Meet Manhattan Village Trustee Candidate Howard Young

MANHATTAN, IL — The upcoming election is less than two weeks away, and early voting has already started. In Manhattan, one of the contested local races is the race for village trustee. There are three open spots on the board in the upcoming election on April 2. Howard Young is one of the five candidates running for a position.

Young lives in Manhattan and has five adult children and five grandchildren. He is a certified crime scene investigator from Northwestern University, as well as a certified arson investigator from University of Illinois. He currently works part-time at the Will County Sheriff's Office, and was previously a deputy at the department. Young also owns a business called Mrsudz Powerwashing with one of his sons.

Young believes one of the most pressing issues facing the board is the safety of the community.

"This includes these massive warehouses and truck traffic that has appeared. Secondly, the infrastructure of our roads and the lack of traffic control devices on our roadways," Young said. "I intend to stop the building of any new warehouses in or near Manhattan. I will meet with IDOT and the Will County Board about correcting the infrastructure where Manhattan roadway meet the states and county roads. I will meet with each school's representative and devise a plan to keep our school the safest in the country."

Young also believes the police department is under-staffed and manpower needs to be expanded.

"We need to work with the schools to make sure they stay safe. We need to draw business to Manhattan. We have some of the best schools in the state and that will bring people to move here," Young said. "As the population grows business will come. We, as a board, just have to make sure it's the right business so we don't loose our small town appeal."

Young believes his background in law enforcement makes him a trustworthy candidate.

"During my life as a police officer I was always fair and understanding," he said. "I had the trust of every community I worked. I feel with the experience I had in law enforcement and the willingingness to be open with the public, I would be a good voice for the people."

There are three open positions on the Manhattan village board in the April 2 election. The other candidates are incumbents James Reeves, Erin McDonough and Michael Naughton, and newcomer Robert Dilling.

If you are a candidate in the upcoming April 2 election, you can email andrea.earnest@patch.com for a candidate questionnaire.