| About Us
Anthony DeLuca, Mayor City of Chicago Heights
I knew when I first began campaigning for this job that, if successful,
it was going to be a big undertaking. As School Board President
of Bloom 206, I had some background dealing with solving financial
crises. As Chief of Operations for my family’s business in
Chicago Heights, Skyline Disposal, I had some background in making
tough decisions in order to make ends meet.
But even I underestimated the number and scope of issues in disarray
within the City of Chicago Heights that need to be addressed.
Nevertheless, since May 6, 2003, when I took office, this administration
has endeavored to face these challenges head-on. I said when I ran
for Mayor that, if elected, I would be willing to make the tough
decisions that need to be made to foster economic growth. You put
your trust in me to run the city like a business and I am doing
everything I can to fulfill that promise.
The promise of my administration was CHANGE.
In order to improve the city’s condition on any number of
fronts, we need to embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.
I believe we can renew the promise of Chicago Heights for our children
and future generations of Chicago Heights families but we can only
do so by putting partisan bickering aside and coming together across
racial and socio-economic lines to tackle the problems the city
faces together.
I am proud of the changes we have been able to institute during
my short tenure in office:
~ This administration has achieved sizable savings through reductions to the
size of city government and through streamlining city operations that have been reflected in our City Budgets;
~ This administration, under the direction of Police Chief Anthony
Murphy, has successfully increased drug interdiction efforts and
made our neighborhoods safer;
~ This administration successfully negotiated four collective bargaining
agreements: the city’s firefighters, the city’s police
patrolmen, the city’s police lock-up unit, and Local 150 representing
our public works employees. These contracts further professionalize
city operations;
~ This administration has held the line on taxes while other Southland
communities have increased taxes. Attempting to tax our way to prosperity
is both bad fiscal policy and unfair to Chicago Heights families
who are already overtaxed;
~ This administration has aggressively sought to bring business
back to the city and get city-owned properties back on the tax rolls;
~ This administration has successfully gotten Chicago Heights into
regional partnerships—the south suburban airport authority
formed to promote the third airport in Peotone and the Country Club
Hills group seeking the state’s tenth riverboat gaming license—designed
to generate revenue for the city;
~ This administration has sought to unite our community around
the idea of service to one another and has hosted giveaways of school
supplies, a Thanksgiving Day food giveaway and a winter clothing
giveaway to help those in need;
I am also proud of the fact that this administration is reflective
of the great diversity Chicago Heights enjoys. Our diversity is
an asset—diverse backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and ideas
are a good thing—and I intend to fully capitalize on this
asset.
I have a sense of urgency about getting things done for our great
city. Please contact my office with your questions, concerns or
needs. E-mail me (another recent innovation) at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Anthony DeLuca
Mayor’s Office
1601 Chicago Road
(708) 756-5315
adeluca@chicagoheights.net
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