Politics & Government

Oak Lawn Dist. 6 Trustee: Mike Carberry

Mike Carberry is running for his first term on the Oak Lawn Village Board. He faces two challengers.

Name: Mike Carberry

Position sought: 6th District Trustee

Campaign information:

Campaign contact information:

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  • Campaign office address:4905 W. 95th Street
  • E-mail address: mcarbs@aol.com
  • Campaign phone: 708-229-0080

Personal Information:

  • Age: 47
  • Family: Wife Michele, 3 children
  • Time living in Oak Lawn: 47 years
  • Education:  Undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University and additional study at Northeast Louisiana University
  • Occupation: Deputy Director of Facilities Management for Cook County
  • Previous offices: State Representative in the Illinois House

Candidate Questions:

Use as much space as you need.

1.    What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

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To bring an end to all the dysfunction and dishonesty that has become common on the Board.

2. Why do you deserve to be elected? What sets you apart from the other candidate(s)?

I am a life-long resident of the 6th District and I care deeply about this community.  My work experience and previous work in government will make me an effective voice for the 6th District.

3. What are the three issues in the village that you feel need to be addressed right away? Why are these issues important?

    1. Public Safety – and #2 is far behind it.  We need to do everything we can to make sure that Oak Lawn remains safe so that we remain an attractive place to raise a family.  How places like the Brunswick Zone and Chuck-e-Cheese didn’t immediately lose their liquor licenses after gang shootings is a mystery to me and won’t happen again if I have a say in things.
    2. 111th & Cicero – We need to make sure that this important development is brought to completion.  I along with thousands of other 6th District residents have been supportive of this development from the beginning and it needs to be completed and start repaying the TIF that was established to help pay for it.
    3. Values – We finally attract an upscale retail grocery to the 111th & Cicero site and within weeks the Village Board approves massage parlors and gambling cafes within blocks of the site.  Is this the image we want to project to the outside world?  Are these the Values that made Oak Lawn the community it is today.  I don’t believe so, but Mayor Dave Heilmann and his board allies and fellow candidates obviously do.

4. Give one example of how you would work with an adversarial village board? 

Politics is said to be “The Art of Governing” but governings seems to be the last thing that our current Village Board has in mind.  I have been following the Board meetings closely for the last several years and I’s disgusted with all the pettiness and the bickering.  People put you in office to help them, not to pitch your political battles and lob insults and accusations at one another.

5. Should Advocate Christ Medical Center be required to pay impact fees and permit fees for future expansion? Why or why not?

Yes, no different than any other organization doing business in Oak Lawn.

6. Should there be a cap on video gaming licenses granted to new businesses coming to Oak Lawn? Why or why not?

Yes.  Oak Lawn shouldn’t become a gambling destination.The state approved video gaming and our business owners should be able to take advantage of that.  But I am against companies from 2,000 miles away coming into Oak Lawn to put gambling machines in shopping mall store fronts.

7. What do you like best about Oak Lawn?

The small-town mentality.  Oak Lawn people are enthusiastic, active, and always willing to help a neighbor.  I don’t ever want to leave here, and I hope my kids feel the same way.


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