Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Yorkville advocate announces mayoral bid, says residents needs ‘falling on deaf ears’

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Yorkville advocate announces mayoral bid, says residents needs ‘falling on deaf ears’ · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Yorkville advocate announces mayoral bid, says residents needs falling on
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  Speaker 1: deaf ears. Written by Joey Weslow, this article is being
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  Speaker 1: read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville resident Alicia Castillo said she can feel energy building
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  Speaker 1: in her hometown and no, it's not the data centers.
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  Speaker 1: Castillo said a momentum is growing among residents calling for
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  Speaker 1: greater focus on their needs and not corporate interests by
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  Speaker 1: the local government. Castillo announced she is running for mayor
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  Speaker 1: because she sees a lack of affordable housing, minimal social services,
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  Speaker 1: high taxes, and low employment opportunities while the city's population booms.
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  Speaker 1: She said, all the kids she grew up with at
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville schools have since moved out of town for cheaper
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  Speaker 1: housing and better jobs. I can hear the city crying out,
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  Speaker 1: and it's falling on deaf ears, said Castillo, a native
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville resident who attended Yorkville School District one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifteen schools. City officials estimate the town's population has increased
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  Speaker 1: around foury one hundred ninety nine people since twenty twenty,
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  Speaker 1: bringing the total to twenty five thousand seven hundred and
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  Speaker 1: thirty two residents. I want to be the ears that
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  Speaker 1: hear them. I want to improve and increase civic engagement
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  Speaker 1: with the residents. I want residents to feel that when
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  Speaker 1: they tell their city officials concerns, those concerns are acted
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  Speaker 1: on and residents can actually see the progress. While the
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  Speaker 1: municipal elections are a year away, held in April twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven, Castillo said she already contacted the Kendall County
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  Speaker 1: Clerk for filing. Incumbent Mayor John Purcell has yet to
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  Speaker 1: announce if he is seeking another term. Castillo announced her
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  Speaker 1: candidacy at the SACY Note to Data Center's protest held
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  Speaker 1: on April eleventh. No stranger to City Hall, Castillo has
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  Speaker 1: become one of Yorkville's most visible and vocal local activists.
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  Speaker 1: Last off, I Guess during heat and stormy weather, Castillo
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  Speaker 1: protested the city's approved ordinance finding homeless individuals by camping
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  Speaker 1: in a tent for eight straight nights. Castillo said one
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  Speaker 1: of the first things she will do in office is
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  Speaker 1: repealed the city's anti homeless ordinance. Castillo said all the
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  Speaker 1: ordinance accomplished was further displacing homeless individuals rather than expanding
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  Speaker 1: programs or affordable housing options. She has also spoken out
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  Speaker 1: several times at city council meetings against the city's data
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  Speaker 1: center plans along the El Domain Corridor. Castillo is currently
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  Speaker 1: an outdoor educator at the Kendall County Outdoor Education Center
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  Speaker 1: at the Hoover Forest Preserve. She said her campaign is
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  Speaker 1: driven by her passion for the community and recognizing the
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  Speaker 1: urgency of residents she claimed are not being heard by
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  Speaker 1: their elected officials. Am not a politician, I'm a teacher,
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  Speaker 1: Castillo said. I want to exist within a community in
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  Speaker 1: which the needs of the people are heard and met.
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  Speaker 1: Homeowners struggle willing to pay property taxes are not being heard.
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  Speaker 1: Renters struggling to stay in the city are not being heard.
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  Speaker 1: People paying high water and electric bills are not being heard.
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  Speaker 1: The workers of this town are not being heard. Castillo said.
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  Speaker 1: Anyone who is not a business is currently not being
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  Speaker 1: listened to by city hall. She said the city she
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  Speaker 1: loves was always meant to be a place to raise families,
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  Speaker 1: know and care for your neighbors in a town connected
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  Speaker 1: through community engagement. In her time engaging with residents, Castillo
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  Speaker 1: said she's seen the large desire to put community back
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  Speaker 1: into Yorkville. If corporations are going to be in Yorkville,
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  Speaker 1: they need to be paying to support the city. Castillo
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  Speaker 1: said the burden should not be on the back of
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  Speaker 1: regular homeowners and small business owners. We need to shift
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  Speaker 1: the burden where it more rightfully belongs, on the bigger
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  Speaker 1: corporations that can actually handle it. She said the city's
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  Speaker 1: focus needs to be on providing more mixed income housing options,
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  Speaker 1: not gambling on data centers with massive payouts at the
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  Speaker 1: expense of the heart and soul of the city. Castillo
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  Speaker 1: said she supports a complete moratorium on their construction. During
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  Speaker 1: a city council meeting, she said the city's original intention
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  Speaker 1: of three thousand acres for data center development limits the
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  Speaker 1: city from better land usage options that could greater benefit
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  Speaker 1: the entire community. What you're telling the residents is we're
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  Speaker 1: going to build gigantic, permanent, hideous, loud developments the size
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  Speaker 1: of a subdivision, but will not produce the same kind
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  Speaker 1: of robust economic development as a subdivision, a recreation center,
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  Speaker 1: a homeless shelter, or a school, Castillo said during the meeting.
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  Speaker 1: The city recently announced that city council no longer supports
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  Speaker 1: data center projects outside of the three large projects already approved.
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  Speaker 1: She said the city needs to be providing small city
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  Speaker 1: grants to locally owned businesses to help stimulate the town's economy,
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  Speaker 1: not solely focus on large corporations and equity back data centers.
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  Speaker 1: Castillo said the power needs to be returned to local
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  Speaker 1: consumers and local workers, including through more robust city programs
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  Speaker 1: and social services. Castillo said when she moved back to
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville with her children, it was almost impossible to find
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  Speaker 1: an affordable place to live. She said from listening to others,
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  Speaker 1: she knows she's not alone. I hope my campaign inspires
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  Speaker 1: and encourages other residents to run for elected office. Castillo said,
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  Speaker 1: this is our town. We can all step up.