Dear Neighbors:
My name is Marco Coladipietro. I am running for Mayor of the City of Crest Hill in the upcoming April 1st, 2025, Consolidated Election. I am seeking your support and vote.
My wife, Lynn, and I moved to Crest Hill in 1993, right after our marriage. We both grew up in the Joliet area and are blessed with two wonderful children, a granddaughter, and another on the way. Our children attended Joliet Montessori, Richland Grade School / Junior High and Lockport Township High School. My parents are immigrants from Italy, and I am first generation. My father has built condominiums and townhomes in Crest Hill. I remember picking up supplies from Globe Lumber and Meyer Plumbing during the summer. I have strong roots in our community and believe Crest Hill is a wonderful place to live – but it could be much more.
My professional background is as an accountant for the past 30 years. I have worked for small and medium-sized businesses. My most current position was as the Chief Financial Officer for Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital in New Lenox, IL. I was responsible for a budget of $72 million in gross billings, 250 employees, and the building and grounds.You are probably asking why I should vote for Marco. While Crest Hill is a great place to live, it lacks an inspiring vision and a long-term plan to guide us into the future. We need a road map for the future – not just words on paper but an actionable strategy that sparks excitement. Proverbs 29:18 reminds us – “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
While the communities around us continue to grow, we have been complacent. We have more businesses leaving than we have coming in, so we need to market the city in a way that attracts new businesses. We must make our City welcoming to developers and make it easy to do business with us. Gas Stations are great, but we could do so much more. The solution to reducing the tax burden on residents isn’t standing still; it’s looking for proper growth. We must also make our city “resident friendly” when dealing with your concerns.
However, how do we make this happen? The first thing that needs to be done is to put in place an effective team of administrators – ones that believe in the promise and potential of Crest Hill. We need a strong City Administrator, Director of Public Works, Economic Development Director and Human Resources Director! Do you realize you can count on both hands the number of City Administrators the City has gone through under our Mayor? That is unbelievable. The other Directors listed are also interim. No one is watching our house. No one is driving the bus. How do we attract new business if our house is not in order?
Let's Build a Better Crest Hill. Expect More – Expect Better! VOTE Marco 4 Mayor – Number 1 on the ballot on April 1st!
I appreciate your support!

LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY ECONOMIC GROWTH
On April 1st, Vote for Leadership, Accountability, Transparency, and Economic Growth.
LEADERSHIP – Leadership is not about “I” or “ME”. It is about building a high-functioning team. Getting that team to all work in the same direction. Do you realize that Crest Hill has gone through nine (9) permanent and/or interim City Administrators since 2009? (FOIA request 2/27/25). There is no one invested in running our city. We also have an interim Public Works Director, an interim Human Resources Director, and a newly hired Economic Development Director that was also interim for a long time. This turnover is unacceptable.
ACCOUNTABILITY—The lack of in-house Administrators and Directors leaves no one to hold these departments accountable. This lack of accountability can be seen in the council's consistent use of executive sessions to address personnel issues during council meetings.
TRANSPARENCY – City Council Members and the Public need to know the good that is happening in our city and the bad. The newly constructed City Hall is conservatively $6 million over budget with construction problems still being corrected. The construction of the Public Works building is $2 million over budget. The Mayor contends that these projects were built without a property tax increase. However, he did raise your utility tax rate to fund the project. I also pledge to provide a yearly state-of-the-city report to all businesses and residents.
ECONOMIC GROWTH – The City’s Economic Growth has stagnated while other communities around us grow. The Mayor says he has brought in over 500 new businesses. Where are they? How many businesses left in that same period? The mayor claims we are landlocked. However, he announced that he spoke to Silver Cross about building on 200 acres at the corner of Weber and Division. That land is not even available. His vision is to take prime real estate off the property tax roll and forfeit sales tax because Silver Cross is a non-profit. We also have buildings that have been vacant for years. The old bank building at Route 30 and Larkin Avenue, the old bank building on Weber Road and Ryan Drive, the Walgreens building on Route 30, and the Crest Hill Lanes Bowling Alley, just to name a few. We need a new outlook and a way of thinking. We cannot continue to sit back and wait for businesses to come to us. We need to market our great city and attract high-quality businesses.