Mokena Mayor Frank Fleischer, seeking a fourth term, faces a challenge from longtime Trustee George Metanias in the April election, with both aiming to revitalize the village’s downtown and attract more businesses.
Fleischer, elected in 2013 — 10 years after his previous tenure as trustee from 1987 to 2003 — said he aims to continue bringing businesses to Mokena and redevelop the village’s downtown area.
“There’s things to be done that I just would like to finish before I walk out the door,” Fleischer said. “I know I’m not going to finish them. I just want to get started so the next mayor can finish them.”
Metanias shares similar goals but said plans for downtown redevelopment have stalled over the years, and the town is in need of more businesses to alleviate the tax burden on homeowners.
“We need a leader that will move the village forward,” Metanias said. “We need a leader that is more pro business.”
Fleischer is running with a slate called Mokena’s Future, which includes trustee candidates Nick Clancy, Kimberly Huelsman and James Roberts, who was appointed trustee in November following Terence Smith’s resignation.
Metanias, a trustee since 2005, is running with a slate called the Friends of Mokena. On his slate is trustee candidates Colleen Patrick-Lenart, Melissa Fedora, Daniel Gilbert and Josh Bailey. Fedora is an incumbent.
Clancy and Patrick-Lenart face each other for a 2-year term on the Village Board, while the other five trustee candidates are seeking three 4-year seats. Clerk Melissa Martini, running with Friends of Mokena, is unopposed.
Fleischer, a veteran of the Illinois Air National Guard, retired as a technical sergeant after 10 years before entering a 39-year career with AT&T, according to his campaign website.
Fleischer said he chose his slate of two newcomers and a recently appointed trustee because he believes they share his goals and bring open mindedness, the ability to debate issues and an understanding of how to run a town.
Clancy is the founder of Clancy Brothers Coffee Roasters in Mokena which opened in 2022, according to the Mokena’s Future campaign website. Clancy also served as a teaching pastor for three years, and played a season in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons after college.
Kimberly Huelsman has been a Mokena resident since 2006, where she lives with her husband and two children, according to the campaign website. She has been a teacher at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park since 2002.
Metanias said his slate of incumbents and newcomers includes people who are all involved in the village.
Gilbert is a secretary on the Mokena Park Board, Patrick-Lenart is on the village’s Community Affairs Commission and Bailey is on the village’s Economic Development Commission.
“I wanted people that love Mokena, people that have the same philosophy about doing better, not bigger,” he said. “And we all have the same type of philosophy.”
Redeveloping Mokena’s downtown has been a priority since his first term, Fleischer said, but the village has been slow to rebuild.
“The people want a downtown,” Fleischer said. “I took a poll four years ago, and 70% of them wanted it. I took a poll just recently, 70% of them wanted it. And for some reason, my board just keeps on dragging their feet. They don’t seem to believe that the residents want a downtown.”
While other suburban downtowns with train stations, such as Orland Park, Tinley Park and New Lenox, have been rapidly developing, Fleischer previously told the Southtown that Mokena is “not in a hurry” and plans to wait until they have a clear vision of what they want the downtown area to look like before beginning redevelopment.
Metanias said the village has too much “red tape” for businesses when they seek to build in Mokena, an issue he said is halting the village’s growth and hindering development. Fleischer said he came into office to solve that issue, but Metanias said Fleischer is not moving fast enough.
“But 12 years with nothing, no action, is long enough,” Metanias said. “I think we need more forward thinking, that we need to have a plan to revitalize a downtown which we don’t have. We need to have quality businesses that will generate resources that we need for our schools, infrastructure improvements, road repair and more, without increasing the tax burden on our homeowners.”
For Metanias, reducing red tape involves streamlining the process for businesses to build in the village. He believes the village’s ordinances need updating to reflect its growth and suggests making the updated ordinances and applications available online, so businesses and developers can access the information they need without having to visit the village office.
In 2018, Fleischer said he brought in three consulting firms to put forward proposals to redevelop the downtown, but none moved forward.
“They couldn’t make a decision on anything. We had three workshops on the subject and they would never make a decision,” Fleischer said. “That’s why I’m running with three good, solid professionals that want to get moving on certain things that need to be done in downtown or in Mokena.”
If reelected, Fleischer said he also wants to conduct a traffic study and finish a comprehensive plan. Mokena’s location off Interstate 80 makes it a key thoroughfare, but with only two major north-south roads, traffic often backs up on Wolf Road and La Grange Road, he said.
“We’re at a crossroads here, either we can take the village back, or bring Mokena into the future,” Fleischer said. “I feel that if my opponent gets in there, Mokena goes backward, I’ve already proven I can take Mokena forward.”
Metanias said the comprehensive plan was only approved by the board once Fleischer was out sick for four months.
“We want to be able to not just talk about things, but get things done,” he said. “And that’s not what has happened.”
The most recent campaign finance disclosure for Fleischer’s slate, Mokena’s Future, shows a transfer of $15,000. However, the quarterly reports do not detail the campaign’s receipts or expenses.
State campaign finance disclosure reports show the Friends of Mokena Team campaign took in $44,960 in contributions during the October-December 2024 quarter, and at the end of December they had just $90,139 available to spend. The largest donations for the quarter, with each contributing $10,000, came from two Mokena-based transportation companies, GSM Holdings and GT Express, according to campaign finance reports.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
