Full Name: Stevan Brockman
What office are you seeking? Village of Shorewood Trustee
What is your political party? Independent
What is your current age? 72
Occupation and Employer: Retired Farmer
What offices, if any, have you previously held? Village Trustee 12 years.
Homeowners Association President 28 years.
Planning and Zoning Committee Chairman 10 years
Planning and Zoning Committee Member 12 years
City: Shorewood
Education: BS Agriculture University of Illinois ‘73
Community involvement: None
Marital status/Immediate family: Widow, one married daughter
Why are you running for office?
Continue to contribute to the responsible progress of this village to the best of my ability..
What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?
I spent 12 years on Planning and Zoning Committee prior to running for village Trustee. I have now got 12 years’ experience on the village board.
What is your position on the Illinois weapons ban that took effect in January 2023?
I support the second amendment with additional background checks and longer waiting periods.
Is crime a problem in your community and, if so, what would you do to curb it?
Presently, crime has not been a major problem mainly due to the excellent police force that has been assembled in our community.
What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?
I believe that our staff, management and village board did an outstanding job with the problems that confronted us for over two years in my opinion.
What did you learn from the pandemic?
Communications became much more important overall, but I do wish that students could have gotten back to the classroom sooner from what we know now.
How would you spur economic development in your community?
We are using many tools which include Tax Incentives, TIF districts, personal hired specifically to garner commercial development and showcase Shorewood whenever we can locally and nationally.
Would/can/should local governments do anything to help reduce the tax burden on residents?
A lot of services come out of the four cents out of every real estate tax dollar paid here in this village, but we will continue with upscale housing, continue to attract commercial business and promote all the vacant areas especially to the west of the present village limits.
Do you support recreational marijuana being sold in your community to help lower residents’ tax burden?
I have never been an advocate for marijuana sales in the village or the reliance for the tax derived from that purchase. I believe there are other areas where tax can be secured without hurting the public.
What projects or infrastructure would you look to address in your community and how would you do it?
We have been wanting to secure Lake Michigan water for a very long time and it appears we have that within our sights and the financing to handle that project comfortably for the foreseeable future
We must also continue to monitor and make decisions about the overall cost of our wastewater treatment and the right path that needs to be followed for the good of this village.
Traffic continues to be a major headache no matter where you travel, and our community is not immune to that problem, and we need to look for additional funding to solve these backups.
Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?
I will and have always accepted all the voter’s decision for more than 20 years.
What is your position on open, transparent government?
I have always been an advocate of open and complete transparency and have demanded it with all the years on the board.
Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?
I have always been an advocate of all FOIA’s that have approached our village and will continue to do so.
Would you sign a nondisclosure agreement with a prospective company that would limit your ability to communicate with your community?
I don’t believe I could work for such a company since I have never hidden anything in all my dealings and my community comes first in my opinion.