Meet the Candidates: Diane McGinley

Glen Ellyn Patch: To start, please give us a little info about yourself for people who might not know you around town.

Diane McGinley: I moved to Glen Ellyn in 2003, following both of my sisters who also live here.  At the time, I worked as a project manager and supervisor in IT.  I had up to 27 people reporting to me and obtained my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.  I currently have two children who attend Ben Franklin Elementary School, two nephews and a niece at Churchill and a nephew and niece at Hadley Junior High.  My brother-in-law is ending his term on the Library Board and my oldest sister is involved with the PTA council.  My husband runs his business out of our home and my sister just opened a new business on Crescent [Boulevard].  I have been attending Village Board meetings for the past four years, served on the boards of both Newcomers and Glen Ellyn Junior Woman’s Club.  I also helped start Go Downtown!, which was a resident-based volunteer group dedicated to the health and vitality of the downtown.  I ended the group about 1 ½ years ago, when I turned over the website to the Downtown Alliance group and realized we had done what we could to draw attention to the downtown area.  

Patch: Economic development is an important issue to small business owners in Glen Ellyn, and residents alike who want options for shopping and eating. Do you have a plan to encourage more businesses to open in Glen Ellyn? Would you like to see more corporate or chain-style businesses open in downtown Glen Ellyn, or is it best to encourage more development of the 'mom and pop' variety?

McGinley:  I believe Glen Ellyn is a great town.  Our Roosevelt [Road] corridor has great draws and several opportunities to expand.  Our downtown has several businesses that serve the community’s needs very well.  There are always opportunities to improve and the Village Board needs to focus on these opportunities.  To encourage new businesses in Glen Ellyn, we need to improve the existing buildings, offer more grants and reduce the time for permits when a business is improving a space to move in.  We need someone who can recruit and bring in new businesses effectively and work with our village staff.

I would welcome any successful business to our town.  If it is successful, that means that the residents are supporting it and therefore find a need for it.  The mom and pop shops do enhance the fabric of the town however we should do what we can to support all Glen Ellyn businesses.

Patch: What do you think are the top three most important issues facing residents in the next few years? 

McGinley: The top three most important issues facing residents in the next few years:

1. Financial Constraints.  Our village has a very lean staff, higher expenses and lower revenues.  This does not mix well for the services that our residents have come to expect.  We need to focus on economic development to create a higher revenue source for our village, pay attention to the finance commission’s five year plan and seek additional revenue sources that do not require raising taxes on our residents.

2. Economic Development.  We have several areas that are need of urgent attention.  However, we have limited funds.  We need to focus on what we can accomplish and work together to get things done. 

3. Hiring the new Village Manager.  We have been without a long-term, effective village manager for several years now.  Working with the new interim village manager, it has reinforced how important it is to have someone who can earn the respect of both the employees and Village Board, work effectively and accomplish tasks.  The moral and effectiveness of both the staff and the board have improved dramatically in the past nine weeks that we have hired our interim village manager and I hope that the new village manager can continue the good work.  This is very important to the residents because the services that the residents receive, the budget that is put together and presented, the projects that are proposed, are only as good as the village manager and the department heads.  If they cannot work together, then things do not get done.

Patch: In what area(s) is the village excelling? What has the last board done right, and what should it continue to do to continue said positive trends?

McGinley:  The current board has excelled in creating transparency.  The board that took their seats two years ago has brought about many changes that the residents had asked for.  To continue this trend, I would like to see the board engage in a little more conversation with the public when they come out to speak at meetings, talk to more residents, help motivate residents to vote in local elections and continue supporting the new finance commission. 

The board had also started to review procedures and shorten permit processes where possible.   I support any effort to improve efficiency in all departments.

Patch: Reports from the Finance Department on the village's five year financial forecast look very good for the village overall, but show a need to increase revenue and find news areas of revenue. Is it possible to raise revenue, but not taxes? Where do you see this new revenue coming from?

McGinley: I do believe it is possible to raise revenue without raising taxes.  For example, if we increase our sales in Glen Ellyn by focusing on economic development, that would increase revenues.  There are other opportunities I would like to explore and I expect our new village manager to help us identify other revenue sources that would improve our revenues.  

Patch: Economic sustainability is a hot topic in Glen Ellyn, both among residents and members of the Village Board. Where are some areas that Glen Ellyn can become more sustainable?   

McGinley: Our town really relies upon economic development for sustainability.   Not just downtown, but across the entire town.  We need to focus and find opportunities that will tie into the charm of the town as well as bring in additional opportunities.  Currently we have vacancies at both ends of the gateway to our town.  The first is five corners with the old gas station and the second is at Main [Street] and Roosevelt [Road] with the old Chase building.  We need to find something that will fit into our town at these locations and prove themselves as anchors.  This will greatly improve the sustainability in our town as these locations are the gateways.  

Patch: Please describe some long-term goals for Glen Ellyn. These do not necessarily need to be things you hope to accomplish in a single term, but more what direction do you think the village needs to go into the future? 

McGinley: I would love Glen Ellyn to become a greener community, with homes that are built with alternative energy sources.  Educated consumers look for more energy efficient homes with different building products that can lower dependence on fossil fuels and reduce their carbon footprint.

Another long-term goal for Glen Ellyn should be to bury utility lines.  This would reduce the annual storm damage, allow trees to grow in their natural shapes and beautify our town.

Patch: Feel free to include a closing statement, or anything else you would like to add.

McGinley: In closing, I would just like to say that I am very excited for the opportunities that our town has in front of us.  While there are several issues we need to clean up, there are also several changes that can move our town forward again, like hiring a new village manager.  I thank everyone for the opportunity to serve this town and I can only hope to fulfill my role in a positive, open-minded, visionary way that I have always looked for in other trustees.