John F. Mahoney
March 28, 2011 1:42PM
Updated: March 28, 2011 3:17PM
Office sought: Mayor, Village of Palos Park
Name: John F. Mahoney
Address: 8608 Wes 120th Street Palos, Palos Park, Il 60464
Date of Birth: November 11, 1962
E-mail address: jmahoney@palospark.org
Cell Phone: 708-341-7261
Home phone: 708-923-1961
Work phone: 312-924-4245
Education: B.A. - Michigan State University, Major in Accounting. Law Degree – University of Michigan
Occupation: Member Attorney, Lawrence Kamin Saunders & Uhlenhop, LL
List all sources of income: Lawrence Kamin Saunders & Uhlenhop, LLC Village of Palos Park, Mayor, Salary by Ordinance ($1,000 per month)
Spouse: Mirella E. Mahoney Owner, Mirella Enterprises, Inc.
Children: Daughter Cara – age 12 and a student at Palos South. Son John – age 11 and a student at Palos East
Please list any relative, including in-laws, who are employed by a government agency at the federal, state or local levels. What are their job titles and with what agency are they employed? No relatives that work for federal, state or local government agencies.
What other elected offices have you sought? What year? I was elected as Mayor of Palos Park in 2007. I was elected as Commissioner of Palos Park in 2003.
Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime? No
Do you have any criminal convictions on your record? No
Political experience: Mayor for the Village of Palos Park from 2007 to present
Commissioner for the Village of Palos Park, 2003-2007.
What are the two most important issues facing your constituents?
Fiscal management. The biggest immediate issue our community faces is paying for increasing expenses in an environment where certain revenues are reduced, sometimes dramatically. We have addressed this issue by cutting the budget nearly 10% in fiscal 2010 and watching expenses extremely closely this fiscal year.
Longer term, we need to address and dedicate revenues to the regular maintenance and repair of our Village’s extensive infrastructure, meaning our local roads, sewer, water, municipal grounds and buildings.
Please explain something significant you would like to accomplish within the next two years if elected to the office to which you aspire.
I will work hard to pursue the annexation opportunities available to the Village on its western borders.
Please explain how you believe the office you’re seeking can help in creating local jobs.
I expect that our pursuit of appropriate commercial development will increase local jobs within our community and lessen our Village’s reliance on property tax revenues.
Do you believe the current way Illinois pays for education is working? N/A.
Would you make any changes to the budget of the governing unit to which you are seeking elected office? If so, what?
We are in the midst of our budget process for the coming fiscal year commencing on May 1, 2011. Each year, we review expenses from the bottom up and we will continue to review proposed expenditures carefully.
Are there any other issues you want to bring to the public’s attention?
As an elected official, it is critical to have a vision for your community. Of course our Council needs to provide services, find ways to increase revenues and obtain grants, control expenditures and provide for adequate reserves. If that’s all we do, we will not have done enough. My view is that we must look forward to what our community may be like in twenty, thirty or fifty years. We must carefully plan for those future times so that our community will be better for future generations. The Village of Palos Park has such abundant natural resources and beauty. My vision is build on our natural features to make Palos Park the best place to live and enjoy outdoor recreation opportunities in the Chicago area.
