Bruce Trego: City Council Candidate
Bruce Trego at a city council candidates forum on March 16th, 2009 (Photo by The Elginite).
Bruce Trego is a candidate for Elgin City Council.
Mr. Trego doesn’t have a website, as fas as I know, and I haven’t been able to find much information on his background. A 2006 Daily Herald story identified him as the Willow Springs interim Village Administrator. At the time, Mr. Trego was applying for the position of East Dundee Village Administrator. This is from the Herald article (11/20/2006):
Trego formerly held administrative posts in Barrington, South Barrington and Naperville . He was fired as Naperville ’s director of community development in April 2001.
Trego , an Elgin resident, has also served as an Elgin planning commission member and applied for an open seat on the city council after councilwoman Marie Yearman died in 2003.
He also served as the city manager of Palos Heights, a job he took after he was terminated from his position in Naperville. Mr. Trego was community development director of Naperville from September 1999 to Dec. 8, 2000. In January of the following year, he was barred from Naperville’s municipal buildings. He violated the ban in April of that year and was arrested and charged with trespassing.
He has a rebellious spirit it seems.
Mr. Trego stands out among the candidates for city council. He has strong views on illegal immigration, affordable housing and the environment. I don’t know if he’s a socialist, but his views are definitely left of center, probably more so than any other candidate.
On the question of requiring employers to use E-Verify, his response was, “This isn’t Germany 1939; it’s America 2009. It’s extremely divisive for our community.”
Comparing enforcement of immigration laws to Nazi germany is, I would say, a slightly stronger statement than what Mike Warren, another council candidate, said: that it would be a witch hunt.
“War on drugs, war on terrorism and now we’re going to have a war on illegal aliens,” Mr Trego said, implying his disapproval of all of those efforts.
Mr. Trego did complete in full a questionnaire prepared by the Association for Legal Americans (AFLA). The below are some selections from that questionnaire. The full text of Mr. Trego’s responses can be found on the AFLA website.
Question 1 – Why do you want to run for Elgin City Council?
I and my family have lived in Elgin since 1979. During the last 10 years I have witnessed the City implement policies and actions which I believe have
been very discriminatory against the poor of our community. These policies have been mainly in the housing, development and urban renewal areas. My discussions of this concern with members of the city council indicated not only their blindness to this injustice but their willing participation in efforts to eradicate the poor from Elgin.
Question 3 – Do you believe the presence of illegal aliens is a problem in Elgin?
If so, what do you believe the solution to be? The presence of unregistered immigrants is NOT a problem by and of itself. The cultural conflict between Hispanics and Anglos is a problem. Our perceptions and response to their presence has become a problem by injecting an element of divisiveness into any meaningful discussion about the real problems facing the entire community – overcrowding, parking, inadequate housing stock, gangs, domestic violence, drug abuse, education quality, tax burdens, redevelopment, deteriorating infrastructure, gentrification, etc. These are the problems we must focus on and resolve. Like most of Europe I believe “work permits” should be issued to all such “aliens” so as to bring them out into the light of society where their needs, problems and issues an be seen and resolved. Being “illegal” does none of us any good.
Question 4 – Do you believe Elgin has a housing occupancy problem?
If so, how do you suggest we proceed to correct it? Yes, it does. This issue, more commonly called overcrowding, has grown worse due to our current housing development policies (building upscale only), building codes, not understanding the housing needs of a different culture (large /extended families) and implementation of the de-conversion program without providing for an affordable housing construction effort. The current council approach has, I
believe, made matters worse and needs to be modified ASAP. A majority of Elgin’s housing stack was build before 1960. Our housing needs have dramatically changed and we need to appreciate that fact before we can resolve the overcrowding problem.
Question 7 – How many city council meetings have you attended in the last year?
Have you made any public comments at the meetings? Probably three or four. If they were able to actually discuss or debate issues openly I’d attend more. I have not made any public comments as I learn more by listening.
Question 11 – What ideas do you have for downtown revitalization?
Get off the “upscale only” mantra and seek mixed office/commercial//housing use in both design AND price. Far higher densities will be required. We need a better balance of well designed, scattered lower end housing with much higher densities along with the middle and high end market units. Also, focus on the small businesses that will serve the old city center population – a radius of perhaps 1/8 mile – not the region. Treat it like neighborhood commercial. Look at the Children’s’ Park for success example. Now provide those childrens’ parents and families with their shopping /service/job needs. Upscale will only come slowly and after a base of lower middle income population is established. The fact that none of the TIF supported developments in the downtown included any of these elements was detrimental. We are creating a rich man’s investment market, not a community. Also, the parking structures build downtown have been wasted effort (both location and size) and they have taken valuable land off the development “table”. The CBD can not, will not be a vehicle-based commercial core. It’s success must come from pedestrian and mass transportation traffic. Tear down the River Front and Sprin Street facilities. Consider putting the City Hall land up for sale (or lease) and development – rent some of the new office space for City Hall functions. To date our projects have been too small, high-end only and uncoordinated.
Question 12 – How do you feel about annexation/expansion of the Elgin city limits?
The City lost its “soul” when Route 47 was suggested to be our western boundary by former Manager Rice in the early 1990’s. The City is now over-extended with too much low density residential – the very section of a tax base that can not support itself. I am not against annexations or expansions but only that which strengthens the core community. The annexations and development of the industrial areas south of I-90 are good examples of favorable annexations. The densities for the far west areas were set far too low. All of these first subdivisions will be expensive to live in and expensive to service. Also, the subdivision designs were/are based on 1980’s markets. Big homes, big lots, big yards, and cul-de-sac streets are based on cheap, plentiful energy. Those days are over.
Question 14 – Do you support Elgin’s subsidy of developments such as Burlington Coat Factory, Seimens, and the proposed riverfront high-rise condos?
I am more inclined to favor incentives for industrial (jobs) first and then commercial (sales tax) second. All municipalities chase sales tax and do so to the detriment of good urban planning. From what I know of the commercial agreements I would favor the Burlington Coat Factor agreement. . I’d have to look at the Seimen’s deal.
Question 17 – How do you feel about city subsidies to convert apartments back into single-family homes (aka deconversions)?
My position is to halt this program until an inclusionary zoning ordinance is approved and the 400 affordable housing units lost by de-conversions are permitted for construction. This issue links to the overcrowding problem and is compounding it. De-conversions can not be done in a vacuum as is now the case.
Question 20 – Should the city continue to spend money on green initiatives?
To my knowledge the city has yet to spend any funds on “green initiatives”. If the question is referring to the proposed planning study on sustainable growth practices, of which “green” is a part of, I am supportive of that effort. The December 17th Farr Associates presentation discussed several issues the city needs to re-consider about its current development policies. I found that I am in agreement with many of the suggestions he made as to densities, housing mix, street patterns, parking, and environmental issues. Before the study is approved, however, the council members must openly discuss their views and bias about such matters. A public airing, if you will. Otherwise the study will be a waste if the council is not prepared to implement its findings and recommendations. I feel several of the council members are giving only lip service this study and will water the recommendations down as was done with the 2004 Comprehensive Plan.
EDIT (3/16/2009):
I met Mr. Trego tonight, and he seems like a person who would make an interesting addition to the city council. I think he described himself as a “Progressive Socialist” who started out as a Goldwater Republican. His positions are generally, in my view, wrong for Elgin, but it’s good to get different viewpoints, including radically different ones, and I find his candor refreshing.
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