“I love Joliet, plain and simple, and I plan to be a mayor who works for everyone, not just a select few,” Terry D’Arcy told the Times Weekly. “We need a mayor that can look at the larger picture and bring together resources that will make life better for all of our residents.”
Well-known to Joliet residents for his philanthropy and as the owner and president of D’Arcy Automobiles for the past 30 years, D’Arcy believes his leadership experience as a successful businessman and his decades of public service are qualities that will make him an effective mayor.
In his bid to unseat incumbent mayor Bob O’Dekirk, D’Arcy points to numerous issues that are priorities to address, including the congestion caused by the number of commercial trucks crowding local highways and communities, the revitalization of downtown, and more equitable response to “legacy neighborhoods” on Joliet’s south and east sides.
“First and foremost, we need to take care of the residents,” D’Arcy said. I want to restore the respect and dignity of the residents of Joliet. I think the quality of life is the aspect that we need to pay attention to in every corner of the city, D’Arcy said.”
While the increasing commercial truck congestion may be a sign of economic growth, it’s also a cause of frustration for residents; it is a front-burner issue for D’Arcy’s candidacy. “Those trucks are rolling through downtown Lockport and coming straight into downtown Joliet. You can’t even walk downtown on Ottawa street without being nearly sideswiped by a truck trying to make that sharp turn. It’s really going to take a lot of heavy lifting to get everybody together to figure out a way to correct this problem.”
City Center development is also a major issue. “The downtown area is such a central part of our community and it’s been a source of controversy for such a long time,” D’Arcy explained. “We’re going to revitalize our downtown. Right now, at 5 o’clock when all of the people from the courthouse leave, there’s nobody left. We’ve got to bring young people and some life down there after dark.”
One idea is to create a downtown student center, which would be space for mentoring programs and other activities focused on young adults. Another idea is to develop downtown housing. “I’ve often told people that I’d like to have a condo downtown,” D’Arcy said. “They always say ‘in Chicago?’and I’d say ‘No, downtown Joliet.’ I’ve always believed in the revitalization of downtown!”
D’Arcy believes that overall planning is key to Joliet’s growth and stability. “It’s time that we develop a plan that takes into account affordable housing. To make sure young professionals can take advantage of apartments in Joliet that are within their budget.” D’Arcy points to the lack of a comprehensive plan. “We’ve had a plan on the books that has never been implemented in all of the years that I’ve been here,” he said.
“I am a person who knows how to get things done,” D’Arcy said, pointing to his success in business and his long commitment to community service. He currently owns two dealerships in Joliet that employ 260 people, and he’s building the largest Hyundai campus on Essington Road. It’s now 26 acres of blacktop with two buildings in that area each about 70,000 square feet.
D’Arcy is a governor-appointed director on the Illinois Tollway board, a board member at Silver Cross Hospital, founding member and director of First Community Bank of Joliet and past board member of the University of St. Francis, among many other volunteer activities and community commitments. He and his wife Sue have six children and three grandchildren.
Another one of his major concerns is the lack of equal response to the need for improved infrastructure like clean water and safe streets. “In terms of the city as a whole, I’ve knocked on a lot of doors on the south and the east side and met with community groups. There seems to be such a loss of hope. That’s what really gets to me,” he said.
“When I talk to someone who’s lived in their house for 50 years or 70 years, and they don’t care about voting, that really hurts. One of the things I want to make sure of is that everyone gets treated equitably. With regards to the south and east sides, there’s no question that there’s been a lot of neglect and I intend to address that,” D’Arcy said.
“I call those areas of the city our ‘legacy neighborhoods’. This is where our communities started, and we need to make sure as city leaders that those communities aren’t left out. We need to move more resources over there.”
D’Arcy pointed to his past work in the community as his understanding of the needs. “Back in 2015, I worked with Warren Dorris and others on the Park District Initiative. We got $15 million dollars for the south and east sides to improve the parks there. We need to do more to pump money into the system to revitalize those neighborhoods.”
Despite past efforts, D’Arcy pointed out that there are still inequities, especially in the way that the city responds to the demands of residents on the east side. “I spoke to a woman recently who lived on the east side all of her life. She said the city had put in handicapped accessible curbs on the corners but neglected to fix any of the broken and bad sidewalks leading up to her property. She had owned her home 52 years, yet the city told her it would cost her $1,400 to fix the street in front of her house. This is a woman who worked and sent both of her children to college. She paid her taxes for 52 years, and they want to charge her for fixing her sidewalk. To me, that’s just terrible. WE need to respect the fact that she paid her taxes, and now it’s up to us, as a city, to make things right for her.”
D’Arcy has fond memories about growing up in Joliet, and how he would come downtown to shop with his grandma. “What are we leaving for our young people? We have over 43,000 people 19 and under that live in the city of Joliet. We need to create something for them to do and a place where they can have jobs.”
Joliet voters will decide who will occupy the mayor’s office and five City Council seats in the Illinois Consolidated Election on Tuesday, April 4th. Also in the race for mayor against the incumbent Bob O’Dekirk is community strategist Tycee Bell.
For information on how and where to cast your vote, visit Voting on Election Day | USAGov (https://www.usa.gov/election-day) or Will County Voter Services (https://www.willcountyclerk.gov/elections/voter-services/).
