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Full Name: James Marter II
What office are you seeking? Oswego Village Trustee
What is your political party? Republican
What is your current age? 34
Occupation and Employer: SAP Data Analyst and IT Consultant - Currently Self Employed
What offices, if any, have you previously held? 4 years (elected) - Oswego Village Board of Trustees
2 years (appointed) - Oswego Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals
City: Oswego
Campaign Website: teamparlier.com
Education: Graduate of Oswego High School in 2006
Community involvement: I earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 63 in Oswego and through my time in scouting I participated in a number of community service projects in and around Oswego in support of many different causes. Now I help with my son’s school, volunteer at many local Village events, and have recently volunteered my time to help preserve the environment.
Marital status/Immediate family: I’m married to my beautiful wife, with one son, and we proudly live in Oswego.
Why are you running for office?
After seeing the direction of the board prior to being in office, I’m running again for board to make sure that the Village doesn’t engage in giving sweetheart deals to developers, continually raise taxes, and make sure that infrastructure projects are continuously the fore front of the Village’s goals and progress.
In my four years, we’ve waived $0 in impact fees, we’ve moved forward on two mega infrastructure projects (Wolf’s Crossing and a new water source), we’ve increased the number of miles of road maintenance (my opponents did 0 miles in 2018), and we haven’t raised any taxes and have found unique ways to improve and fund the village. We’ve made a lot of progress, but I believe Oswego still needs to be headed in the right direction.
What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?
On top of my current four years on the Village Board, I previously served two years on the Planning and Zoning Boards in the Village of Oswego. I’ve also been a resident of the Village for 26 years. In my private life, I’ve worked as a consultant for municipalities and public organizations including villages, police departments, and fire departments. Through having worked for many government entities and having been a part of them for 6 years now, I’ve been able to gain a significant amount of experience and am well versed in how to operate and improve the Village. I also bring a lot of experience working with a variety of small to medium businesses as well as over four years of experience in key roles of major project implementations at multinational corporations. My experience is varied, but it helps in both representing residents and local businesses as well as helping shape the Village of Oswego and its future.
What is your position on the Illinois weapons ban that took effect in January 2023?
At this point in time, multiple courts are weighing in on the legality and constitutionality of it. This is an issue that should be left to the state and federal governments. I’m a firm believer in the Bill of Rights and its limitations on government, and I will await the results of the pending lawsuits before making any final decision on the law.
Is crime a problem in your community and, if so, what would you do to curb it?
Oswego has always been a safe community. Over the last four years since I took office, crime is down an additional 41%. We continue to improve and add on to the police department as is necessary. As the community grows, I will make sure that the department grows with it. The department has also moved forward with new programs to help better address crisis and mental health calls and continues to lead on these new aspects of law enforcement.
What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?
The Village of Oswego took a unique approach. We worked with local businesses and provided temporary ordinance changes for a variety of business types to allow them to innovate during unprecedented times. We were able to offer some financial assistance through loans and grants to many local businesses. In addition, we largely kept a hands-off approach to health-related decisions as many other levels of government had already taken care of this. There was no need for additional redundancy. We also helped operate a mass vaccination clinic and streamlined village services to make sure residents didn’t lose any expected levels of service.
What did you learn from the pandemic?
I learned that both locally and across the world, people and businesses are absolutely resilient. People bonded together to help each other out in any way that they could. Throughout the pandemic, there were endless examples of businesses large and small flipping business models in days, sometimes even hours, to ensure customers could still engage with them and simultaneously making sure their employees still had a paycheck during very uncertain times. It was great to see that many local businesses survived, and some even reinvented and reinvigorated themselves.
How would you spur economic development in your community?
In the last four years, we’ve had over 150 new businesses come into the Village. This was done without incentivization. Instead, we make sure Village staff maintains a great relationship both with all local businesses and with the Oswego Chamber of Commerce. Village staff often play a key part in helping new businesses when they come to Oswego. We have also found ways to reduce negative experiences with businesses by removing redundant processes like business and contractor registration. We also made it easier for food trucks to operate within Oswego by limiting the need for registration and creating a simple fee structure if they do need to register with the Village. At the board level, we keep local business owners in mind anytime we are reviewing or crafting new ordinances. As a result of the pandemic, we worked directly with the chamber to find new ways to allow our local businesses to innovate and still reach consumers during difficult times. This allowed many of them to stay in business and they’re still proudly serving the community to this day.
Would/can/should local governments do anything to help reduce the tax burden on residents?
This is a key part of being a representative of the taxpayer. As an elected official, we’re charged with responsibility spending and utilizing money collected directly and indirectly from our residents. Any irresponsibility, reckless spending, or even just inefficiency is a disservice to the taxpayer. It’s my goal every day to make sure the Village is responsibly handling the tax money paid by our residents. If the Village can limit potential increases, or possibly reduce current rates, that will always be an opportunity I will gladly take. After all, I’m also a 26 year resident of the Village and understand the tax burden every resident faces very well. I often hope that the Village has led by example the last four years and that other taxing bodies might one day follow that lesson.
Do you support recreational marijuana being sold in your community to help lower residents’ tax burden?
Absolutely. The minutia of people’s daily lives should not be of concern to the government. I voted yes to allow sales and voted yes on the currently approved dispensaries. It looks to be a significant revenue source in the future, and we mandated revenues go towards the police department and public education on substance abuse.
What projects or infrastructure would you look to address in your community and how would you do it?
Currently we’ve already approved the Village to switch to Lake Michigan Water through the DuPage Water Commission, with a scheduled connection date currently estimated in 2027. If re-elected my goal is to not only hit that target, but to do so with as limited of an increased financial impact to current residents as possible. Village staff are hard at work connecting with local, state, and federal legislators and agencies to find funding, cost savings, and low or no interest loans to limit the future financial impact on residents.
In addition to the water source, the main project I have strongly advocated for since day one has been the widening of Wolf’s Crossing. I said it four years ago, and I’ll say it again, this road should have been improved over a decade ago, but now, I can say that we have finally gotten the construction underway. We have the first segment scheduled for substantial completion by Thanksgiving, and a second segment on track for a 2025 completion. If re-elected, my goal is to get at least a 3rd, if not a 4th, completed by 2027. Just like the first two segments, the goal is to do this without raising a penny of taxes or adding any long-term debt.
Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?
Absolutely. I will respect the decision of the voters.
What is your position on open, transparent government?
I’m all for open and transparent government. We allow all members of the public to participate in public forums at meetings. We’ve held many open houses on a variety of subjects from Wolf’s Crossing to Metra to downtown traffic to the new Water Source. The Village President holds quarterly meetings with the community, where trustees are often in attendance. In addition, the Village works constantly to make sure that through email, social media, mailings, and having booths at many public events, that both the Village Board and staff are always available to answer questions from the community. We’ve also had many very open discussions on a variety of topics during our Committee of the Whole meetings held right before each Village Board meeting. I strongly encourage residents either attend in person or watch our meetings that are all streamed online.
Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?
Absolutely. There are countless examples of why this law is important and that a government remaining open and transparent is paramount to the trust of the public and in return, the public’s relationship with the established institutions meant to guide and assist them.
Would you sign a nondisclosure agreement with a prospective company that would limit your ability to communicate with your community?
As a representative of the public, I have not, and will not sign any NDA that would impair my ability to represent the Village and its residents. I believe doing so would go against the oath of office I took to serve the public. I routinely ask many questions of village staff and any individuals or organizations seeking approval from the village board in public and on record. If there were a situation where I believed that I could not make a fair vote on an issue, I would seek legal counsel and abstain from votes and discussion as recommended.