Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Burr Ridge's new village president says he wants to make the village "resident-focused and business-friendly."
Mickey Straub said he didn’t expect to win the Burr Ridge village president election until Saturday, when he felt momentum building as he visited residents door-to-door and gained their support. “It was like an ah-ha moment,” Straub said on the phone Wednesday in between appointments with local people he wanted to thank. “It felt like I really can win this thing.” Straub beat acting Village President Robert Sodikoff and fellow challenger John Bittner in Tuesday’s municipal election. The Abraham Lincoln enthusiast who traveled to all 50 U.S. capitols last fall to recite the Gettysburg Address grabbed 919 votes Tuesday. Sodikoff had 758 and Bittner had 287. Straub admitted his campaign could’ve been better, and that he’s not the perfect …
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Burr Ridge Board of Trustees approved a measure this week that eliminates a village president's choice to call himself or herself mayor.
Future Burr Ridge village presidents will no longer have the option to be called "Mayor," as Gary Grasso had during his two terms leading the village. Trustees voted Monday night to approve an amendment to the village code eliminating a paragraph that stipulated the choice of title, The Doings reported, though it was not a unanimous vote. Trustees Al Paveza and Len Ruzak voted against the amendment. The pair of trustees said they thought the item should wait until after a new board is elected on April 9. Acting President Bob Sodikoff voted in favor of the amendment and told Patch Thursday he thought acting now will actually serve to avoid confusion on election day, when the position will be referred to as village president on the ballot…
Monday, December 17, 2012
Among the three are acting mayor Bob Sodikoff and 50 Capitols in 50 Days road-tripper Mickey Straub.
Weeks removed from his Abe-Lincoln-inspired 50 Capitols in 50 Days trek around the country, it appears Mickey Straub will have another tough task ahead of him: the race for Burr Ridge mayor. Straub, whose successful road trip can be read about here, is among the three mayoral candidates who filed their paperwork with village clerk Karen Thomas Monday to be on the April 9 ballot. It was the first day they were able to do so. Thomas said current acting mayor Bob Sodikoff and John Bittner are the other two who have filed. Sodikoff, who has served as a village trustee for the last 14 years, took over as acting mayor earlier this month after Gary Grasso's resignation. Sodikoff announced plans to run for mayor in November. Guy Franzese, Kathryn …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Burr Ridge Village Board unanimously appointed the veteran trustee to serve the remainder of resigning Mayor Gary Grasso’s term
Acting Burr Ridge Mayor Bob Sodikoff said Wednesday night he is leaning toward stepping down as a trustee so that the village board will have the maximum number of voting members. The mayor only votes in the case of a tie among the six trustees or on issues that require a supermajority of votes to be enacted. In the wake of Mayor Gary Grasso’s resignation Monday, there is no way for the board to break a tie. “I could remain as a trustee and serve as acting mayor, in which event I continue to vote,” Sodikoff noted. “[But] we’re missing the seventh vote if we ever need it.” He said the alternative was for him to serve only as acting mayor. “I would resign as a trustee and then a substitute trustee would be appointed by the board,” he …
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sodikoff was one of three trustees who said Monday night that they did not support Grasso's intention to serve as the mayor of Burrr Ridge and a DuPage County Board member simultaneously.
Burr Ridge trustee Bob Sodikoff announced Monday night that he intends to run for mayor next spring against Gary Grasso, who won a seat on the DuPage County Board Nov. 6 and wants to hold both the mayor and county board offices simultaneously. "If you didn’t run for county board, I would be running for trustee," Sodikoff said to Grasso at Monday night's Village Board meeting. "But I’m committing now to run for [mayor]." Sodikoff said after the meeting that had Grasso lost his county board race, the trustee would not run for mayor. "It's one man, one job," Sodikoff said after the meeting before noting his experience serving the village. "I've been doing this long enough that I think I can [be mayor]." Sodikoff has served on the Village …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Burr Ridge mayor who had a narrow unofficial victory Tuesday night in his District 3 DuPage County Board race said he still wants to hold both offices simultaneously.
Gary Grasso said he does not plan on stepping down as Burr Ridge's mayor if his DuPage County Board victory Tuesday night becomes official, even after DuPage voters overwhelmingly supported an advisory referendum on the ballot discouraging politicians from holding multiple elected offices at the same time. "If the results hold, I intend to hold both offices," Grasso said Wednesday morning. At the end of the night Tuesday, Grasso held an 11-vote lead over Sharon E. Bryant (33,286 votes to 33,275) for the last of three District 3 spots on the DuPage County Board. The father of six, according to the Daily Herald's candidate profile, said he's been told it might be two weeks before all provisional ballots are counted and a result is official…
Friday, October 12, 2012
A panel of experts gathered in Woodridge Wednesday to talk about potential fixes for Illinois' pension woes.
When it comes to state pensions, Illinois is in a financial hole as deep as $90 billion and digging out will be a formidable task, according to a panel of west suburban experts who met this week to discuss the issue. Panelists met Wednesday at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge to discuss how Illinois got in the state-pension hole and what it might take to get out. "Pensions have created the majority of the problem in our non-discretionary spending," said Lee Daniels, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and now a Distinguished Fellow and Special Assistant to the President of Elmhurst College. Daniels moderated the discussion with a panel of experts that included 21st District State Senator Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove…
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Trustees will vote on new time frame of 3 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Nov. 28 meeting.
Next Halloween may signal more than just a change of the season, but could also include a change in time for the hallowed tradition of trick-r-treating – at least in Burr Ridge. Current village ordinances do not set a start time for trick-r-treating in Burr Ridge, but do require children to stop haunting their neighborhoods by 9 p.m. Some village leaders, including Village Administrator Steve Stricker heard some complaints from residents over the late hour Burr Ridge allows ghosts and goblins to haunt their neighborhoods on Halloween. Amending hours for trick-r-treating has been broached before. In 2004 the board considered placing a timeline of to 3 p.m. - 8 p.m., however when it came to a vote the ordinance fell short. During Monday’s …
41.749796
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Burr Ridge Village Hall
7660 S County Line Rd, Burr Ridge, IL
/articles/village-board-may-limit-trick-r-treating-hours
306676
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Council moves forward with $1.038 million levy proposal, but says the final levy may not be that much.
The Burr Ridge Village Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to move forward with a 2011 tax levy proposal totaling $1,038,315 – a 5.53 percent increase over 2010 But, before the levy can be approved by the board and sent to the Cook and DuPage county authorities for approval, a public hearing must be held, under the “Truth in Taxation” law. The proposed public hearing is set for Dec. 12 during the regular board meeting. Village staff estimated the Village’s equalized assessed value (EAV) for 2011 will increase by 6 percent to $1,328,619,375. This encompasses a 2 percent increase in existing value and a 4 percent increase in new construction. The 2011 EAV was down from 2010’s level of 9.77. The Village of Burr Ridge, like all non-home-rule …
41.749796
-87.915524
Burr Ridge Village Hall
7660 S County Line Rd, Burr Ridge, IL
/articles/public-hearing-set-for-2011-tax-levy-in-burr-ridge
306676
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
Legislature passes budget that does not include plan to withhold municipal portion of income taxes.
Burr Ridge leaders are feeling a sense of relief that state lawmakers submitted a budget that did not include the municipal share of state collected revenues. “We are thankful and grateful it was not included,” said a relieved Steven Stricker, Burr Ridge’s village manager. “As we said, if they passed that it would have been catastrophic for the village, but we are extremely pleased they did not include this option.” Over the month of May Burr Ridge leaders, along with leaders from other state municipalities, lobbied members of the legislature urging them to reject a plan to withhold the municipalities’ share of state income, sales and fuel taxes. Village leaders also asked Burr Ridge residents to contact their representatives and ask them …
Tom O'Toole
11:17 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Mr. Sodikoff announcing his intentions to run for Village President in the next election is TERRIFIC NEWS for the residents of Burr Ridge! Mr. Sodikoff, is a long standing member of The Burr Ridge Plan Commission and tenured Village Trustee. He is not a politician looking to broker additional personal power. He is a sound citizen and expertly trained legal mind that will first and foremost, keep … more ›