VIDEO: Sheridan mayor: Waldvogel says he’ll be accessible to voters

Sheridan Trustee Joseph “Jay” Waldvogel said if he’s elected village president April 6, he’ll be the type of leader residents reach out to, whether it be by flagging him down in public or by reaching out to set an appointment.

Waldvogel joined The Times on Monday afternoon for a Sheridan village president candidates forum via Zoom.

Waldvogel and Marlene Woodward are vying for the seat opened by Village President Shelly Figgins’ decision to not run for re-election.

Woodward, however, declined to participate Monday saying she was advised against commenting on village matters because of a pending criminal investigation relating to events that took place at her residence on Thursday. The Times is seeking more information in regard to her statement.

Waldvogel serves on the village board and will continue to do so if he doesn’t win the election, as his term doesn’t expire for another two years.

Waldvogel was first elected to a village trustee position in April 2019 after living in Sheridan for five years.

“I was asked by a few other previous mayors and some other previous council or village trustees and current board members if I was interested,” Waldvogel said. “I’m a retired dentist and I have time to take on this responsibility. You’re going to need a little bit more time to get involved with all the different committees and things of that nature and really have a pulse on what’s going on and talk to the people and just be transparent and open.”

Waldvogel said his vision for the village is to keep it fiscally responsible as it has been able to maintain through the pandemic.

COVID-19 didn’t cost Sheridan as much as it did others but Waldvogel said some local businesses were hit by a lack of cash flow, specifically businesses that rely on their liquor licenses and video gaming to make money.

As the trustee in charge of parks, he talked about how the park system reacted to the pandemic.

“Initially what we did was make a phone call to a company over near Calumet City to see if they could supply (portable toilets) and sanitizers and things,” Waldvogel said. “That was right at the beginning of the pandemic. We did get hand sanitizers and were able to put those on four by four posts in the park because people were still bringing their kids to the park.”

Waldvogel said village trustees did what they could to follow the guidelines from the CDC and the Illinois Department of Public Health, which meant helping restaurants set up for outdoor dining.

“Nobody’s gone through this except for the flu epidemic back at the beginning of the 1900s,” Waldvogel said. “Now we’ve experienced this and there was a learning curve for everybody. I feel we did the best we could.”

Waldvogel also wants the trustees to continue their relationship with the Sheridan Community Club.

“MacKenzie and the other members on there are doing some innovative things,” Waldvogel said. “Christmas was a lot of fun even though it rained like crazy, but it was good for everybody and it was well attended. Other things they’ve done is they set up a scavenger hunt and they have some other things planned but I haven’t been at their meetings lately.”

The board donated $6,000 to the Community Club to make sure it could have a fireworks show after it had to cancel the Fourth of July fireworks.

Waldvogel said Sheridan has a responsibility to keep the Fox River clean, which allows residents and visitors to use it for tourism purposes. He mentioned how cities upstream use the river for fishing tournaments.

“We could possibly do the same thing depending on if you want to put in a canoe or try kayak-type fishing,” Waldvogel said.