McCormick announces intention to run for another term as Godfrey mayor

GODFREY - Mayor Mike McCormick has officially announced this week of his intention on running for another term, during the village’s April 4^th 2017 spring election.

McCormick, a former local business owner, Village Trustee, (and most importantly) current Mayor of Godfrey, has served the village as mayor for the past two terms. He admittedly states that he “loves his job” and enjoys serving the residents of Godfrey more than anything else he’s done in his life, - So much in fact, that he has refused any pay increases during his career in office and makes the same now as he did his first day on the job as Mayor.

Mayor Mike gives this perspective on his service for the Godfrey community: “We’ve worked hard to expand village growth, especially along the 255 corridor and the business district, all while continuing to provide for the safety of our residents and protect the quaint quiet neighborhood lifestyle that our residents, and I, love.”

Since his election as mayor in 2009 his leadership has been a formula of success for the community, combining his knowledge of village operations from his previous experience as a trustee (and eventually Mayor) his business acumen and experience of having owned and operated a local franchise, along with his problem solving ability and the support of a strong, highly dedicated administrative team has accomplished many positive things for the Godfrey community.

McCormick takes pride in the fact that to remain accountable to the taxpayer he takes a minimalist approach to staffing, relying on a small but highly skilled dedicated staff to insure village efficiency and services, all while keeping costs low, Mayor McCormick points out with pride that he has worked towards reducing Godfrey's tax levy every year that he has served as Mayor, but yet still continues to expand village services to its residents. McCormick also points out that he requires his administration and staff to embrace a “citizen as customer” concept, meaning that even in government work, customer service satisfaction takes top priority.

Many residents who come in regularly to village hall often take notice in how accessible Mayor McCormick is to the residents, instead of sitting in his back office he prefers to sit up front at the reception desk five days a week, 8 hours every day so that he can greet the public or chat with them as they come in to conduct their business. “It’s all about having an open door to the community to really know what’s going on in town” Mike states.

With regard to accomplishments during McCormick’s tenure on the subject of development, under his guidance, the village recently hired a full time Development Director, launched several programs to benefit local businesses and provides continual work to expand the business district to better benefit the community, he has also throughout his career supported incentives to bring in more businesses to town, (some examples of Godfreys major growth: Wal-Mart, Ruler Foods in Monticello Plaza, Dollar General and the Lake Drive Logistics transportation hub and multi-use facility.) In 2015 the village went through a grand rebranding and launched a national ad campaign illustrating the merits and benefits of living and working in Godfrey, with the slogan “You can see your future from here!”

On the subject of village public safety during his recent term in office, McCormick has seen to improved enforcement of Building codes, appointed a part time Public Safety Administrator to assist in the logistics of public safety issues, complaints or concerns, completed several FEMA training modules on community disaster recovery and for the first time in Godfrey history he oversaw the development and implementation of a certified, comprehensive disaster emergency operations plan (EOP) that was recognized as one of the best by the county and state, and received the IEMA Directors “Ready to Respond” community award. He also increased village emergency communications capability by acquiring new radio technology and joining the “Starcom21” statewide radio system.

Other programs have also been launched such as the “Be Found” program which provides address numbering services to disabled, elderly or veterans at no cost to the homeowner or village, and supports regular volunteer recruitment event and “Code Red” Drives at village hall so residents (particularly “at risk” older residents who might need help with the technology signing up on the website) can get weather warnings and boil orders sent to their phones.

On the subject of Public Works and services provided to the community by the village, Mayor McCormick state that due to his strategy of combining resources, techniques and technological systems the public works division has completed more road repair and resurfacing projects in the past year than in any year in Godfrey's past, with more repairs and improvements planned for next year. The village has also been focusing more attention on drainage issues and solutions than it had in previous years.

The Parks division has seen improvements in recent years with new technologies and card readers, updated facilities, brand new playground equipment, plenty of new programs and popular events-attractions and indication that recreational public participation is growing more and more every year.

In Building and Zoning improvements that have been made in recent years include: improved code enforcement, the implementation of an occupancy permit system that ensures the village and its residents a better quality of housing choices, and a more streamlined permit process that uses a resident encounter tracking log to document applications, concerns and complaints that will provide better accountability from the village and improves customer service for residents in the event follow up is necessary from local staff to resolve an issue or concern.

McCormick believes that remaining accessible to the public, continuing to provide top notch customer service to its citizens, insuring the safety of the community and keeping a finger on the “pulse” of the village’s business health and growth, is key to what has granted him success during his service to the community and to continue to follow that formula will insure an even brighter future for Godfrey.

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