Councilman Terry Morris has been on the Joliet City Council for 12 years and makes his case for why the voters should re-elect him on April 4.

Incumbent Terry Morris is being challenged for the district 5 council seat by Suzanna Ibarra, Jim Lanham, and Michael Williams Carruthers.

“I really believe the city is moving in a positive direction with economic development,” said Morris, who has lived in Joliet since 1989 and was elected in 2011 to the Joliet City Council. “With the infrastructure we are putting into the city, I just want to continue that work.”

“I want to improve District 5 by bringing in more retail developments as well as affordable housing and continue infrastructure improvements like new sidewalks, curbs and gutters,” he said.

Morris said he takes exception when he hears his political opponents saying he is not available to District 5 residents.

“I live in the southeast side of the district, and I own a business there,” said Morris, referencing the funeral home he operates. “I spend 90 percent of my time in District 5. I have an office phone and three e-mails where people can reach me. For the last 12 years, I have been reachable.”

Morris said it is also unfair when residents continually criticize him and the Joliet City Council for approving warehouse projects, particularly in District 5.

“Warehousing started before I even got on the City Council,” said Morris. “It will continue as long as there are products.”

Joliet being a major intermodal and transportation hub makes it an attractive community for industrial parks, he adds. Morris said this is no different than what is happening in the nearby communities of Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Channahon, and Elwood.

“It is almost like a train that was already on the tracks,” he said. “We have denied as many warehouses as there have been approvals.”

Another economic development he believes will put the community on the right side of development is the Hollywood Casino move to the I-55 and I-80 corridor in the Rock Run Crossings subdivision. The 41-acre mixed-use project could also bring up to 500-plus apartment units, restaurants, hotels, medical offices, and stores.

“In my district, I would like to see more commercial and residential projects being done,” he said. “I want to see more retail for residents.”

Morris said it bothers him when he hears criticism that District 5 is like a food desert with no major grocery stores in this section of Joliet.

“To me it is an insult that people are saying there isn’t a grocery store on the east side,” he said. “That grocery store (El Ranchito) on Cass Street has many products as a large grocery store. I would like to see two to three grocery stores on the east side, but studies show that there’s not enough population to support a Jewel, Marianos or a Tony’s.”