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Welcome

March 24, 2009

Welcome

 

Today is a great day in the life of the Cullerton Family. After much sole searching and many pro/con discussions we have made a decision that I should work towards the next level of Village leadership and run for the President of Villa Park. We are all very excited and anxious as we count down to April 7, 2009 -Election Day.

My goals are very clear. Throughout the campaign I will be bringing up ideas and giving opportunities for you to view my opinions on various issues. I will run a campaign based on the issues- how to move Villa Park forward, how I can be an effective leader for our Village and how I will work toward the long term future of our town. 

As your President I will bring respected leadership, a vision of economic success, a transparency to Village issues, a strong fiscal responsibility to the needs of our residents, an attack dog mentality to criminal activity and I will continue with fresh ideas that move our Village to prosperity.

Since 2005 when I was elected to the position of Trustee I have been a constant source of new ideas. My belief in government is not what won’t work but rather how can we make it work. With today’s slumping economy and housing crisis, the likes never seen before, we need a leader that is creative. A leader that will be effective in attracting new opportunities. A leader that can articulate to developers and new families how Villa Park is shaking off the dust of complacency and striving to achieve the highest level of success. I believe I am that leader.

My unique perspective and my optimistic outlook has allowed me to push for ideas that many thought weren’t possible. Ideas that others said couldn’t get done. Development that was thought beyond the reach and capability of Villa Park. I don’t believe in allowing others to rain on the positive opportunities that we have here in VIlla Park. The future is here in Villa Park. It is time for us to make a shift in our government as well as in our community. A shift towards a brighter and stronger future here in Villa Park.

Sincerely,

Trustee Thomas Cullerton

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Salary Options for 2009-2010 Budget

March 20, 2009

 

To: Madame President, Trustees and Manager Neimann

I would like to ask for an option to be placed into our budget as a possible addendum if necessary.

While we have had conversations as to possible layoffs I believe we should explore all possible options before looking at laying off our employees. I would like to see a few scenarios looked at before we get to the point of layoffs.

  1. I would like to see a budget analysis of all salaried employees from supervisor on up taking a 2%, 5% and 10% pay reduction. This would not be a permanent option but I would like to see how the numbers would run.
  2.  I would like to see an analysis of all hourly employees taking 1-3 unpaid days off throughout the course of the year. Again not a yearly permanent option but still would like to see the numbers.

While these are possible contentious options they may be needed in this struggling economy. There is an 8.9% unemployment rate in America. I don’t think any of us want to be the cause of that increasing.

I also believe that none of us wants to see services decline. In traditional layoffs the line employees are the ones who take the brunt of the hit. All departments are already understaffed! We will lose too many services if we layoff our pothole fillers, our service counter helpers, our CSO’s and our inspectors. I personally could not think of laying off line workers who are in the trenches everyday if we haven’t looked at these options.

Finally if we end up laying off a significant amount of “line” workers we cannot look at management without laying off one or two of them as well. Managers only need a job when they have people to supervise. If a department loses employees then we have to look at which supervisor’s responsibilities have been reduced and consider taking them off the payroll as well.

I reiterate I am not for any layoffs, rather creative thinking! I know it adds a little bit more to do but I would ask before we throw our hardworking employees into the street we look at exhausting every possible solution for us, as a Village, to retain our maximum levels of Service.

Let’s all work together to see this budget process through to a successful resolution.

Trustee Tom Cullerton

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