Former Batavia alderman focuses on community-engagement in mayoral campaign

Former Batavia alderman and attorney Tom Connelly is running for Batavia mayor in the April 2025 consolidated election. Connelly is focusing his campaign on the community and development and economic growth in downtown Batavia.

Connelly served as 4th Ward alderman from 2021 to 2023. That experience, he said, led to wanting to run for mayor and he believes his experiences could benefit the Batavia community.

“Through that role, I really thought that I can make a big impact on our community as mayor and so I was looking forward to eventually running when I was serving as alderman,” Connelly said.

As an attorney based out of St. Charles, Connelly represents people injured in accidents and deals with product liability, which he said furthered his advocacy skills.

“My career path as an attorney lines up really well with serving as alderman and hopefully as mayor as well,” Connelly said. “I represent people that are injured in accidents and by product liability and things like that. So in that role I have a ton of experience advocating for people.”

Although Connelly is not a Batavia native, he has grown his roots in the city. He is the father of two children and aims to make Batavia more family-friendly through community involvement activities.

“I’ve had two kids and I’m a very family-focused person and that kind of drives me,” Connelly said. “I want to help our city and really make it the best place to raise a family and my roots are deep here now. I am deeply intertwined with Batavia.”

Connelly said he will focus on developing untapped land to make downtown Batavia more vibrant. Another priority in his campaign platform is encouraging infrastructure improvements for increased connectivity throughout the city.

“There’s still so much opportunity in Batavia,” Connelly said. “There’s still undeveloped land right in the heart of our downtown. There’s still so much untapped potential that will really make Batavia the best town on the Fox River.”

Connelly highlighted the importance of making it easier to launch a new business, specifically within downtown Batavia.

“I think one specific thing [to encourage economic growth in downtown Batavia] is making sure that our processes for permitting and for development are as easy and understandable [as possible] for businesses,” he said.

Connelly said he aims to enact a detailed plan of promoting business to increase revenue and community involvement. Generating and executing a clear business plan will be beneficial for the entire community, he said.

“I’d like to achieve having a clear plan on what we can do to enhance our downtown and drive a more diverse range of businesses and collaborate with organizations to do that,” Connelly said. “I think that will lead to some increased revenue for the city without the need of having to lean on taxpayers for increasing the city’s revenue.”

Connelly encourages residents to vote in local elections and plans to get people involved in his campaign.

“All Batavians should participate in their local government and I would be engaging and collaborating with them on all the important decisions that I’d be making as mayor,” Connelly said.