Beecher Village Board Candidate: Ronald S. Mazurek

Why did you decide to run for trustee? I’m running for Beecher Village Trustee to start a serious discussion on the aging village infrastructure, business recruitment, and fiscal spending.

Have you held Public Office before? Yes, I was elected twice as a Washington Township Community Building Board Manager serving the community for eight years. A few accomplishments that I participated in as a board member were floor repair, roof repair, tuckpointing, chair lift installed, painted, plaster work of interior walls, exterior landscaped, entertainment, and discount rental fees for Beecher residents. The community building budget is at a minimum of 90,000 a year. We completed the listed projects and had a remaining balance close to 50,000 left in the budget when my term ended in 2021. (673 Penfield Street)

I was elected twice as a Beecher 200U School Board member. I served as the Vice-President of the board (2017), Policy committee (Chair), Facilities committee, Transportation committee, and Negotiations committee. Some of my accomplishments as a board member there were window replacement, roof replacement, floor replacement, asbestos removal, ventilation/boiler replacement through HVAC, parking lot repair, team bus, new school buses, educational staff to meet student demand, video / audio of school board meetings, and Raptor security, which will detect if someone is entering the school building that is on any sex offender registration list. All of these items were ideas that I saw to fruition. They not only helped better the community as a whole but first and foremost provided for the well-being of our students, which are the next generations!

The school board oversees a budget of $14,000,000 a year. We have completed these projects, carefully, through phases. The district will still have close to $8,000,000 in reserves when my term ends. I always placed the kids first as a board member.

What is your background? I’m a current full time police officer serving as my department training officer while working for a part time police department a few times a month. I hold a Criminal Justice degree graduating with honors (Cum Laude), President of the Criminal Justice club, father of four children, Dylan (BHS 2014/current Police Officer), Brittney (BHS 2021/current Nursing student @ NIU), Christian and Noah are currently attending Beecher 200U. Stacy and I purchased our home here in the village in 2010.

What community involvement, organization, affiliations, or club memberships do you have? I’m a current member of the Lions Club and have worked in the past as a Beecher police Officer for nearly 10 years.

What characteristics, qualifications, or experience do you feel you possess to be a trustee? I believe my experience as an elected official through budgeting, planning, and policy has offered me the knowledge of how government works and the processes that need to be followed for a government to be successful. I have been on boards that have seen a minimal budget of $90,000 all the way up to $14,000,000 per year. However, the most important principle I learned as an elected official is that I work for the taxpayers who trust us to spend their tax monies fiscally, and to make decisions while providing exemplary services. One of my strongest characteristics is my integrity. I have a motto and obligation always to do right even when no one is looking.

How can the village board improve? I believe the village board needs to stop borrowing and adding debt to the yearly budget for years to come.

What are important issues you’d like to address and how will you address them? I would like to see the aging infrastructure such as waterlines, streets, sidewalks, and curbs be addressed. I would start a dialogue with the board implementing a long-term plan on addressing the infrastructure and implore the administration to reach out to our county, state, and federal representatives to secure grants that might be available to help off-set village infrastructure costs. We have to address it now, and stop kicking it down the road, before families leave the village for other communities.

The Penfield project that is occurring now has taken over eight years, maybe longer to finalize. These projects can’t wait any longer. They were important then and now.

Our business strategy has to be re-evaluated to make sure we’re not using outdated strategies to compete for small business with other communities. We must keep any future industrial park north of Church Rd. and not in the backyards of residents in the subdivision off Oak and Catalpa. Finally, we have to stop saturating the village with gaming/alcohol establishments, which hurt our current establishments that offer these services already. More family-oriented establishments should be the vision of our local leaders.

What are some improvements you’d like to see happen in Beecher? I would like to see a female police officer added to our police department through either a lateral or new hire process.

Anything else important you’d like people to know? An elected official must be an independent thinker and decision maker. A decision today can have a long-term negative or positive impact on a community. I have always made my decisions on the totality of the circumstances and not just by popular decision. I humbly ask for your vote to serve the village moving forward.