Mayor's Race: Guy Alongi
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Guy Alongi, a former city finance commissioner and 27-year director of the Perry County Housing Authority, will oppose incumbent Mayor John Rednour on April 5.
He said openness and establishing long term financial planning and youth boards are major components of his candidacy.
Alongi said he made the decision in early January to run in the absence of other viable candidates seeking the position. Mayor John Rednour had announced his planned retirement. Street commissioner Kathy West had thought about the position, then decided that family commitments were too important. Finance commissioner Cha Hill thought about the position, then was informed that it may conflict with the ability to capture his pension in his role as site superintendent at Pyramid State Park. Water commissioner Rex Duncan said it was impractical to hold a position at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and devote the hands-on attention the position requires.
Within days after the Alongi decision, Mayor Rednour said doctors had resolved much of the discomfort of a chronic back issue and decided to seek another term.
Alongi's role as apprentice on a previous council took a decidedly formidable turn, but he had no intention of changing his mind. Alongi decided to stay the course and put together his plan for the City of Du Quoin.
The newspaper published his plan in its entirety on January 27.
Alongi's focus is a long term financial and master plan for the city. He said he would like to see an advisory committee made up of bankers, accountants and businessmen to work with city administrator and budget director Blaine Bastien and the council. He said the board's responsibility would be to help plan all existing and future budgets to help achieve fiscal viability.
Alongi also stated,"Several years ago the city voted in home rule with the promise that the city portion of the personal property taxes would be eliminated. Home rule should have stood on its own merit. Now after a few years the city has had to reinstate a portion of those property taxes back on the rolls costing taxpayers hundreds of dollars each. As mayor, I want to keep property taxes in check. The last thing we need are higher taxes, especially right after the state of Illinois raised income taxes by 66 percent".
Yet, Alongi said he fully realizes cities are strapped and that it may be impossible to avoid levying some or all of the city's real estate tax share. He said he is up to the tough decisions at hand. Alongi remembers 10 years ago when he sat on the city council as finance commissioner and Du Quoin had exhausted various revenue streams. It resulted in the levying of a utility tax, which he says probably cost him the next election. That council paid the price, but he called it the "right decision." He said it was a tough decision, but one that had to be made to stay fiscally responsible. Similarly, that council voted to enact an entertainment tax--a 5 percent tax on ticketing--that remains on the books but has never seen daylight. It viewed by that council and councils since as a revenue stream of last resort.
The Du Quoin council recently was forced to reinstate all but $80,000 of the real estate it thought it could abate four years ago by trading real estate taxes for a half-cent sales tax under home rule. The council bought some time by capturing $330,000 from a second half-cent sales tax intended for use as the local match for new high school bonding, but the state's announcement that it would fund nearly $14 million of the town's $18 million high school project sent that money back to the district.
Alongi said the city council never should have touched that money to begin with. He said the council should have phased the levy back in gradually, instead.
Alongi calls it a 250 percent tax increase. Rednour says it is bringing back a share of the tax that was fully in place four years ago.
Alongi said jobs are important and on everyone's minds all the time. He said that while interstates surround Du Quoin on all sides--but none through Du Quoin-- there are still major opportunities. As business migrates to places like Marion and Carbondale he said the city needs to champion the capabilities of our workforce and market that asset to industry across the region.
"There will be a great opportunity for employment in the near future in Southern Illinois; we need to make sure companies come to Du Quoin and present job fairs working with Man-Tra-Con. We need to be thinking that we are one voice and one region. It is a shame that Perry County along with Du Quoin, is the third highest unemployment county and community in the state of Illinois. We have wonderful people who want to work and need to be given the opportunity to do so."
Alongi added," Aging waterlines is a major priority. All you have to do is look up and down North and South Washington Street, East and West Main Street, among other areas of Du Quoin to see just how critically these lines need to be replaced. There are patches all over Du Quoin and every time we have a waterline break it cost us hundreds of dollars in lost revenue. I will work with state and federal leaders to secure funding to replace aging waterlines over the next four years. The other item that needs to be addressed is how to replace the revenue the City of Du Quoin generated from selling water to Tamaroa. Beginning in July, Du Quoin will no longer be selling that community water, which will cause a shortfall in our operating budget".
Alongi said he will have an open door policy and set hours at city hall to talk to citizens. He said his telephone number and eMail are available now, and will be.
Alongi, like Rednour, has a Facebook page and says it has been a valuable tool in reaching out to residents and voters.
Alongi said he wants to work with the Du Quoin school system to create a youth advisory board with a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior high school representative as well as a collegiate representative to capture ideas that will be meaningful to the city's youth. "The students need to tell us what activities they would like to see in our community. This board would work directly with the council and come up with ideas for youth involvement within our city. I know teen activities in the past have failed, but I want to give it another try."
He said a city council vote to end roadblocks in Du Quoin will hurt some organizations.
"Du Quoin doesn't need to be adopting ordinances limiting the ability of these fine organization's from raising the funds to meet the charitable needs of our community. These organizations have hard working dedicated members who help our local veteran's, underprivileged children and seniors. I want the city council to take another look at the ordinance they adopted restricting fund raising efforts beginning 2012".
The Alongis live immediately east of the Du Quoin Middle School and he said he would like to see a police presence in the morning to improve traffic flow. He said he would explore other possibilities on the city's Web site.
He said he would like to work with health care professionals to take a look at chemicals coming into the water in our state and nation.
Alongi said there were no adverse audit findings during his career as housing authority director and he feels he served that program well.
Alongi is married to wife Rose, sits on the Illinois Community College Board, and they have two sons, J.R. and Shawn. Alongi is the son of the late Jerome "Mimi" Alongi and his mother is Dorothy Alongi of Du Quoin.