Candidate Response: Mayor, Dick Sayad

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1. Is the corner of Miner and Lee, site of the Choo Choo and Masonic Temple buildings, an appropriate place to build a police station and an appropriate use of TIF funds?

No, I do not support that location as a potential site for a new police station. Currently, I do not formally support any one location as the host site. It’s my inclination to not have to demolish any buildings or relocate any businesses to construct a new police station. That is why I believe the city needs to seriously consider the surface parking lot located at the southeast corner of Prairie & Graceland Ave. This location is directly within our downtown area with excellent access streets and it would not require the removal of any buildings or businesses.

The current economic conditions would prohibit any immediate plans for a new police station. Therefore, I would suggest that the city consider leasing available office space in the downtown area to accommodate some city services. This would allow us to free up office space at City Hall for the police department by moving some secondary city services into the leased office space in the downtown area. It would also allow our city the needed time to stabilize our finances and not overreach financially in an attempt to build a new police station in the midst of this economic crisis.


2. Do you believe the Des Plaines Theater has the potential to act as a catalyst to attract more activity downtown?

The Des Plaines Theater is absolutely essential to the success of our downtown and is also essential to my plan to revitalize the downtown area. Our theater is a dormant engine for our downtown area that would draw hundreds of people nightly and daily on the weekends. It would allow our secondary businesses like restaurants, ice cream parlors, coffee shops, bars and other businesses to feed off of the customer traffic created by the theater. Because we are without an active and vibrant theater our downtown area there is little or no nighttime activity in our downtown.

Upon taking office, I plan to meet with several theater owners in other suburban communities to learn what strategies of success they have used as well as the pitfalls. One of the first meetings I will target will be with the Johnson family of Classic Cinemas based in Downers Grove. In my research, I found that the Johnson family has a very good track record in the industry operating 13 theaters in 12 communities. Their theaters occupy historical buildings many of which were in disrepair so they are very knowledgeable in the restoration and preservation aspect which is critical to the Des Plaines Theater. I believe working with the current owner and bringing in the expertise of others in the theater industry we can create the needed synergy to get the Des Plaines Theater revitalization project underway.


3. How do you think downtown can be made a more appealing and productive place?

Let’s start with what I can do immediately as Mayor. In my first week in office, I will take a walking tour of the downtown area with all of my department heads and I will personally point out everything that is not up to the standards for our city (and my list is long). I will make this my personal project to physically transform this area within weeks of taking office. Here are several items from the city’s side that I will have executed immediately:

• Order the installation of multi-paper newspaper boxes to cut down on the many unsightly individual newspaper boxes that clutter our downtown area.
• Reduce all unnecessary extra signage in the downtown area.
• Improve the landscaping program for the downtown area.
• Require daily clean-ups of trash and debris; and twice a month power washing of sidewalks and other public areas.
• Regular maintenance to all public right of ways and public areas including repair, replacement, painting, etc.
• Have property owners beautify their vacant storefronts by decorating their windows with tasteful photos & designs. Eliminating the “gutted and empty” appearance of the vacant retail spaces.
• Parkway Tree Replacement Survey of all missing, dead and highly damaged trees located along the parkway.
• Survey the operational level and lighting quality of all public lighting.
• Advise property owners to take the immediate steps to keep their property clean and presentable where necessary.

Long-term, I plan to introduce an ordinance for stronger Design Guidelines for all of our business districts, retail corridors and downtown area. We will incorporate one common design theme for the downtown area that all property owners and developers will have to conform with. We will set higher standards in building design, facades, building materials, landscaping, parking, signage, etc. Our city has allowed too much latitude with developers and property owners over the last 40 years and the negative results are too numerous. We should take the example of other surrounding communities that have been able to maintain their original architectural integrity while still being able to successfully incorporate new development into the existing character of their community. This will be the formula I will have our city administration apply.

For Metropolitan Square and the other businesses in the downtown area I will initiate a Customers Survey where the businesses will collect customer data (through zip codes and other means) to identify where their customers reside and the community percentage breakdown of their customer base. Analyzing this data will allow the city and the businesses to work cooperatively in our marketing and advertising strategies. Will we need to market a “Shop Local” or “Made in Des Plaines” campaign? Or, will we have to reach outside our city limits to improve our customer base? This data is critical to any strategic business initiatives by the city.

I will meet with property owners and landlords to discuss market conditions for business real estate in the downtown area. We need to collect data on the lease rates for newer construction (strip centers) retail space and older (individual buildings) retail space. We need to study retention numbers across the board. We need to create a list of their business tenants for the past ten years so we can identify what types of businesses are succeeding and what types are not making it downtown. The three primary business areas we need to measure are: retail, food service and general services.

I’m aware that the current city council cut out funding for the Façade Program which I believe is a critical tool in our plan for the revitalization of the downtown area. Without it, we cannot achieve our goal of recreating an attractive business district for not only residents and customers but for potential businesses looking to Des Plaines as a potential location. As Mayor, I will re-examine this issue and restore funding to the Façade Program.

4. Do you support the creation of a Heritage Commission and preservation ordinance to identify, evaluate, and protect Des Plaines’ historic resources?

I most definitely support a Heritage Commission and a preservation ordinance which I will tie directly to my Design Guidelines ordinance. There is a common synergy between those two ordinances and together they will provide the necessary framework to preserve and improve the aesthetics and character of our city.

5. Do you support pursuing listings on the National Register of Historic Places for Des Plaines historic properties and districts, making them eligible for Federal tax credit programs?

According to the official website of the National Register of Historic Places, the Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground is the only registered location in Des Plaines. If this is accurate, that is not acceptable considering the numerous worthy candidates we have in our community. I will strongly pursue this initiative. Over the last 40 years, Des Plaines has lost many valuable jewels of the community and this initiative needs to be an integral part of our city’s comprehensive plan. As Mayor, you have my commitment.