Yorkville resident Alicia Castillo said she can feel energy building in her hometown, and no it’s not the data centers.

Castillo said a momentum is growing among residents calling for greater focus on their needs and not corporate interests by the local government.

Castillo announced she is running for mayor because she sees a lack of affordable housing, minimal social services, high taxes and low employment opportunities.

While the city’s population booms, she said all the kids she grew up with at Yorkville schools have since moved out of town for cheaper housing and better jobs.

“I can hear the city crying out and it’s falling on deaf ears,” said Castillo, a native Yorkville resident who attended Yorkville School District 115 schools.

City officials estimate the town’s population has increased around 4,199 people since 2020, bringing the total to 25,732 residents.

“I want to be the ears that hear them. I want to improve and increase civic engagement with the residents. I want residents to feel that when they tell their city officials concerns, those concerns are acted on and residents can actually see the progress.”

While the municipal elections are a year away – held in April 2027 – Castillo said she already contacted the Kendall County clerk for filing.

Incumbent Mayor John Purcell has yet to announce if he is seeking another term.

Castillo announced her candidacy at the Say No To Data Centers protest held on April 11.

No stranger to city hall

Castillo has become one of Yorkville’s most visible and vocal local activists.

Last August during heat and stormy weather, Castillo protested the city’s approved ordinance fining homeless individuals by camping in a tent for eight straight nights.

Castillo said one of the first things she will do in office is repeal the city’s “anti-homeless ordinance.” Castillo said all the ordinance accomplished was “further displacing” homeless individuals rather than expanding programs or affordable housing options.

She has also spoken out several times at City Council meetings against the city’s data center plans along the Eldamain Corridor.

Castillo is currently an outdoor educator at the Kendall County Outdoor Education Center at the Hoover Forest Preserve.

She said her campaign is driven by her “passion” for the community and recognizing the “urgency” of residents she claimed are not being heard by their elected officials.

“Im not a politician, I’m a teacher,” Castillo said. “I want to exist within a community in which the needs of the people are heard and met. Homeowners struggling to pay property taxes are not being heard. Renters struggling to stay in the city are not being heard. People paying high water and electric bills are not being heard. The workers of this town are not being heard.”

Castillo said anyone who is not a business is currently not being listened to by City Hall.

She said the “city she loves” was always meant to be a place to raise families, know and care for your neighbors, in a town connected through community engagement.

In her time engaging with residents, Castillo said she’s seen the large desire to put “community” back into Yorkville.

“If corporations are going to be in Yorkville, they need to be paying to support the city,” Castillo said. “The burden should not be on the back of regular homeowners and small business owners. We need to shift the burden where it more rightfully belongs, on the bigger corporations that can actually handle it.”

She said the city’s focus needs to be on providing more mixed-income housing options not gambling on data centers with “massive payouts at the expense of the heart and soul of the city.” Castillo said she supports a complete moratorium on their construction.

During a City Council meeting, she said the city’s original intention of 3,000 acres for data center development limits the city from better land usage options that could greater benefit the entire community.

“What you’re telling the residents is we’re going to build gigantic, permanent, hideous, loud developments the size of a subdivision, but will not produce the same kind of robust economic development as a subdivision, a recreation center, a homeless shelter or a school,” Castillo said during the meeting.

The city recently announced that City Council no longer supports data center projects outside of the three large projects already approved.

She said the city needs to be providing small city grants to locally-owned businesses to help stimulate the town’s economy not solely focus on large corporations and equity-backed data centers.

Castillo said the power needs to be returned to local consumers and local workers, including through more robust city programs and social services.

Castillo said when she moved back to Yorkville with her children it was almost impossible to find an affordable place to live. She said from listening to others she knows she’s not alone.

“I hope my campaign inspires and encourages other residents to run for elected office,” Castillo said. “This is our town. We can all step up.”