I believe the current Mayor has failed the community in many ways. The list is long, and I fear that I will be perceived as overly critical however the facts are the facts.

1.) The dismantling of the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau led to hours of public comment and board discussion from several business owners and representatives from our hotel industry; all pleading the case to possibly restructure, but to leave the core of the LCVB intact.
2.) The withholding of $160,000 dollars of Lisle Park District impact fees from the “Marquette Project” that was clearly written and available to the public in the Redevelopment agreement. This also led to hours of Public comment and Board discussion. The failure to release these funds caused delays in the completion of one of the areas only 100 percent accessible parks for the disabled.
3.) Restricted the request from a local property owner that was seeking a change to Title 10 Chapter 5 to allow them to market their 4500 sq. ft. downtown retail space to Taprooms or Brewery’s while not being required to provide food service. The Lisle Downtown business association rallied behind the idea and had more than a dozen business owners show up in support, yet the current administration failed to comply with the requests and the space currently still sits vacant.
4.) Failure during COVID-19 emergency management to develop a system of holding meetings on a consistent basis. The complete denial of request from multiple board members, even from his own political affiliations created disruptions across the Village. The Village Board failed to reach a quorum and conduct regularly scheduled business because of this leadership style. A similar instance occurred in our Planning and Zoning Commission because of this administration led.
5.) Board Meetings have regularly carried well into the night and next morning because of so many inefficiencies in this style of governing.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

I have probably said enough. LOL.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have always been a highly motivated individual. In my young adult life, I participated on many teams at Lisle High School. These teams experienced a tremendous amount of success. I believe we were able to achieve this success because of the leadership of Coaches and administrators like Carlin Nalley and John Ruettiger. The leadership style Coach seemed to teach was that which involved a system of rotating leadership. Co-captains that were put in positions of leadership at times when their skills and personalities could best aid the team.

These two hall of fame coaches were instilling in all of us lessons in raising up those around us and searching within ourselves and teammates for the best in all of us. I was not aware at the time that these lessons would become a way of life. I believe I have achieved the successes in my professional career because of the tutelage of coaches and leaders like these. I have taken this mentality with me in my journey and I believe I will know how to apply it to these circumstances. I plan to lead like my mentors lead and seek a team of like-minded individuals that raise each other up and promote each other’s best qualities to achieve similar success.

I am no longer on a team representing Lisle High School. I am now on a team that includes the Lisle school District, the Lisle Library District, the Lisle Park District, and of course the Lisle-Woodridge fire dept. and Lisle Police Departments. Though these organizations operate individual of each other and the village; the success of these individual organizations is the success of Lisle as a whole. I believe we are all Lisle and in all our individual successes the Village will also succeed.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

There are tangible ways to evaluate success. One of those ways for me would be the development of the Family Square Property on Ogden and Main St. I would like to see some or all our vacant retail space become occupied sales tax generating space. I would like to see a more technologically interactive community with its government. Creating a space on mobile devices to easily view board meetings live and archived with thumbnails tagging each agenda item to a board packet making the process of being an informed community member much less cumbersome.

There are intangibles as well. Divisions on issues related to intergovernmental cooperation has been drastically hurt and affected by the current administrations approach to leadership. I will view some of our success in ways that are difficult to chart and graph. I will ultimately judge my success by once again having a village of Lisle that feels we are all working together for the same cause and not as individuals.

Why should voters trust you?

As a fifth Generation Lisle resident and the youngest of five; someone does not have to look awfully hard to find a quality reference of my character in this town. I would encourage everyone reading this to ask around. I am confident that there is a multitude of Lisle residents that have firsthand experiences with me and my family. This aspect alone holds me to a higher standard of personal accountability than any other candidate.

This history in the community can give residents both old and new the confidence that I will do everything within my abilities to solidify Lisle’s place in the future and make certain we honor and hold true our past. Lisle is not only a place to live… but a place to love.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

I believe government in the most general statements should create a foundational structure of fiscal responsibility. Balancing budgets and controlling spending. I believe we do this so in times of crisis, like what we have faced in recent months, difficult austerity measures are not forced upon us. I believe in difficult times government should have a “get in and get out” approach while always maintaining the foundations and pillars of its structure.

Creating this while keeping the village portion of your property taxes to a minimum is where our work needs to be focused. To accomplish this; Lisle must restructure our regulatory approach to business and development. Because Lisle is “landlocked” we have limited ways to develop and must be creative. Residential development in the downtown Lisle area has been viewed by this administration with hostility. Residential development in this district is what market analysis says will be the driving factor to creating new and exciting downtown retail business district and subsequently re-charging our sales tax contributions to the general fund.

Currently the Villages general fund is made up of 27% property tax contributions and 25% sales tax. To sustain a property tax freeze and my eventual goals of lowering your property taxes; the goal has to be to maintain Lisle’s unique Arboretum qualities while still creating development that gives us an affordable place to live.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

Barring the above mentioned, I currently foresee no circumstance that would cause me to not complete my full term.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Tell the Truth for at least these two reasons:
1.) It is too hard to remember lies.
2.) If you do remember them; it just might mean you are believing them yourself.
-Max James Winz (father)

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I believe I have provided detailed explanations above. Thank you.