New Marengo city administrator hired to help grow city

With the minds of Marengo city officials set on growth and development, they tapped a former township manager to take on the top government role.

William Stefaniuk, who previously worked for Ela Township in southern Lake County, took on the role of Marengo’s city administrator starting this week. Before Ela Township, Stefaniuk worked for the village of Mount Prospect and the city of Elgin.

Stefaniuk said his focus will be on growth. He said he thinks the city – which had a population of just less than 7,600 as of the 2020 Census – is well positioned for it.

“I think there’s a huge opportunity that long term will benefit this city on a great scale,” Stefaniuk said. “It’s just a matter of attracting the right types of businesses and creating a plan.”

Since starting earlier this week, Stefaniuk said he’s wasted no time jumping in. He described his start as a “quick transition” and said he’s been going through key projects coming down the pipeline and making sure things are staying on track.

“I see the potential that Marengo has for the future,” Stefaniuk said.

Mayor John Koziol, who has been in his position since 2017, said the city considered about a dozen people before calling in six of them for interviews. That field was then narrowed to two.

Koziol said Stefaniuk stood out from the pack because of his organizational experience, which Koziol said city officials felt could help them take the next step on development.

The city and county hope to capitalize on the 2019 completion of the Interstate 90 interchange at Route 23, which was the first interchange in McHenry County. It was projected to have 4,800 vehicles cross it daily, the Illinois Tollway executive director said ahead of its opening. The Huntley interchange, at Route 47, is in Kane County.

Development near the interchange was a focus of the 2021 mayoral campaign, too, in which Koziol defended his record bringing business to town plus hiring an economic development consultant and a lobbyist to represent the town’s interests in Springfield.

Koziol said that before he took office, the city didn’t have a capital improvement plan, instead opting to work on things as they came. After that kind of foundational work, Koziol said Stefaniuk will be “good at doing that.”

Koziol said the city is making improvements on items such as aging infrastructure and roads, as well. He said he hopes Stefaniuk can enhance that progress.

“Sometimes there’s a sense of kicking the can down the street and hoping for better,” Koziol said. “And we can’t do that anymore.”

Stefaniuk will replace interim City Administrator Jim Culotta, who was brought in temporarily in December. When Culotta started, Koziol said the goal was to have him “keep the ship afloat,” which he felt Culotta did.

“He did well,” Koziol said. “He brought in some outside-the-box thinking.”

Before Culotta, the city saw the departure of Joshua Blakemore from the role. Blakemore rose up through the city’s staff over the course of more than a decade before landing the city’s top spot. Koziol said Blakemore left for another job after about four years in the role.

Next on the hiring list will be a new public works director, Stefaniuk said.

“I am very excited about the opportunity and about what I’ve researched and seen about Marengo,” Stefaniuk said. “I really think Marengo has a bright future. I just think it’s about having the right kind of leadership.”