Candidates speak up for affordable housing
March 22, 2007
By Eva McKendrick Staff Writer

"Who could not afford to buy their house today?" Debbie Rissing asked an estimated 300 Downers Grove residents March 18. About half the audience members' hands shot up.

A DuPage United forum on the lack of middle-income housing in Downers Grove, held at First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove, highlighted the problem many residents are facing. Incomes are rising slowly, but housing costs are shooting up. Between 2000 and 2005, median income rose 9 percent, while median housing costs rose 68 percent.

According to the DuPage Homeownership Center, DuPage County has the highest median home price in Illinois at $343,500. A typical buyer would have to earn $122,920 a year to afford the median-price home.

Speaker Roger Morsch of the Illinois Housing Development Authority said having affordable housing is a benefit to any community.

"We need to stop talking about the definition of affordable housing and start talking about the economic impact," he said.

Morsch has performed four studies of major employers all over Illinois, and found that 40 percent of all employees lived more than 30 miles from their work. Those who live far away had a 20 percent higher rate of absenteeism and an average tenure on the job of 1.7 years.

"Anything to help the employee move closer to work, the better the outcome," he said.

DuPage United Downers Grove, a group of religious organizations in the village, wanted to hear whether the candidates and members of Village Council were going to pursue solutions to the lack of affordable housing.

All six council candidates - Bruce Beckman, Sean Patrick Durkin, Geoff Neustadt, Mark Thoman, Stan Urban and Chris Lavoie - showed up for the forum, and mayoral candidate Ron Sandack was also in attendance. Sandack's opponent, Mayor Brian Krajewski, was also there but did not participate because he said he would have to leave halfway through the presentation. Current commissioners Marilyn Schnell and Bill Waldack also attended the meeting.

All candidates and commissioners said they support putting the middle-income housing issue in the 2007 Downers Grove Strategic Plan. They also all said they support working with the Downers Grove Housing Team to establish a task force to explore solutions.
Council candidate Neustadt said that on his salary as a maintenance mechanic for District 58 and his wife's salary as a teacher, they had to look for a year and a half to find a home in Downers Grove.

"We need to bring the governing bodies together to talk about this issue," he said.

Commissioner Schell also said some solutions need to be discussed.

"My husband and I chose Downers Grove 20-some years ago because of the diversity. ... We need to keep that diversity to keep Downers Grove a great place to live," she said.

Contact Eva McKendrick at EMCKENDRICK@SCN1.COM or call 630-416-5103.