Vote for Mark Smith for Village President, Kathy Brady for Clerk, & Lee Waller, Laura Rodriguez, and Kim Scanlon for Trustee. Our village likes to use imagery and expressions that play off the “wheel” in “Wheeling.” This is smart marketing because a wheel signifies forward movement and progress, positive things we would like to see in our hometown. However, in Wheeling under our current leadership
, that wheel is broken. As successful developers and small business leaders, we’ve had a front-row seat to the village’s economic development failures. Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of dollars of development have gone to neighboring communities, costing Wheeling jobs, revenues, and vitality. Restaurant Row is dying, and we’re likely to lose more of our great restaurants to the pandemic. Our small businesses feel neglected by their local government, especially after getting virtually no assistance during COVID. And our retail spaces are emptier every year. As a result, the village is facing a budget crisis. Because of the village’s poor fiscal management, the village has a $1.6 million deficit in 2021 and village debt is up 30% in the last decade. With sales taxes plummeting due to our lack of economic development, the village has compensated by increasing taxes, over doubling our tax levy rate over the past decade. It’s time we move Wheeling forward. Using our collective development and business expertise, we will get Wheeling growing again. This will bring good-paying local jobs to our community. It will grow revenues for the village so our local government becomes less reliant on property taxes. And it will generate excitement and vitality in Wheeling so our families can spend their time and money here instead of outside our community. We will also put an end to the continual property tax increases that are hurting our families and small businesses. As experienced business leaders who have managed budgets and payrolls, we will restore fiscal responsibility in the Village of Wheeling. We will manage your tax dollars with a single thought in mind: “If we don’t have it, we don’t spend it.” We will balance the village’s budget, pay down our debt, rebuild our reserves, and stop the property tax hikes. We’re stepping up to run because we love our hometown. We refuse to let our village continue to suffer without unifying leadership with a vision to bring excitement and community pride to Wheeling. We are new faces for our local government with fresh ideas and a passion for improving our wonderful community. Support our team of doers who will provide strong leadership and accountability. We will work tirelessly for you and earn your trust. Vote for Mark Smith for Village President, Kathy Brady for Clerk, and Lee Waller, Laura Rodriguez, and Kim Scanlon for Trustee.
