James Barr brings political experience to the 7th Ward Alderman race.

He has served six years on the township board, four years on the county board and has held many positions with NIU’s Student Association, including student trustee on the Board of Trustees.

Barr’s first issue is what he calls “smart growth” of the community. He would like the council to slow residential growth, maintain the community’s commercial base and focus on expanding industrial growth to improve the city’s tax base. Barr said he would like to adopt a comprehensive plan that would encourage industrial growth through incentives that would match offers from other communities competing for industry.

Barr also would like to see increased safety measures for Annie Glidden Road.

“I’d like to see the council look at installing something like the count down timers at major intersections that can be seen in places like Urbana, Ill.,” he said. “With a timer, students will know not to walk out into traffic when there’s only seven seconds until the light changes.”

Barr mentioned other possible safety devices the council could examine, like pedestrian barriers to funnel foot traffic toward crosswalks.

His third major platform is his desire to see the continued revitalization of downtown DeKalb.

“We need to bring in businesses that can supply a product serving both the residents of DeKalb and NIU students,” he said.

Barr is an NIU graduate student pursuing a degree in fiscal administration.