Will County leaders, community members enter 2016 with positive outlook

For local residents, New Year's resolutions are all about having the right attitude.

We spoke to a wide range of people in the community – from an 11-year-old student to the mayor of Joliet – and came away with the sense that area residents want to stay upbeat this year.

From a business owner hoping to breathe new life into downtown Joliet to a detective who intends to spend the new year focused on the love he has for his friends and family, our interviews showed that Will County is entering 2016 undaunted by the challenges that lie ahead and ready to put a positive spin on whatever it encounters.

BRIAN FLORCZAK, downtown Joliet business owner

RESOLUTION: Bring new life to downtown

Brian Florczak and his fiancée, Tania Garcia, own the Tin Roof restaurant in downtown Joliet.

They are newcomers to Joliet. But Florczak said they are big fans of the city and its downtown, its history and its architecture.

"We feel really strong about it," Florczak said. "We feel there's a beautiful vibrancy downtown."

Too few people recognize it, though, Florczak said, and he plans to do something about that in 2016.

"I would say my big resolution this year is to be more active in the downtown community to help push us forward," he said.

Florczak started in 2015. He's become a familiar face and voice at City Hall during public meetings where downtown issues have been on the agenda. He's spoken about the Camiros plan designed to redevelop downtown Joliet. He advocated for downtown during one of the city budget meetings.

Not afraid to speak realistically, Florczak has talked about vagrancy problems downtown and the challenges of doing business there. But he's proud of his restaurant. He says the Tin Roof is passionate about providing natural ingredients on the table and at the bar.

"There's nothing artificial from the front of the house to the back of our house," he said.

Speaking of houses, he and Garcia are residents of the Cathedral neighborhood, which represents some of the aspects of Joliet they like best.

"That's what attracted us most to Joliet is the architecture and the history," he said. "The Cathedral area is a very historic neighborhood."

MEGAN AND DARREN KOBLISKA, Plainfield District 202 teachers

RESOLUTION: Make time for family

Plainfield Central High School teachers Megan and Darren Kobliska received their greatest treasure two months ago.

Their first child, Katelyn Kobliska, was born. And they want to make sure they cherish every moment possible with her as the family of three moves into the new year.

"We just want to live in the moment and enjoy every milestone that we can until she grows," Megan Kobliska said.

That may be tough when Megan returns from maternity leave to her role as a special education teacher. Darren Kobliska is a U.S. history teacher and boys golf coach. Both are involved with extracurricular activities at the school, and are taking graduate degree classes themselves.

Darren Kobliska's parents are going to help take care of Katelyn, but Megan Kobliska said the new parents are keen on quickly finishing up work at school every day to spend time with their daughter.

"We're continuing to be involved as teachers, but parents as well," Megan Kobliska said. "We're just going to balance our time between everything."

ART DYKSTRA, president and CEO of Trinity Services

RESOLUTION: Keep things positive

The book "The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity," led to Art Dykstra's New Year's resolution for 2016.

The book's premise is this: Inside each of us, there's a positive dog and a negative dog. One is hopeful and optimistic. The other is negative and pessimistic.

“These dogs are always fighting,” said Dykstra, president and CEO for Trinity Services in New Lenox. “What the message is: 'The dog that wins is the one you feed the most.'”

“One of the things that they talk about is the difference it makes when we think about the phrases 'have to' versus 'get to.' It changes the understanding when you say I 'get to' go to work today, not I 'have to' go,” Dykstra added.

Dykstra said he loves the book so much that he has shared it with his children and grandchildren.

“I want to view life this year in respect of all the things I 'get to' do," he said. "I don't know if you'd call it a resolution. A determination, maybe.”

RALPH PORTWOOD, Union worker

RESOLUTION: Lose weight, improve relations with Springfield

Stateville Correctional Center correctional officer Ralph Portwood has one of the most common personal New Year's resolutions: lose more weight.

But he also would like for Springfield to help him and his coworkers.

"My resolution would be for the state of Illinois to have a balanced budget, and for us to negotiate a fair six-year contract for my brothers and sisters that work in state services," he said.

Portwood was one of many state unionized workers who rallied against Gov. Bruce Rauner's agenda in June. A father of two teenage daughters, he also is the state executive vice president for AFSCME Council 31. He works double duty from 5 a.m. up to 11 p.m.

"One thing I'd like to change, work-wise, is the relationship between employees and administration," he said. "We have a voice, but it's a muzzled voice. I'd like that to get better."

KIALA COTTON, Joliet teen

RESOLUTION: Keep busy, stay positive during new adventure

Kiala Cotton spent her childhood surrounded by friends and family at the Warren-Sharpe Community Center on the city's South Side.

But next year, the 17-year-old Joliet West High School student will be the farthest away she's ever been from the youth center, her mother, her twin sister and her other siblings when she moves to attend junior college in Indianapolis, Indiana.

That's why two of her New Year's resolutions will be to “keep myself busy” and “keep negative thoughts out of my mind,” as she misses everyone, she said on a recent afternoon while volunteering for the Joliet community center.

She graduates in May.

It's going to be hard leaving her friends and family behind, she said. The community center has been like a "second home" to her, with Kay Bolden, the center's executive director, having helped raise her from the age of 5.

Cotton said she wants to attend college for veterinary medicine and join her new school's track and softball teams, too.

LARRY TYLER, minister of Second Baptist Church

RESOLUTION: Expand church initiatives, manage stress

For the new year, the Rev. Larry Tyler, 55, of Matteson, wants to expand the outreach efforts of Second Baptist Church in Joliet and manage his own stress so he can be more emotionally available to others.

Tyler, a 22-year leader of Second Baptist Church, said one of his New Year’s resolutions is to strengthen and expand initiatives to overcome the disconnect been society and the church.

“I resolve to try to build bridges between the church and society to overcome this growing disconnect,” he said.

Examples of those initiatives include improving church staff and resources in order to improve a community after-school program, a weekly Blessed Table soup kitchen and food pantry give-away and weekly anti-violence basketball ministry for young teens and adults.

He also resolves to solicit and seek funding to help those nonprofit programs.

He believes people in society today are more stressed and he wants to find ways to effectively manage his own stress so he can be more helpful and emotionally available to others in need.

MATT KAJMOWICZ, Lockport student

RESOLUTION: Learn, read more

Matt Kajmowicz, 11, plans to boost his learning next year.

Kajmowicz is a fifth-grade student at Taft School District 90 in Lockport. His New Year’s resolutions are to become more knowledgeable and read more.

“I want to get smarter,” he said.

Reading has become a favorite activity for Kajmowicz, who wants to start reading longer books. He said he’s tackled reading a seventh-grade level book and wants to read books in higher grade levels as well.

He said his favorite kind of book to read is realistic fiction. One book Kajmowicz said he read recently was “Peak” by Roland Smith. The book is about a teenager who climbs Mount Everest.

Kajmowicz has attended Taft School District 90 all his life. He said he likes gym and his favorite subject is math.

The New Year’s holidays are his favorite time of the year because he and his family visit Michigan to meet with friends.

SHAWN FILIPIAK, Joliet police detective

RESOLUTION: Enjoy the good things

Shawn Filipiak has been a Joliet police officer for more than 20 years. The longtime investigator wants to spot more details in 2016.

"My resolution for 2016 will be to pay attention – to pay attention to the small things in life, to pay attention to family and friends," Filipiak said. "That's what you learn as a police officer – the details matter."

Filipiak feels modern life keeps everyone busy enough that people need to make an effort to pause and reflect on what's important – whether it's a big moment or a little one.

"We're seeing so much negativity, it's easy to dwell on that, but that isn't what I want to remember," Filipiak said. "The time I spend with my wife and my daughter before she's grown up and gone, that's better."

BOB O'DEKIRK, mayor of Joliet

RESOLUTION: Resolve Evergreen Terrace ownership

Mayor Bob O'Dekirk when he was a councilman was the biggest critic of the city's plans to take over Evergreen Terrace, the low-income housing projects that the city successfully condemned after a 10-year legal battle.

Now that he's mayor, Evergreen Terrace tops O'Dekirk's to-do list for 2016.

Asked for his New Year's resolution as mayor, O'Dekirk answered, "I think the resolution would be resolution on Evergreen Terrace – to have the legal issues put to bed once and for all and for the city to make decisions on how to proceed forward."

O'Dekirk wants the city to get a firm grip on the finances involved in running Evergreen Terrace.

The City Council in August voted to pay $15 million, the price set by a federal jury, for Evergreen Terrace. But it still does not have control of the property. The city continues to develop a management agreement that would put operation of the property in the hands of Holsten Real Estate Development and Management out of Chicago.

Meanwhile, the city also remains in federal court as the current owners appeal the court decisions that will turn the property over to Joliet, unless the appeal is successful.

O'Dekirk, who visited with officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in a trip to Washington D.C., says the federal government, which subsidizes Evergreen Terrace residents, is not making it easy for Joliet to take over the property.

– Herald-News reporters Lauren Leone-Cross, Bob Okon, Felix Sarver, Vikaas Shanker and Brian Stanley contributed to this report.