Bobby Fontana: 2025 candidate for Elmhurst City Council Ward 4

Bio

Office sought: Elmhurst City Council Ward 4

City: Elmhurst

Age: 38

Occupation: Systems engineer

Previous offices held: None

What is the most serious issue your community will face in the coming years and how should the city council respond to it?

My two areas of focus are upholding what I see as the major strengths of Elmhurst: a thriving downtown and a welcoming community.

We are all fortunate to live in such a dynamic and fulfilling town, and with that comes excitement for new opportunities while also presenting new challenges.

One of the most pressing issues for Elmhurst is navigating how to prioritize and pursue these opportunities and challenges in a reasonable and responsible manner.

We must ensure that costs remain sensible, that the atmosphere is hospitable to businesses and individuals, and that our residents feel that their thoughts and concerns are being heard and carefully considered.

To maintain a welcoming community, it is important to emphasize projects and programs that enhance our residents’ ability to mingle with our neighbors. Things like public events, walking trails, parks, and open spaces are critical to this mingling and are the secret ingredient to what makes Elmhurst’s community culture so special.

How would you describe the state of your community's finances? What should be the top priorities for spending during the next few years? Are there areas of spending that need to be curtailed?

I believe Elmhurst is in a good financial state. As Alderman, I will make fiscally responsible decisions to maintain this positive state. We have some critical infrastructure projects that must be completed (see next question), but we also have an assortment of exciting opportunities to enhance our community.

While I support many of these opportunities in principle, city council must make responsible decisions that prioritize and time-phase these projects so that they have minimal impact to our residents’ property taxes.

One such example is the potential for a new train station. While I think it would be great to build a new train station, I’m not sure it rises high enough in priority to pursue in the immediate term. Projects such as these may have to be delayed or forgone until they can fit seamlessly into our budget picture.

There is a lot of excitement out there, but we must be careful not to get caught up in spending sprees that set us back for years down the line.

What do you see as the most important infrastructure project the community must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what project(s) can be put on the back burner?

Elmhurst’s water treatment facilities and water mains are aging and require renewal. Adding to the issue are unfunded requirements placed on the city to make improvements to our water treatment.

Last year, city council made the difficult decision to dramatically increase water rates, allowing for this project to be funded in bundles over time. Moving forward, we must do all we can to avoid any further increases.

There is currently a consideration to implement progressive water rates (where rates increase as households and businesses use more water) to help manage the cost challenge for residents. I support this proposal, but recommend that it be limited in nature.

It should be used only to ensure that all residents have access to affordable water that meets a baseline need. Over-application of progressive rates may result in heavier users (including families with children) seeing further increases to their bills. Restraint in the policy’s application will be crucial to its success.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach an agreement and manage local government? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your city council.

In my career as a technical and organization leader in systems engineering, I have extensive experience working across large programs and organizations to develop, demonstrate, and deliver new capabilities to our customers. In many cases, this takes the form of needing to influence others without having direct authority. As such, I am practiced in forming consensus in pursuit of achieving complex goals as a team. The mission always comes first.

On the public policy side, I served as vice president of my homeowners association in the last town I lived. When several members (including the president) were attempting to pass new, retroactive, overreaching rules that would require homeowners to actually undo some improvements they had already made to their homes, I led a coalition against the proposal and was successful in limiting the HOA rules to the minimum necessary set, preserving homeowner autonomy.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

As a systems engineer, I understand that everything is a trade-off and that all aspects of decisions must be considered carefully. I dedicate myself to fully understanding issues and seek to determine the best path forward based on the data available.

I believe the city government has generally done a very good job maintaining the safety, fiscal health, and desirable nature of our town. Rather than advocating for sweeping changes, I understand the value of incremental improvement and strive to find ways to make things better than when I found them.

As a father of young kids (grades 3 & K) who will raise them in Elmhurst over the coming decades, I value long-term planning and understand the challenges and opportunities that many families with school-age children are facing.

Finally, I value the opinions of my neighbors in the fourth ward. I intend on being an alderman that can be trusted to make reasonable, responsible decisions that reflect the needs and desires of my constituents.

What’s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

I see opportunities for greater community communication and organizational coordination.

I am a proponent of getting regular feedback from my constituents and believe the most effective form of support is expressed as support relative to other issues instead of support detached from other considerations.

For example, instead of asking “Do you support project 1 (yes/no),” we instead ask “Which project do you support relative to each other (project 1 or project 2).”

This gets people into the mindset of ranking needs and wants in ways that are applicable to an environment with finite resources.

I have also heard frustration from my neighbors pertaining to projects from different organizations within the community that impact their property taxes concurrently.

I think there is an opportunity for greater coordination across city government, the park district, and the school board so that large projects in these distinct areas can be considered more holistically and strategically.