Joliet’s new development leaders say they have no big changes in mind

Two new development directors for the city of Joliet said they’re making no big plans for changes despite coming in after a shakeup in department leadership.

“I’m not a big command and control person. I’m a team player,” Community Development Director Dustin Anderson said in an interview this week.

Anderson was named to the position Monday after having served in the role on a tentative basis as a consultant since April 22.

He leads one of the biggest departments at City Hall, which includes economic development, for which Paulina Martinez was hired as director in May.

Both live outside Joliet.

Anderson lives in Munster, Indiana, where he was town manager for almost 10 years before leaving in January after a new town council came into power.

He said he’s staying in Munster for the sake of his two children, who are in the local school system.

“Living in Joliet is not a prerequisite to serving the residents of Joliet,” he said. “My abilities to effectively perform my duties are not contingent on where I reside.”

Martinez lives in Chicago, where she previously worked as a business development director for World Business Chicago. Before that, Martinez worked for the city of Evanston.

In announcing Martinez’s hire, the city described her as “a lifelong Joliet resident” even though she is not living in the city now. She grew up in Joliet and has stayed involved, serving as vice president of the Joliet Latino Economic Development Association before being hired by the city.

“My colleagues in Evanston and Chicago would tease me about how much I would talk about Joliet,” Martinez said.

Martinez, too, said she came to the job without any plan for changes in the city’s approach to economic development.

“I’d like to get a little more lay of the land to understand where the gaps are and what the needs are,” she said.

Martinez and Anderson come to the city after their predecessors left in what officially was a resignation.

But both former Community Development Director Eva-Marie Tropper and former Economic Development Director Cesar Suaraz left the same day in March in a week that City Council members were openly critical of economic development efforts at a public meeting.

The status of the city’s development of a comprehensive plan, something that has not been done since the 1950s, also was becoming an issue.

“We’ve been working on getting the comprehensive plan to the council,” Anderson said.

The plan moved forward in June, when the City Council approved of hiring two firms that will oversee its development. Creating the plan will be an 18-month process.

Anderson said that although he does not have any particular plans for the city, he does have the experience to deal with development issues that Joliet faces.

“What I’ve heard in my brief time here is that there may be a need for improvement in how the building environment appears to residents and stakeholders,” he said.

In Munster, Anderson said, he led a complete revision of the town’s land development code. He also oversaw more than $100 million in commercial development through public-private partnerships, he said.

“I think I have a previous track record of accomplishment,” Anderson said, noting that he believes he can apply his experience and abilities to the new job in Joliet.

Anderson is being paid a salary of $180,000 as community development director.

Martinez’s salary is $135,000.

The city’s community development director, in addition to economic development, oversees planning and zoning, neighborhood services, and the building and inspection divisions at City Hall.