BY NICK BOOSE, Editor
Sugar Grove held their 2013 elections Apr. 9. Going up against each other for the Sugar Grove President position were Kevin Geary and current president Sean Michels.
“I started to get involved to connect into the community. When the opportunity for village president came, I thought I could make a difference,” Sean Michels said.
Being involved in the community politics since 1997 made him feel like he was fit for the role of village president. When the opportunity came about, his confidence and leadership roles were key factors in his original decision to run.
His daughter, sophomore Maddy Michels, expected her dad to win the reelection. She knew that being president for as long as he has been would have an effect on the views of the voters in the community.
“He was village president for this long because my dad is a good guy, and he gets things done. I knew he was going to win,” Maddy Michels said.
Sean Michels won the election 700 votes to 530 votes. He won by 13 percent. His children stood by him the entire race.
“I was really relieved [when he won]. We were finally done with dealing with all of the stress,” Maddy Michels said.
The win brought relief to all of the Michels family. The stress of the campaign was finally over. The next day, Sean Michels got right back to work.
Sean Michels believes in setting long-term goals for where he thinks Sugar Grove should be. Setting these long-term goals should help set up shorter goals.
He said some short-term goals include bringing in more businesses and making necessary road improvements.
In his campaign, Michels looked to lower the rates of real estate taxes, make a deal establish an intergovernmental agreement with the Kaneland School District and complete the developments that have been stalled because of builders financial difficulties.
“We reached out to other developers to ask them to consider building in Sugar Grove to get the building going again,” Sean Michels said.
Michels has long-term goals that include enhancing Sugar Grove to its full potential. Funding for improving the Rt. 47 and I-88 interchange construction is coming close to the amount needed for the village. The village has $17 million out of $20 million raised.
“I am very proud of my dad and happy that he was able to follow his dream,” Maddy Michels said.