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Politics & Government

Mayor Proudest of Coalition Building

Creating partnerships to tackle city issues was Mike Belsky's big achievement while in office.

When Mayor Mike Belsky first campaigned for the office eight years ago, his slogan was “Bringing People Together.”

Looking back, he said his proudest moments were when he did just that. 

In his two terms as mayor and two more before that as a City Council member, Belsky assembled coalitions to bring things such as the Community Health Center and to Highland Park. He has helped Highland Park become a model for other communities with its affordable-housing and environmental initiatives. 

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Belsky’s second term ends Monday with the inauguration of as Highland Park’s . Belsky was first elected in 1995 to the council, serving two terms before running for mayor in 2003.

Overcoming resistance 

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“They city is very well-run in terms of the basics,” Belsky said. “Because that’s well done, I’ve been able to be very progressive.” 

During his second term on the council and with Daniel Pierce as mayor, Belsky led the effort to build the Community Health Center on Green Bay Road. When the original location caused a stir in the community, Belsky found a solution. 

“There was a lot of resistance to putting it on the north end [near Highwood Avenue] and I worked with the [city] manager [to find a new location],” Belsky said. “Putting it downtown gives people access to it,” he added, referring to the current site. 

Belsky also points to his program as one that has reduced health care costs by promoting better living. He developed the program while working with the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Healthy Cities Initiative. 

“It’s oriented toward the minority community to adopt healthy lifestyles,” Belsky said of the program.

One aspect of Healthy Highland Park was a communitywide program to promote weight loss. That was one area where the mayor led by example, shedding 40 pounds between the beginning and end of the program.

“That’s a part of leadership,” said Belsky, who acknowledged feeling better after he lost the weight. “You have to basically put your money where your mouth is.” 

Finding a solution

When the federal government decided to build housing for military personnel on the Fort Sheridan property seven years ago, many citizens were unhappy. Belsky worked with the federal, state and three local governments to form a coalition to bring in significantly more money to educate the children of armed service members. 

Belsky brought the right group of people together to increase the amount the Department of Defense was willing to pay, which went from $700 a student to $4,500 for each student.

The mayor was also careful to make sure North Chicago retained its $6,500 allotment for every student. He is aware North Shore School District 112 is far better able to pay for educating its students than North Chicago. 

“It’s really not traditional for the mayor to be involved” Belsky said. “We were told early by [then Sen.] Barack Obama (D-IL), Sen. [Richard] Durbin (D-IL) and to some extent by this was just not going to be doable.” 

City councilman credits Belsky with challenging Kirk, a congressman before his successful Senate bid in 2010, to effect the change.

"The school didn’t have the political savvy to bring them [all interested parties] together," Silberman said. "All the stakeholders waited around for somebody like [City Manager] Dave Limardi and [Mike] Belsky to take that leadership role."

Belsky remembered a history of divisiveness over paying for military children’s education in Highland Park and wanted to prevent a repetition of the problems. He was also concerned about the military families coming to the community. 

“I didn’t want the people from the military to not feel welcome here because of that issue," Belsky said. "Sometimes people will attribute problems at the school to them.

“It saved taxpayers $3 million a year,” he added about effort. 

Belsky considered it an excellent example of building coalitions and practicing intergovernmental cooperation. 

“We had at the table all the school districts,” Belsky said. “We had at the table the county officials, the state legislators and we had this for three communities.”

The departing mayor said he was able to pull together officials from different levels of government in North Chicago, Highland Park and Glenview. 

Focusing on the environment

When Belsky was on the City Council, he began to focus on ways for business and apartment owners to recycle waste. The city long had a residential recycling program but a commercial effort was lacking. 

“When I was a councilman, I was the liaison to the Environmental Commission,” Belsky said. “One of the things we were pushing for was commercial recycling. We tried to get it going on a voluntary basis but we didn’t get a lot of support.” 

When he became mayor, commercial recycling became a requirement for Highland Park businesses. He credits councilman Steve Mandel with playing a role as well. 

“I always felt it should be done on a mandatory basis,” Belsky said. “As much as businesses felt government should not dictate this, it was clearly in their best interest. It reduces their costs.

"It’s [now] mandatory to be in the commercial contract and the commercial contractor is offering recycling,” he said about the requirement.

Designing a successful program

Affordable housing is another area where Belsky brought people together. He led the City Council and others to develop a plan in 2003 that became the model for Illinois. It enabled families, especially those whose members worked in Highland Park, to remain in town as real estate prices rose. 

“My feeling was this is a multigenerational community," he said, referring to people who grow up in Highland Park or want to come back to stay.

The Community Land Trust was born out of efforts to make housing affordable within the city limits.

Though initially designed to help people such as police officers, firefighters and teachers, Belsky thinks the ordinance is crafted to help all working people living and contributing to Highland Park. 

“It makes them committed to the community. Teachers who have to drive a long distance are not going to be as effective,” Belsky said. “We need affordable housing for the minority community. For people with three jobs trying to pursue the American dream for their kids.”

What the future holds 

As for the future, Belsky is looking forward to concentrating on his career in the private sector. He wants to focus on one job for a while rather than trying to do three at once. He has not ruled out a run for elected office in the future. 

“I’m interested in these financial offices. That would be a good next step for me, being a treasurer at some level -- county or state,” Belsky said. “You can do a lot with it.”

Click  to watch an audio slideshow of Mayor Mike Belsky reflecting on his 16 years of public service.

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