Coffee, laid back session with Lake Zurich mayor and village manager a 'great source of information' - Chicago Tribune

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About a half-dozen Lake Zurich residents gathered at a Lake Zurich coffee shop to informally talk village business with the mayor and village manager over cups of joe.

The gathering was held at Koffee Kup, 30 E. Main St., with mayor Tom Poynton and Village Manager Ray Keller.

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The talk was less formal than a village meeting — where residents have a time limit to speak, must address a full Village Board and are video recorded — though the issues are mostly the same.

Attendees talked about infrastructure concerns, recycling issues and posed development questions. But the real difference was tone. While combative public interaction between elected officials and the public are not commonplace at Village Board meetings, there’s certainly less joking, smiling and sense of community compared to the “chat over coffee” atmosphere.

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“Well, it provides an opportunity for people to ask questions they wonder about but that they don’t feel like they want to ask at a public meeting,” Keller said. “And sometimes they don’t always know who to ask.”

He said it’s also helpful for city officials to understand what concerns residents might have. He said the discussions didn’t center on specific policies as much as they allowed officials to get a sense of general concerns.

One issue raised at the Nov. 16 event was Old Mill Road repairs. The road, long a source of consternation for area residents due to its condition, will be rehabbed but as Keller explained over coffee, the village needed time to save money for the massive overhaul.

“We’ve had to save our pennies and we plan to get that taken care of next year,” Keller said. “It’s a project we’re asked about very frequently.”

Keller saidthe other issue with the road is, the longer the village saved money, the worse the road got, compounding the problem and the cost of the solution.

Other times, Poynton said, the issues raised are small — a new sign here or there, for example.

“Some of these people, I swear, drive around looking for things to fix,” he said, laughing.. “Usually, I can take care of it on the phone while we’re talking.”

The informal meeting felt more like a group of friends getting together, which is a draw for some.

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Bob Shellenberger, who attended with his wife, Sandy, said they live in the same subdivision as the mayor and see him frequently at neighborhood events. Even so, they like attending the coffee sessions.

“We come here all the time,” he said. “We find it a great source of information.”

Poynton said the crowd for that day’s coffee session, the last of the year, was about medium to light. He said sometimes as many as 20 residents have shown up for coffee and, during the warm months, the group takes advantage of the weather by sitting outside.

At its heart, the monthly informal meeting is a way for residents to see their government representatives and sound off on anything they like and to ask questions. Poynton said if he doesn’t have the answers at the time, he gets them.

The mayor said the coffee sessions with the community are part of what he calls radical transparency.

“It’s just another opportunity to be transparent,” he said. “We like to talk about the radical transparency we do in Lake Zurich. I’m pretty available.”

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Jesse Wright is a freelancer.

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