Billie Roth has earned the trust and respect of the people of Streamwood, leading the village through good times and bad with a combination of down home common sense and unquestioned integrity. She is endorsed.

When Roth first took office in 1989, Streamwood was teetering on the abyss, rocked by scandal, and its infrastructure crumbling. “Blacktop Billie”, as she was known in those days, cleaned up the town, both ethically and literally. Through a combination of hard work and creative thinking, Roth attracted new businesses to town and broadened Streamwood’s tax base, setting the stage for the growth to come.

The boom years of the nineties and early two thousands saw Streamwood grow from a quiet backwater to a vibrant, modern northwest suburb that attracted a new generation of settlers. The village added beautiful, well-planned new residential developments, acres of open space, new wetlands that enhanced the environment and helped in stormwater management, further expanded its commercial and industrial bases and turned a former eye-sore into a modern, light industrial park.

Significantly, all of this growth was accomplished without mortgaging the village’s future. When the Great Recession hit, many municipalities struggled with their budgets, having failed to plan for rainy days. Not so Streamwood. A little belt-tightening here and there was necessary to be sure, but – as everyone acknowledges today – Streamwood came through these tough economic times about as painlessly as was possible.

Her opponent, Trustee Jim Cecille – something of a character – was part of the village board throughout those years and certainly deserves Streamwood’s thanks for his efforts, along with all the other citizens who serve and have served on the board though these critical times. But Cecille is not cut from the same cloth as Roth, lacking both the leadership skills and vision to be trusted with an important post like Village President. As one voter observed: “Jimmy’s a great guy and I’ve been happy that he’s been a trustee all these years. But could you imagine Jimmy Cecille as Village President? That would be nuts!”

It would be equally crazy to lose the skills, experience and honesty that Billie Roth brings to public office. She’s a treasure and Streamwood is lucky to have her.

Hanover Township (four open seats)

A nearly hopeless cesspool, Hanover Township has come to epitomize Cook County waste and corruption. Partly because relatively few know or care about this obsolete layer of government and partly because many others have been turned off by the hyper-political rancor characterizing Brian McGuire’s tenure as Supervisor, almost all of the elected officials are running unopposed.

Indeed, only one trustee candidate is not part of the problem, newcomer Nazneen Hashmi of Streamwood. A respected IT professional and reliable Community Relations Commissioner for the Village of Streamwood, Hashmi would be a breath of fresh (and honest) air inside the walls of McGuire’s good ole’ boys club. She is a certified and highly dedicated domestic violence advocate and has mentored countless professionals working in the nonprofit sector. In other words, Hashmi is all about giving back to her community rather than taking from it—which again sharply distinguishes her from the current leadership in Hanover Township.

Hashmi, however, lacks the army of patronage workers and big political money at the disposal of the incumbents who are running as a slate under McGuire’s guidance. Thus, it becomes vitally important that Hashmi not only gets votes, but that those votes have the maximum weight. So, even though voters may cast their ballots for up to four trustee candidates, we urge everyone to vote only for Hashmi to boost her chances of prevailing against the Machine’s slate of four—which will elect at least three candidates no matter what.

If Hashmi is elected, McGuire and company will be hampered in their ability to make backroom deals without witnesses. They will be held more accountable, and we will have some hope of eventually seeing ethical and responsible government restored to Hanover Township.

Hashmi is endorsed.
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