Kevin M. Coyne For Naperville City Council​: Patch Candidate Profile

Name: Kevin M. Coyne

Age: 41

Position Sought: Naperville City Council

Family: Wife Kim, first-grade daughter Charlotte

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Education:

LL.M, The John Marshall Law School (2009); Juris Doctor, The DePaul College of Law (2000); Bachelor of Business Administration, The University of Iowa (1997)

Occupation:

Attorney, Momkus McCluskey Roberts, LLC - 15 years practice. I represent business clients in a wide range of commercial real estate property, business, franchise, restaurant and professional practices.

Why are you running?

It has been a great honor to serve Naperville. In my next term, I will work toward seeing our financial principles through. Without question, our City is stronger financially now than it was two years ago. Our debt is going down, we are structurally balanced for the first time in many years, our electric utility is in a much stronger financial condition, and we have the best funded public safety pensions in Illinois. We must maintain our AAA bond rating and keep head count low.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

Councilman, City of Naperville (2015 – Present); Commissioner, Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission (2010-2015); Commissioner, Naperville Fair Housing Commission (2006 to 2010); Graduate, Naperville Citizen’s Police Academy (2014); Downtown Naperville Alliance (2015 – Present); DuPage Mayors and Managers (2015 – Present); DuPage County Stormwater Committee (2016 – Present)

Campaign Website: www.coyneforcouncil.org

What do you hope to accomplish in office?

My top concerns are:

1. Public Safety. The heroin epidemic is alarming. We need to keep our schools safe and free of this danger. We need to continue to (1) build awareness as to this issue, (2) keep our police well equipped, and (3) make sure that our many wonderful not-for-profits that serve people with addiction issues well known in our community.

2. Improve East Ogden Avenue. The gateway to our community is lacking in appearance and economic performance. We need to improve both by beefing up our police presence on East Ogden, holding property owners on East Ogden to a high standard in terms of property maintenance, and enforce our sign code so we continue to eradicate unattractive pole signs. Our economic development arm needs to keep Ogden Avenue as a top priority.

3. Real Estate Taxes Must Be Reduced. Our high real estate taxes are a direct result of too much government duplication and too many taxing bodies. We need to keep finding ways to partner with other government units to share costs. We need to promote government consolidation as a top legislative item in Springfield. The merger of the Naperville Township Highway District and Lisle Township Highway District will be a very positive first step toward reducing real estate taxes through consolidation.

How would you hold local government employees accountable?

Naperville has an amazing team of highly-qualified employees. Our City Manager, Doug Krieger, does an excellent job with his team and we are grateful for his leadership. Together, City Council, the City Manager, and each department head, along with the City’s Finance Director Rachel Mayer, continue to run our AAA-rated city to the highest standards of efficiency and excellence.

Explain your attitudes toward fiscal policy, government spending and how taxpayer dollars should be handled by your office (or board)?

I strongly support consolidation of government entities in Naperville and throughout Illinois. It is no coincidence that Illinois has by far the most layers of government in the United States.... and also is the most over-taxed, hyper-political state in our region (if not the country). Our real estate tax bills are unsustainable and will never be brought under control if we allow all these taxing bodies to keep hitting our tax bill. The immediate entity that we need to continue to focus on is the Naperville Township Highway District. It is simply unacceptable to have a government entity (whose sole purpose is to maintain 14 miles of road) tax residents for payroll, administration, capital assets, and a building, when other entities in the immediate area could readily handle this Highway District's duties, at a lower cost. The consolidation of government entities, I believe, will be the wave of the future (there is no financial alternative). The merger of Naperville Township’s and Lisle Township's Highway Districts will be a great place to start consolidating locally.

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

I build alliances and consensus with my fellow Councilmen, and as a result I can be a strong voice for financial prudence. I believe in seeking out and implementing cost-saving measures wherever possible.For example I proposed, and the Council adopted, two property-tax abatements in my two-years as a City Councilman. Together, these cuts amount to $2.2 million in the city property tax levy, a nearly 15% decrease in the levy.I also proposed, and the Council adopted, a measure to remove healthcare benefits for City Council.Finally, I drafted two non-binding referenda questions which received nearly 90% approval by voters last November. Those questions dealt with whether we should seek to consolidate government where financially feasible and beneficial. To that end, I co-drafted (with Naperville Township Supervisor Rachel Ossyra) a binding referendum question which will appear on the April 4th ballot seeking consolidation between the Naperville Township and Lisle Township Road Districts.

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

I am proud of my past accomplishments, and so, too are a long list of community and business leaders who have endorsed me.It is an honor that the Naperville Daily Herald, Naperville Professional Firefighters, Naperville Fraternal Order of Police and the Naperville Area Chamber PAC (NACPAC) have all given me their endorsements (https://www.coyneforcouncil.or...)

I am committed to the excellence that Naperville has achieved, and to maintaining it into the future. We are the safest city over 100,000 residents in the US. I plan to keep it that way.When it comes to Naperville’s future, I will continue to Take Action to Keep Naperville Strong!

Photo provided by Bruce Hanson