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Name: Dani Piland
What office are you seeking? Alderman, LaSalle, Third Ward
What is your political party? Unaffiliated
What is your current age? 40
Occupation and employer: Business Owner, self
What offices, if any, have you previously held? LaSalle County Democrats, Chair, 2018-2022
City: LaSalle
Campaign Website:
Education: BA, Purdue University
Community Involvement: City of LaSalle Foundation, Founder, 2023-present
LP Foundation, Board Member at Large, 2017-present
Starved Rock County Community Foundation, Committee Member, Volunteer, 2017-2019
City of LaSalle Farmers Market Coordinator, 2016-2017
LaSalle Business Association, Board Member at Large, 2016-2019
Marital status/Immediate family: Single mom of two children
Questions:
What do you believe is the greatest issue facing the city of La Salle at this time and how do you plan to address it?
The number one issue facing the city of LaSalle is how we sustain a vibrant, resilient, and deeply connected community in the face of vitriolic political discourse, rising costs of living, persistently high unemployment, and increasing food scarcity for struggling families. My plan to help lift up and fortify LaSalle includes supporting local business development and subsequent job growth, stabilizing rising housing costs, supporting initiatives that focus on local food production, and being consistently accessible to the residents of the Third Ward and all of LaSalle in the interests of advocating for the creative and thoughtful solutions generated by our neighbors.
How would you attract new business to La Salle?
I’ve owned businesses in LaSalle for ten years. What inspired me was considering how I could leverage my experience and interests to make the most impact on the community I love. Attracting new business, particularly from entrepreneurs who aren’t yet lucky enough to call LaSalle home, demands creative marketing, robust community development that includes supporting our local schools, hosting family-friendly events, and beautification of our retail corridors, and municipal incentives that meet the critical needs of new businesses.
What ideas do you have to grow La Salle? How should the city look at expansion?
How can La Salle work with local businesses to provide a strong relationship between the city and business community?
LaSalle is lucky to have unique, well-run, and civic-minded businesses, as well as robust organizational resources to support them. The Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, City of LaSalle, LaSalle Business Association, and the City of LaSalle Foundation’s Downtown Merchants Group all work together to aggregate promotional efforts, plan a consistent calendar of community events, and brainstorm growth strategies. I have helped organize two forums to this end (Fall 2024, Winter 2025) and am eager to continue using my platform as a business and community leader to spark dialogue about additional collaboration opportunities.
I see clear and consistent communication between the City and the business community as the biggest opportunity for growth. As the City of LaSalle considers how best to serve local businesses, establishing more regular forms of communication (newsletters, meetings) will be key to strengthening the dialogue, understanding the needs of our local businesses, and crafting municipal programs that best serve those needs.
Constituents, city staff and elected officials often have differing opinions and political leanings. How would you balance your personal ideology if your constituency, staff and elected officials differ from your personal beliefs
The role of a representative at any level of government is to advocate for the will of the people. My personal convictions are: lead from a place of love; stay close to the community I am serving; and prioritize transparency and fairness. Should LaSalle’s Third Ward residents entrust me to represent them at City Hall, I’ll be doing so with those values in mind. In cases where my approach to solving problems for my neighbors might differ from theirs, I’ll lean on the values that got me elected and on the feedback and communication that I hope becomes standard between Alderman and residents.
How would you address the need for affordable housing?
The affordable housing problems plaguing LaSalle are among our primary challenges in the coming years. As cost of living continues to increase across the board, we must find ways to provide relief for renters and home buyers.
The rental market will benefit from strong policies protecting tenants’ rights, stricter measures for holding developers (particularly those who live elsewhere) accountable for the safety and curb appeal of their properties, and, if necessary, stabilization mechanisms. The City of LaSalle has a rather straightforward process for landlord registration and licensing— this process protects landlords, renters, and our whole community, and strengthening enforcement mechanisms will serve to fortify those protections.
We should also evaluate and reduce barriers to the development of multi-unit properties and incentivize projects that create affordable housing. Partnerships with our local lending institutions might be one way we explore providing resources to eager hometown developers whose interest in building or rehabbing properties is rooted in community values.
Should local law enforcement cooperate with ICE to identify and deport immigrants who do not have legal status to be in the United States?
Frankly, I think this would be a wild misuse of taxpayer dollars. I’d prefer our local law enforcement continue to focus on our collective safety and creating a community that feels protected and resilient. They do this already by centering their work on a robust patrol program, partnering with our local schools, and dedicating their time to the prevention of dangerous crime in our town. We need LaSalle PD focused on service to our community, not getting mired in political and bureaucratic battles that deviate from their mission of protecting life and property and enhancing quality of life.
How do you intend to balance economic development with environmental sustainability in the community?
Responsible business ownership and development in 2025 includes sustainable practices as a matter of course. The City should provide education and resources to this end, informing new business owners especially of the grants, rebates, and partnership opportunities available for those who commit to environmental sustainability.
Prioritizing green development is a selling point in and of itself as we look to attract new businesses and grow our population. I have long been a supporter of our local Farmers Market and am deeply supportive of LaSalle’s reinvigorated efforts to establish a community garden. I am also a supporter of making use of our existing green spaces (including public parks and the towpath) and improving walkability (sidewalks). These environmentally-friendly projects and programs are a critical piece of our community development puzzle, helping to make LaSalle not only a better place to work, but also a better place to live.
As the City of LaSalle continues to navigate economic development in a complex and uncertain market, it would be in our best interest to draft and publish a document (led by our community and informed by experts) that defines our environmental sustainability and responsibility philosophies and attaches timelines and goals to this end.
What are your plans for enhancing public transportation and infrastructure in the city?
What are your top public safety concerns for our community and how would you propose addressing them?
Though I generally feel safe and am both comfortable and proud to be raising young children here, there are improvements to be made in the safety of our schools and on our city streets.
Concerns about bullying, weapons, and other hindrances to our kids’ safety at school continue to escalate despite the sincere efforts of our most competent and motivated school leaders. I’d like to explore the feasibility of a community-wide service program that creates opportunities for school staff to assign students accused of bullying to local nonprofit organizations for volunteer hours. Our local nonprofit community is vibrant and provides a number of critical services that run the gamut from addiction recovery to epilepsy awareness; service to these nonprofits will be valuable to these important organizations, provide young people with a sense of belonging and responsibility, and help to cultivate the empathy bullies too often lack.
My more critical concern, however, is the continued cultural problem of driving under the influence. We have experienced far too often the incredible tragedies that can occur as a result of drunk driving, and this public health problem will continue to be a crisis until no one under the influence gets behind the wheel.
The problem related to driving under the influence is multi-pronged, both cultural and practical, and will require a multi-pronged approach. I’d suggest the following three steps: first, utilize our dedicated law enforcement officers’ commitment to public safety by establishing a LaSalle PD-operated Safe Ride program; second, market this program aggressively throughout our community, to residents and the bar and restaurant owners on whom responsibility for drunk driving partly falls; and third, improve walkability with more sidewalks while exploring feasibility for improved public transportation programs.
How will you ensure that city policies promote inclusion for all residents?
Do you support requiring government officials to publicly disclose potential conflicts of interest, and how would you enforce this?
Absolutely. The City of LaSalle should have a written policy to this end, with accessible reporting mechanisms and disclosure forms, and clear consequences for failure to comply. The people of LaSalle deserve an administration they can trust, with no corruption or questionable motives. As an elected representative of the people of LaSalle, I will be beholden to their interests alone.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
I have long been committed to public service and have made it my life’s mission to dedicate myself to making the community I love more vibrant and just by listening closely to the people I am serving. As Alderman, I will immediately establish two-way communication with Third Ward residents, including quarterly newsletters and biannual open forums, and maintaining a strict policy of responding to resident communications within 48 hours.
The people of LaSalle deserve responsive, trustworthy representatives advocating for them at City Hall. I am devoted to being a champion for their needs, and to serving as Alderman with the values of transparency and accessibility chief in mind.