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Name: Michael Kelly
What office are you seeking? Mayor of Harvard
What is your political party? Independent
What is your current age? 58
Occupation and employer: Sr. Territory Sales Manager for a US publically traded manufacturer
What offices, if any, have you previously held? City of Harvard Ward 2 Alderman 2015-2016
City: We moved to the City of Harvard in 2006 without knowing a soul here. We quickly began meeting people and finding ways to become involved. We chose to raise our family here. When we have seen a need, we have tried to offer help. We are Harvard.
Campaign Website: https://www.facebook.com/michaelpkellyservingforyou/
Education: While I have not earned a traditional college degree, I have earned the prestigious Submarine Warefare Insignia, know as “Dolphins”, while serving in the US Navy. The rigorous qualification is equivalent to a B.S. college degree, as it requires an extensive attainment of knowledge in submarine operatations, warefare strategy, firefighting, nuclear propulsion, electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics, electronics, mechanical, HVAC, atmospheric control, navigation, and weapons systems. My specialty was in electronics and navigation systems which required years of formal training. I went on to complete most 100 level college work, including accounting, ecomomics, English, mathmatics, etc. Learning along the way has been my path and I look forward to continuing my education as I grow my knowledge base.
Community Involvement: I have always been committed to helping others, as I was instilled with an innate sense of service from a young age. I believe volunteers are our Heroes and created the Harvard Hometown Hero award to recongize those that embrace volunteering and finding ways to improve our community. I encourage everyone to find a place where you can lend a helping hand. Together we can bring phenominal improvements to Harvard. Here are some of the ways I’ve served our community: Community Volunteer Work:- T-Ball Coach- Women for Harvard- Harvard Main Street- Harvard Balloon Fest Chairman- Christmas in Harvard- Fall Family Fun Fest- Community Easter Egg Hunt- Harvard Food Truck Feastival- Harvard Red-White-Blue Festival- Harvard Parks Community Action Days- Harvard Day of the Dead Festival- Harvard High School Career Days- Harvard Food Pantry- Harvard Father/Daughter Dances- Supporting Fundraising activities for many Harvard area Not-For-Profits including Harvard Arts, Harvard Sporting Organizations, Havard Booster Club, Harvard FFA, Harvard HS Hornets, Crosby PTO, Harvard Lion’s Club, CUSD50, and others. Community Board Memberships (Past and Present):- WHIW Radio- Harvard Community Education Foundation- Harvard Events Committee- Harvard Crime Stoppers- Harvard Community Partnership Coalition- Harvard Chamber of Commerce & Industry- Harvard Parks Foundation- Harvard Milk Days Public Service:- Ward 2 Alderman (2015-2016)- Mayor (2016-Present) Military Service:- US Navy Submarines (1986-1996)
Marital status/Immediate family: Happily married for nearly 24 years. I am the father of 4 daughters. I’m sorry to say my oldest passed away 12 years ago. My next oldest graduated Harvard High School and is pursuing her degree. My 2 youngest are both CUSD50 students.
Questions:
Many of the new housing developments planned or recently built throughout the McHenry County area have been multi-family rather than single-family, and many are rentals rather than owner-occupied. What are your views on this trend? Do you support this type of development? Why or why not?
The City of Harvard is targeting the completion of our existing developments, like Huntington Ridge, Oak Grove Crosing, and Country Brook, totaling more than 250 lots. We support a mix of townhomes, single-family homes, and multi-family units to cater to diverse income levels. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity aims to boost owner-occupied single family housing. The key is to have an engaged community, Planning & Zoning Commission, and City Council to ensure there is proper balance of owner-occupied and rental homes. This ensures we accomodate all residential types for residents of diverse needs and develop appropriate higher-density housing that provides curcial tax revenue for all taxing authorities.
A recent study commissioned by the McHenry County Board found a need for more workforce housing in the county. Do you support any form of subsidized housing to address that need? Is there enough affordable housing in the community and, if not, how would you attempt to address that?
The City of Harvard is actively collaborating with McHenry County and private investors to develop a range of housing options, including workforce housing for middle-income earners. Despite a long-depressed Harvard housing market, we’ve attracted small builders to revitalize unfinished developments. From 2017-2022, we built 9 homes and we now see increased investment. In 2023, 17 homes were built, and in 2024, 57 homes. We expect around 50 more homes to be built in 2025 which includes duplexes and single-family homes. We will continue to employ and refine strategies to maintain smart, steady growth.
What are your top three priorities for our city, and how do you plan to address them?
The top three priority areas are Infrastructure Improvements, Economic Development, and Efficient Effective City Government. We are prioritizing Infrastructure Improvements, including significant street construction to begin this Summer, completion of fiber-optic network later this year, and better management of rainwater over the coming years. For Economic Development, we’re bringing in more commerical, retail, and industrial businesses and encouraging smart residential growth. Finally, we’re focusing on efficeint and effective city government through fair pay practices, technology upgrades, and building stronger community partnerships.
How do you intend to balance economic development with environmental sustainability in the community?
We’re fueling economic development while prioritizing environmental sustainability. By promoting renewable energy investments, building smart energy efficient structures, and enhancing our tree canopy and parks, we ensure growth doesn’t compromise our community’s natural beauty.
What are your plans for enhancing public transportation and infrastructure in the city?
We are focused on improving pedestrian access to Pace Bus Route 808 by building new sidewalks where none exist today. We are also exploring future opportunities for innovative transportation solutions and creating a marketing plan to partner with Metra to attract more visitors to help boost our local economy.
What role should the city council play in supporting local businesses and economic growth?
The City Council plays a VITAL role and can leverage tools like TIF Districts, the McHenry County Enterprise Zone, Federal Opportunity Zone, and Foreign Trade Zone to offer tax incentives, enhance infratructure improvements, to help attract new business ventures. They are the ultimate decision makers when it comes to strategies to enabling economic growth since they authorize funding. The growth we have experienced is not by accident. It is is in great part due to the unity of goals between the City Council and the current administration.
What are your top public safety concerns for our community and how would you propose addressing them?
From a safety perspective, the top concern has to be contiuned unfunded mandates by the Illinois legislature. We work hard to ensure our police department complies with all mandates. When the mandate is unfunded, it requires the City to prioritize and absorb that cost at the expense of some other service we would have otherwise provided to our residents. The next concern is the thought of losing the community trust our police department has earned over time. The City of Harvard has embraced Community Oriented Policing for many years, encouraging interactions with the community. With the help of CUSD50, we have jointly invested in a full time School Resource Officer, who helps build additional trust for our school aged children. These actions have helped to cultivate a very good relationship and trust for the Harvard Police Deparment. My next top concern is ensuring we maintain and invest in our officers. We have demonstrated our commitment to our police officers, having built a new police station that was built for policing. We also changed their shift structure and are adding more head count to reduce overtime increasing work/life balance. Still, police officer applicants have continued to fall over the last decade for all agencies. It is definitely having an impact on law enforcement and has changed some strategies on attracting more young people to the profession.
How will you ensure that city policies promote inclusion for all residents?
Our City’s Strategic Vision promotes our Inclusion Community Statement: Harvard is committed to being an inclusive, diverse, and growing community. We define diversity broadly, including but not limited to all races, ages, sexual orientations, gender identification, socio-economic backgrounds, physical or mental abilities, and cultural beliefs. We prioritize the engagement of more community members to ensure we have representative and engaged boards, commissions, and Council members to lead our community. We have taken lots of steps to ensure inclusion, from adding bi-lingual employees to translating documents into Spanish. We maintain advisory boards which have citizens at large appointments from across our community. We are a proud partner with the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association, and are investing in ADA compliance for our parks and public buildings.
Do you support requiring government officials to publicly disclose potential conflicts of interest, and how would you enforce this?
I do indeed support full disclosure when there is potential conflicts of interest. I abhor hand shake agreements, and back door deals which invite corruption and create public distrust. If there is an agreement, let’s put it in writing so all know what is agreed upon. Officials are required to disclose economic interests annually with the County Clerk. This process helps to detour economic confilcts of interest. We will continue to be open and transparent in chosing contractors bids and projects. If a potential conflict becomes known that was not otherwise known, we should investigate the impact it has on the issue at hand and detemine appropriate action.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
I have always and will continue to be accessible to residents, businesses, stakeholders, and community partners. I maintain a mayoral facebook page, a monthly radio show, and return emails and phone calls. I often meet with residents before and after normal work hours at City Hall to accomodate work schedules. Other times I meet with them for coffee, breakfast, lunch, come to their homes when asked, and visited their places of business. I am engaged with many community organizations, and I am often stopped in the store or restaurant, ready to answer your questions. I am available at community events, or private appointment. I am always willing to discuss whatever issue is of importance to you. I may not always have the answer, or sometimes the answer isn’t what you had hoped. Sometimes we have a great solution, other times it is an issue for which we have no control or influence. I have spoken with so many of you about the issues within our community. Your engagement helps us to be better.