Edward Bugg, Candidate for Aurora Alderman, Ward 9

The NTDO has offered candidates in the April 9 Municipal Elections an opportunity to address our readership.  Edward Bugg, candidate for Aurora Alderman in Ward 9, offers this message:

Dear Friends of the NTDO,

It was a pleasure to speak at the last NTDO meeting about my campaign for Alderman in Ward 9 of Aurora.  Although only a small part of Naperville Township is in my Ward (2 precincts), it is a vital portion that has a vast majority of Democratic thinking voters. These 2 precincts voted overwhelmingly for Bill Foster and Linda Holmes in the last election and I hope to garner this type of support from my Democratic Friends.

I have been a Democratic Precinct Committeeman in Wheatland Township for about 6 years and before that was involved with the Rich Township Democrats in the South Suburbs.  I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you on the campaign trail for Bill Foster or at the many Naperville parades. (I’m the one pulling the wagon with 2 little girls wearing their best Obama wear.)

After being involved in nearly every other role from Democratic election judge to pollwatcher to Campaign Manager, I decided to run for Alderman in Aurora to bring a strong voice of the people to the Aurora City Council.

Ward 9 in Aurora (South of Montgomery Rd. and East of Eola Rd.), has many of the same issues impacting our region, including the need for good jobs and overall economic development to aid in stabilizing our property tax base.  In light of this, over the last year, I formed a local volunteer committee called the South Eola Road Art Project Committee, focused on bringing visibility to our local businesses and to spur economic development in our Ward.

The volunteer committee has implemented a joint venture of the South Eola Road businesses/ commercial property owners in Aurora, the local grade schools, and the Ward 9 community as a whole.  In working with the Principals of the grade schools, the students create art projects which are collected and displayed in the Ward 9 Business corridor.  Initially, with the cooperation of the commercial property owners, the art displays were posted in the vacant businesses. The Art Project Celebration Kickoff brought together the community to view the art displays in the beautified empty storefronts. At the same time, a customer appreciation weekend was organized with the existing businesses to bring about increased foot traffic and overall awareness of our local businesses. From the overwhelmingly favorable response to the initial Art Project Celebration Weekend, many existing businesses have requested that the Art Projects be displayed in their windows as well.  Further, there have been a number of inquiries regarding several of the vacant spaces from the increased awareness from the Art Celebration.

As an Alderman, I will continue to implement initiatives that will make Aurora a better place to live- to bring a brighter future to our families, our Neighborhoods, and our Community.

Unbelievably, early voting for my February 26th Primary begins today (Monday, February 11th), and election day is now less than 3 weeks away.  If you would like to help with my campaign by door knocking, making calls, or if you just know a few voters in this area, please contact me at anytime at:BuggforAlderman@gmail.com  or www.facebook.com/EdwardBuggForAlderman

Thank you for your support,

Edward J. Bugg
Candidate for Alderman, Aurora- Ward 9