Longtime Mokena resident James Roberts was appointed Monday to fill a vacant village trustee position, following the resignation of Terence Smith in September.
Roberts, a U.S. Army veteran, said the swearing-in ceremony held on Veterans Day was a significant moment for him, one that came full circle, as he had run for trustee in 1996 and lost.
“I’m truly honored to be able to represent the people I’ve lived around for so many years,” he said. “I’ve always been somewhat at a distance, watching what they’ve done and seeing how they run the village.”
Roberts will finish out the remaining five months of the term, but said he plans to run for the position in April with hopes of serving another four years. Monday is the filing deadline for the April general election.
Smith said at the Sept. 23 Village Board meeting, his last as trustee, that he was leaving his post for a job opportunity in Florida, with plans to move the following day.
“I’ve really learned a lot. I think this village is run extremely well, and I think it’s fiscally, very responsible,” Smith said. “It’s a great village. I’m sorry that I’m going to be leaving, but you never know, I may come back.”
For Roberts, has had a career in grocery store management.
He retired from Mariano’s in 2019, as a co-director, overseeing the opening of 10 new locations, including two in Orland Park and Evergreen Park. Roberts worked at the Chicago-area grocery chain Dominick’s until it closed in 2013. He said he then owned a home remodeling business before returning to the grocery industry with Mariano’s.
After retiring at 67, Roberts said he had no intention of pursuing public office, but instead was looking for a meaningful way to spend his time.
But he said his plans changed when Mayor Frank Fleischer asked him to fill the trustee position.
Roberts said he believes the offer came because he reached out to Fleischer a few months earlier to discuss bringing another internet provider to Mokena with more affordable rates. Following their discussions, Fleischer decided to form a committee on the issue and asked Roberts to lead it.
“That kind of opened the door,” Roberts said. “So when Terry resigned, that left an opening and for some reason my name popped up.”
Given the short duration of his term, Roberts said he doesn’t have an ambitious agenda, but instead plans to focus on learning the role and the inner workings of the village. He will also be involved with helping the board update the village’s 2002 comprehensive plan and work on next year’s budget.
However, if elected in April, Roberts said some of his goals will align with the initiatives he ran on in 1996 — issues he believes are still relevant today.
One issue is the village’s traffic pattern, Roberts said, because Mokena is a main thoroughfare because of its location off Interstate 80.
“When I moved in there were only 6,000 people in the village, now we have 20,000 people. But it’s not really the village that creates the traffic. It’s the pass through that’s going on,” he said. “We only have Interstate 80 right over on La Grange Road, and then you got to go six miles to get off in the New Lenox. So that’s a long stretch. So everybody gets off here, runs through our village to go home.”
Roberts said he doesn’t have a solution and acknowledged it may be a sensitive issue, as relieving traffic could require another village to host an interstate exit, which he believes residents would likely oppose.
Still, he said he would like to see the village run a study on traffic patterns to evaluate what solutions are available.
“This is where we are today, where are we going to be in 20 years if we don’t do something?” Roberts said. “I also think that if you did it today, it would take 10 years to happen, at least.”
When he first ran for trustee, Roberts said he also wanted to redevelop Mokena’s downtown area, which has been slow to rebuild. In 2016, village leaders tested the waters for developing the downtown, but received little interest.
While Orland Park, Tinley Park and New Lenox had advanced ambitious master development plans to rebuild their downtowns, Mokena officials previously said they are in no rush to rebuild. Instead, they prefer to wait until they have a clearer vision for their downtown’s future.
Roberts said the plans stalled because it takes “guts” to make the tough decisions that may not always be supported by the public. He said he saw that issue when he first ran for trustee and a legacy family that owned two businesses on Front Street opposed any changes.
Robert said other issues are more pressing for Mokena residents such as cost of living and record high property tax bills.
“My real concern is that, you know, we hold the line right now, and things are tight for people,” he said. “And to add anything more is to burden people. We’ve got people in the village already selling their homes because you can’t afford tax bills.”
Roberts said he is honored to serve the community he’s called home for more than 30 years.
“I thought, you know, it’s pretty much been written, I’m 72 years old, I’m not going to get a part-time job somewhere, I’m going to volunteer until I’m done,” he said.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com