SYCAMORE | Alderman elections are less than two weeks away, and candidates for the April 17 election are hoping for the best.

All four wards have open seats, and incumbent aldermen from 1st, 2nd and 4th Wards plan to run for re-election.

“I hope to continue to work with the city staff and manager to reduce property taxes,” said incumbent 1st Ward Alderman Cheryl Maness. “We have decreased these taxes over the last nine years, and I want to continue to keep spending down so we can pass the savings on to taxpayers.”

Rich Neubauer is up against Maness in the 1st Ward position.

“DeKalb has run into some trouble,” Neubauer said. “They have had to lease two new trailers because they’ve run out of money to pay for schools.”

Neubauer said when DeKalb raised its impact fees in November of 2005, it was already too late.

“I want to raise ours ahead of time before we run into the same problem,” Neubauer said. “Our total fees are about $8,000. In DeKalb, they are $18,000. We’re giving developers about $10,000 in subsidiary per home relative to DeKalb.”

Willie Murphy, Joyce Smith and Greg Taylor are competing for the 3rd Ward seat.

“I like the small town atmosphere, but I feel we are slowly losing it,” Smith said. “I was one of the founders who got the petition on the ballot to slow the growth, and I don’t think the city council is achieving that goal.”

Smith said she spoke with many citizens who share her unease about the city’s current growth.

“We need to slow the growth and give the infrastructure time to recoup,” she said. “Tax relief and bringing our schools up to date are two other areas that need to be addressed.”

Taylor said he wants to continue on the council’s “intelligent and reasonable path” regarding growth, but feels communication among council members and citizens needs improvement.

“The council enacts many decisions and ordinances that affect the residents,” Taylor said. “I don’t think the residents are aware of many of them.”

Murphy recently expressed concern regarding his continued candidacy, although an official statement announcing whether these concerns will effect his candidacy has not been made.

“Circumstances might hamper me in the duties of alderman,” Murphy said.

Incumbents 2nd Ward Alderman Chuck Stowe and 4th Ward Alderman Terry Kessler are unopposed in their districts.

Other legislation on the ballot will address two major issues. The first is a school referendum which calls for the construction of a new middle school and additions made to existing schools. The second is a water referendum that plans to set up new taxing bodies to take care of the water supply.