Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the April 1 general election.
The race for Sugar Grove Village Board in the April 1 election features four candidates, including one incumbent, who are seeking to fill three four-year seats on the board.
The candidates include Nora London, Anthony Speciale, Michael Roskopf and incumbent James White.
Roskopf, 54, said in talking to voters, issues include the TIF district that is part of the Crown Community Development project at Interstate 88 and Route 47 and bringing more business into town.
The TIF district remains an issue, he said, “because the tax money that will be generated from this project will be going to Crown and the taxing bodies will have additional costs that will not be offset by the revenue.”
“That’s going to be a budget issue for years to come for the schools and fire department and all taxing bodies,” he said.
More business development brings more jobs to the area, Roskopf said, and residents want to see more businesses “so that cash stays in the town instead of traveling elsewhere as commercial businesses bring jobs.”
Michael Roskopf is running for Sugar Grove Village Board in the April 1 election. (Michael Roskopf)
If elected, Roskopf said he wants to bring “more transparency to the public.”
“Explaining to people the financial impacts down the road,” he said. “Take the TIF project as an example. It wasn’t explained how this was going to affect taxing bodies, they just said ‘trust us.’ Instead of that, it should be, here’s a number, here’s what’s going to happen.”
Roskopf said he’d also like to bring more retail establishments to town “because we have to go to other towns now to do shopping and we need more things here.”
He also said he would try to encourage more residential developments “but with less townhomes and more houses.”
Speciale, 63, said that voters in the village are concerned about property taxes, as well as “an accessible community that is connected with bike trails and walking paths and things like that” and more social and community opportunities for seniors.
“Nobody wants to see their taxes go up. We need to do something to get them under control and the way to do that is with a diversified tax base. You have to have some development that creates that and the number one is commercial and to get that you need additional residential that will support it,” Speciale said. “Sales tax is generated and the residential then supports that.”
A connected community, he said, includes more bike paths.
Anthony Speciale is running for Sugar Grove Village Board in the April 1 election. (Anthony Speciale)
“I worked on the Blackberry Creek Trail and people want to see more projects like that, ones that are walkable and accessible,” he said.
Seniors want more social opportunities and amenities in Sugar Grove “even if it’s developing a town center,” Speciale said.
If elected, Speciale said goals include diversifying the tax base “and making sure we have responsible growth in the community.”
“That’s most important – economic development and diversifying the tax base. I can’t stress that enough,” he said. “That’s the most essential thing.”
“I think things need to be improved and more accessible for aging residents and I want to advocate for improved transportation options and facilities that are tailored to senior residents,” he said.
London, 68, said voters she has spoken to are concerned about the TIF district and not feeling that they are being heard by the Villag Board.
“Voters, overall, feel that with the TIF and the Crown development – the consensus is that – I will say I have canvassed this and gone door-to-door and people are concerned about the TIF not being appropriate for this type of development,” London said. “One, people don’t think it’s appropriate. We’re not in a blighted area. The other side is the concern is that it’s not properly supporting the taxing districts that are going to be subject to all the development.”
The community feels shut out, London said, as “many, many people showed up to the hearings and essentially protested against the TIF and do not feel their concerns were even heard.”
If elected, London said she wants to work on more transparency and communication, growing the community with a vision for the future and monitoring finances.
“With communication, I want to look at how people get their information. A lot of people, I’m finding, are not tied into the electronic age and if they’re not tied to Facebook or looking online or getting newspapers they miss a lot of the communications,” she said.
Nora London is running for Sugar Grove Village Board in the April 1 election. (Nora London)
London said development needs to be well thought-out in Sugar Grove.
“When it comes to growing the community, my concern is not just what today is. I look at the issues for growth – not only what is the residents’ appetite for growth, but also what is it going to look like 10, 15 years down the road,” she said.
London said she also wants to focus on “reviewing what’s going on from a financial responsibility standpoint and make sure all the decisions that we make as a board are financially responsible.”
White, 61, said voters are concerned about not being heard in terms of communication with the board, overall development in town and the TIF district connected with the Crown Development project.
“A number of residents and non-residents came out to speak against the Crown development and we approved it, despite their urgings,” White said. “The north side of I-88 was slated for industrial use and so there was a fear that it would be warehouses. We have been fortunate enough to get a data center who wants to buy up all the industrial property and put some data centers there, which are a great economic driver for the village.”
The TIF issue is a problem, according to White. He said “people are against the TIF because Crown is a $1 billion company and they can afford to develop the property themselves.”
James White is running for re-election to the Sugar Grove Village Board in the April 1 election. (James White)
If reelected, White said he wants to work on “other kinds of development because with the residential development, we can now attract commercial development like stores and make the village more appealing to commercial companies which will help diversify the tax base.”
White also wants to focus on improving local infrastructure “as there are a lot of older parts to our village that really need work.”
“Being able to get funding for that is something that we need to do,” he said.
White said he also wants to bring harmony to the village “as it’s a bit disjointed right now over the way the whole Crown things went,” he said.
“We need to put that behind us and move forward,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/24/four-running-for-three-seats-on-sugar-grove-village-board/