Why I Support John Argoudelis for Mayor of Plainfield

John Argoudelis is the better choice for Mayor of Plainfield, for substantive reasons. A few key ones:

• Underneath the buzz words of “lower property taxes” is that when you insist that other units of government, including taxpayers outside of the village, agree to funnel their tax dollars into village specific initiatives, it’s easy to keep taxes looking static and low. Property taxes for the village for my home were about $420 this past billing cycle. Out of $7,500. This is like getting a dinner check for $75 and telling me that the restaurant is keeping soda costs down at $4 for me when all they’ve done is hidden the true cost of the soda in surcharges for the table linens, etc. The 5.5% of my full property tax bill that goes to the village isn’t a true reflection of taxes the village gets. It’s a shell game. And it doesn’t include things like the board having gotten park and library, etc., services to forego shares of the fees that developers pay for building homes here just so the village could take a better financial selfie.

• Margie Bonuchi’s work ethic is lacking. She has taken to Facebook almost daily—and that’s just one sliver of the internet—during work hours, for years. Her FB activity on the job consists of shining up friends and networking over nothing having to do with her job. Paying someone $70+ tax dollars an hour ($150,000/year) comes with expectations. Bonuchi simply spends too much paid time at her D202 job goofing off on the internet.

• Bonuchi’s work isn’t solid. She wants to trade on her many years in corporate and D202 technology management. But D202 has had some serious tech failures in less than five years. She often jokes out loud that she can’t figure out her smart phone or how to get a document to print, etc. Her campaign website rolled out as very broken and took about two weeks to “fix”. It’s still lame and seems primarily about asking for donations.

• Guilt by association is a real thing and we all use it. We decide who we want as friends and colleagues based on not just who they are, but who they hang with. Who you choose to have in your life is about fit and judgement. Bonuchi thinks willfully ignorant and misogynistic Steve Balich, from Will County Board, is a great guy. She supported Garret Peck over good, honest, working people in his unethical behavior at our park district until it became helpful to her political career not to. She exchanges encouragements with Debbie Kraulidis (who works for Rep. Batinick), who doesn’t believe in free and fair elections in America, who went to the US Capitol insurrection riot this past January. Bonuchi told me once with tears in her eyes how wrong I was to say that Tony Fremarek—federally indicted for years of fraud and embezzlement and suspected by many of fraud in Plainfield Township—seemed like a major weasel, that he was “such a good, good man”. Those are just the sour cream of the crop. The takeaway is that she either fits well with people like this and/or is a terrible judge of character and easy to fool.

• Bonuchi’s volunteerism isn’t what it seems at first glance. It’s not that the causes are bad, or that she does nothing good. But she’s not special for being a volunteer. It isn’t as admirable as pitched that she’s involved in so much when it becomes too much. I’ve seen her nodding off during village board meetings, so the fatigue from spreading herself too thin is real and has real consequences. Being everywhere and in everything shows a lack of boundaries and an inability to prioritize. You may do lots of things, but none of them well. It’s political ADHD.

I’ve asked Argoudelis directly about a couple of his faults, too. Most of the answers have been reasonable ones, even if I don’t always agree. More of value is that Argoudelis has not refused to speak to issues or voters. He isn’t hiding behind cronies and only giving his attention to his cheer squad. Bonuchi has taken that route and used surrogates that include a couple of current village trustees and other political hacks without the integrity to even use their own names in “helping”. So, that’s how much they believe in her. Tip: If you have something to say but won’t own your words, what you have to say is at best ignored and at worst suspect.

Electing someone who is running a responsive election campaign and can be held to account because of how transparently he’s doing it is better than electing someone whose campaign is built around dodging real issues and real voters in ways that make her candidacy feel like a scam. I expected better from both candidates, but the only one rising to the challenge and the moment in a meaningful and convincing way is John Argoudelis.