DeKalb City Council candidate profiles

By Rachel Cormier, Senior News Reporter
April 4, 2023

Carolyn Morris (Incumbent)

What office are you running for: 1st Ward Alderman

How long have you lived in DeKalb: 8 years

What’s your current occupation: Full-time realtor at Berkshire Hathaway Starck Real Estate

What is your political party: Unaffiliated

What are some previous experiences or involvement you’ve had in the DeKalb community: Former combat engineer and linguist in marine corps, former marine reservist, founded non-profit for distributing clothes, ran for DeKalb County clerk

Why are you running for the position: “I’m so passionate about it, really when I ran for alderman the first time I was like: ‘is it gonna be a good fit, am I gonna enjoy it, am I gonna find this to be fulfilling, is this gonna feel like I’m actually investing in the community and actually doing something of value for people?’ Right away it was clear to me it was, and I was helping and having an impact. Right as I was finishing my masters I was also running for mayor. I feel that all the time I invested in my education I really got to really dig deep into DeKalb finances and dig deep into what the best practices are for city government. In doing so, I really became intimately aware about all the backgrounds and details about the city, so I guess I feel really well equipped at this point to add value at the city government level and for the people.”
What makes you qualified for your position: “Certainly that I have the past four years of experience. You know when you don’t have the experience, you don’t know how valuable it is and having done it for the last four years there are lots of things in the city government that come up again every two years or every six months. And the more times you see those things, the more familiar you become and the more the whole city government can kind of run efficiently. And so, when I say it that way it kinda makes it sound like ‘should we change this?’ But really, the kind of things that we’re redoing every year are federal government guidelines that require us to do certain things repetitiously. For example, every six months we need to review all of the closed meeting minutes and we have to decide if we’re going to put them out to the public. So things like that, that are just part of the patterns of how the government runs and being familiar with them.”

What are some goals you want to accomplish if elected: “Crime has been really stressful for the community, but I think it’s important to recognize that it’s not just something isolated and unique just for DeKalb right now. Shootings are up all over the country and that has been stressful for all communities. It’s hard – that’s the big thing, ensuring that safety is our top priority is first and foremost. We’ve done a lot of things this past year with the high school, the high school has had some issues and we’ve had resource officers put in place. I’m really looking to see that our schools sort of turn around with new leadership at the high school. But safety and a community where everyone feels like they belong is really critical to a community being somewhere that people wanna come and wanna be and wanna live.”
“I live in one of the wards that’s struggling the most in our community and because it’s struggling the most it has the most room for growth and opportunity and improvement. I can see that just in the past four years we’ve had significant turnarounds in my ward. But public policy is inherently slow moving and that’s a deliberate design element of public policy so that you can’t just change policy and have things go all the wrong way either. I think that our city operates smoothly and as staffed as possible, and I think we’re doing a great job to make improvements in the first ward. A lot of the demolitions we’ve done of dilapidated buildings in the first ward have been hugely impactful. We’re trying to turn around the impacts of irresponsible landlords and we’re trying to turn around a lot of the struggles in the community. I think we’ve made a lot of big steps that have us on the right path.”

Why should students/DeKalb elect you: “I am accessible, I am here and I’m ready to listen to everyone’s voices. I like to truly make myself available to constituents and hear if they have a different idea and want to take things in a different direction. I think I’m a good listener and I think I’m ready to enact the will of people, but I also think I have a lot of personal understanding and experience to add value so I can explain why things work the way that they do and where there is room for improvement and how we can do better. I’m here to be a representative of the community, and I think I bring a lot of my own value to that role too.”

Tracy Smith (Incumbent)

What office are you running for: 3rd Ward Alderman

How long have you lived in DeKalb: Over 55 years

What’s your current occupation: Chief Operating Officer for Voluntary Action Center in Sycamore

What is your political party: Independent

What are some previous experiences or involvement you’ve had in the DeKalb community: Former officer for the City of DeKalb, worked with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and Chief Operating Officer for Voluntary Action Center in Sycamore

Why are you running for the position: “I just see DeKalb coming back to the way it was. Years ago, we used to have almost 25,000 students at NIU and I think DeKalb was a very robust town. Now that the student population has dropped, I want to run just to bring DeKalb back to the way it was. I mean, we’re seeing large economic growth and development returns turning into lower taxes for every taxing body, so I’m running to keep that trend going.”

What makes you qualified for your position: “I talk to a lot of people, I have for years. I have a lot of family, both my wife and I have extensive family in town and we literally know a lot of people. So just getting in tune with the public. And actually the people that live in the wards, you know, what their thoughts are on the process and are there any complaints?”

What are some goals you want to accomplish if elected: “Really, just to continue growth in DeKalb. I’d like to see the tax base continue to go down in the next four years. To continue growth for downtown development has started to come back. And I’d also like to get started to concentrate on more of our road infrastructure. Before I took office, we really didn’t have a solid plan for fixing roads. I know we’re working on a very solid plan to be able to put ‘X’ amount of dollars away every year consistently to fix the roads because everybody wants the roads to be nice and smooth and flat. I’d also like to see some residential buildings going up.”

Why should students/DeKalb elect you: “I think DeKalb has become more friendly with NIU. I’d really love to see more students back. I mean even from the law enforcement side of all those years, I enjoy working with students in town. I really think that our cooperation with the students and with NIU will hopefully increase the student population. We’re currently working with the Fraternal Council on some developments in the Greek Row area where we purchased a bunch of property that’s now vacant, the Hunter (Star Properties) property as you all know where the ‘L’ is and call it. So, I think there’s some great cooperation going on there to bring in some things, maybe the need for the students and make them want to stay in and be here.”

Scott McAdams (Incumbent)

What office are you running for: 5th Ward Alderman

How long have you lived in DeKalb: 9 years

What’s your current occupation: No current occupation – I am recovering from heart surgery last summer and all I am doing is recovery and running

What is your political party: Democratic

What are some previous experiences or involvement you’ve had in the DeKalb community: “So in 2017, I had a stroke, and … as part of my recovery, I had to walk three miles a day. So, I walked from my house to the (DeKalb) library every day and I got to know a lot of the people in town.”

Why are you running for the position: “I want to keep the momentum going. Building the Chicago west area and the economic development in that area – it’s been fantastic for DeKalb. We want to revitalize the downtown, and it might be a long shot, but we’d like to bring the (Metra) train to DeKalb.”

What makes you qualified for your position: “I have the experience of Aldermen for four years. I’ve developed relationships with my local peers, as well as state and federal politicians, and I’m happy to make that contribution to the council and allow my relationships with them to benefit the city.”

What are some goals you want to accomplish if elected: “We’re looking right now at the (Metra) train number one, and then we’re going to continue the downtown redevelopment. We just inked a deal to bring two dispensaries to town, so they’ll be here by the end of the year, and I think that we also want to look at more road repairs. We’re going to need more money to repair the roads enough for DeKalb, and so I want to see if I can get in there and give us a little bit more revenue for that infrastructure.”

Why should students/DeKalb re-elect you: “Well, I listen to anybody that wants to talk about any topic in the city. I’m accessible and I’m a good listener, so if you bring me something that’s a good idea for the City of DeKalb, I’m more than happy to help you with it. That’s all we really asked for.”

John Walker

What office are you running for: 7th Ward Alderman

How long have you lived in DeKalb: 28 years

What’s your current occupation: UPS service provider

What is your political party: Independent

What are some previous experiences or involvement you’ve had in the DeKalb community: Created the Youth Pride Foundation, served on the Human Relations Commission, served on the new police chief’s committee, advocate for DeKalb tenants and landlords and member of the citizen Counselors Review Board.

Why are you running for the position: “Basically, I like to help people and I like to get things done. I don’t like to stand on the sidelines and cry about issues. My uncle used to tell me I’m cut from a different cloth than most and I love to stay out here and help people. I’ve always been known as a tough, hard nosed guy that will fight for the people and that’s what I love to do. Whether I’m taking care of my family, or taking care of my friends, I’ve always loved to just help people and that’s just who I am. I’ve been able to learn a lot from a lot of people from all different backgrounds. And the thing that I pride myself on is that I like fighting for everybody, not just one background. I like fighting for hardworking people to do what they’re supposed to do and who just want to live in a nice solid area and raise their kids or retire. That’s why I know I’m the man for the job.”

What makes you qualified for your position: “I’m just a strong, hard nosed guy that will fight for people’s rights; and I’ve done a lot of work, just look at my background. When it comes to my wife and the foundation we got, I’m showing the community, I’m out here doing things to make DeKalb a better place. And I can’t wait to help my ward out, but it’s not just for my fellow ward. I’m like a Swiss army knife of the community – I can do it all. So, I can be a nice little glue and a fabric of the community and basically just keep things together and basically be able to get the word out to my colleagues if elected.”

What are some goals you want to accomplish if elected: “The number one goal is crazy, because DeKalb has the third highest taxes among the state of Illinois. We shouldn’t be that high so definitely, like everybody else, like the city council is doing right now, I’d definitely give them a hand with just lowering taxes. I’m definitely going to be on the phone with the City Manager trying to get new streets and new roads in our area because of potholes everywhere. And another thing that I definitely can’t wait to do, because I did tell you I have a son that used to play football at NIU, is I want to make DeKalb and NIU unison. Like, I definitely want to come together and figure out solutions. Kind of bring the NIU family with the DeKalb family and just make us a pretty good sports town because what that does is help be able to recruit strong solid athletes and bring strong solid families to the area. So you know, I can help make DeKalb a winner in sports as well, because of my background in sports, but I just want to make DeKalb a better place for everybody and bring better people to the area.”

Why should students/DeKalb elect you: “I started as a delivery driver when I was 21-22 years old and I’ve seen a lot of kids come in and out. I’ve gotten to be a big brother to lots of guys, and a big uncle to some girls and a mentor to those kids that come in. A thing I like to do a lot on college move-in day is meet a lot of people’s parents, because when you drop a kid off you feel kind of nervous about your baby boy and your baby girl going to school. But I want to assure parents, ‘Hey, they’re in good hands here in DeKalb.’ One thing that I definitely want to do as well is make our police department, our fire department, our city workers’ jobs a lot easier. I definitely want to get them all everything that they need to help keep us safe, and help keep our town the way it needs to be for everybody.”

Thomas Riley

What office are you running for: 5th Ward Alderman

How long have you lived in DeKalb: 21 years

What’s your current occupation: Retired

What is your political party: Republican, running as Independent.

What are some previous experiences or involvement you’ve had in the DeKalb community: Head of the DeKalb area Garden Club, member of the American Legion, member of the Army honor guard and participates in military funerals.

Why are you running for the position: “I’m running because I don’t want Derek Van Buren and that’s the main reason. The mayor asked me to come back just because of that reason, because he just comes to every meeting and puts the City Council down and they’re not doing anything wrong. They’re just doing things wrong that he thinks they’re doing wrong. So, if Scott McAdams doesn’t get in it, then I should be next in line and I’ll stay the full four years.”

What makes you qualified for your position: “As far as qualifications, I don’t really have any qualifications. I’ve been on several committees and stuff, I just know that I’m a positive person. I go to every City Council meeting, and if I have any problems, I fill out a form and I get up and talk about it.”

What are some goals you want to accomplish if elected: “There are a lot of residents that have problems like tree branches hanging over their yards from other neighbors, or they have problems with the streets and stuff. That’s something I’d love to do, help the neighborhood get those things resolved.”

“I love the fact that we might even get Metra coming through. It’d be so good for NIU, it might be a little pricey, but you have to move forwards can’t move backwards, you know?”

“There’s one thing that the City Council is trying to figure out if they want more video terminals in DeKalb. But you know, that helps us as far as revenue. So I think it’s important that we still have them. I mean if people don’t play them, they don’t play them, but you know I think we need more video terminals just to help the city out for tax reasons. You know, people are asking for money here and there from the city, but if we don’t have revenue coming in, we can’t do it at all.”

Why should students/DeKalb elect you: “Whatever their concerns are, I will address them immediately because I’m not really a politician; I’m a people person.”