Q: What inspired you to run for this position?

A: I have been known to as the unifier, and I think I can get the people around the table and get some kind of consensus to a particular problem. I couldn’t stay on the sidelines any longer after seeing some of the problems that we have in DeKalb, and so many people have asked me, and at this stage in my life, if I am going to run for mayor — now is the time.

Q: What is the most important change that needs to happen in this community?

A: I am going to ask the Board of Trustees at NIU to allow me to either sit as an ex-official member or on some committee because the city of DeKalb is so dependent on the success of Northern Illinois University. With the decrease in enrollment at NIU, we are all hurting, and whatever the city can do to access NIU to increase that enrollment is very important. I would also like to work with City Council to learn what some of the problems and some of the promises are in every one of our wards. We have seven wards in this community, and they all have unique problems; I don’t suppose to know all of them in every ward, but I want to work with them to see that we have a better handle on what we can do in every ward.