Description

Tom Weisner is currently serving his third term as Mayor of Aurora, Illinois, the state’s second largest city, with a population of nearly 200,000, after running unopposed in the April 2013 election.

As Aurora’s Mayor for nearly a decade, Mayor Weisner has propelled this former “blue collar town” into the 21st century as a high performing, progressive city by strengthening neighborhoods, revitalizing Aurora’s riverfront core, promoting sustainable development practices, developing a top-notch telecommunication infrastructure and vastly reducing crime. By focusing on public private partnerships to spur revitalization, Mayor Weisner is successfully cleaning up polluted riverfront areas and breathing new life into Aurora’s downtown urban core, the most recent example of which is RiverEdge Park, a spectacular new music venue on the banks of the Fox River.

During Weisner's tenure, crime in Aurora has fallen precipitously, a trend highlighted by national media attention in 2012, when Aurora experienced zero homicides. Mayor Weisner took strong and early action during his first term to blunt the effects of the Great Recession, cutting costs and improving efficiencies in order to maintain a high level of services for Aurora residents. As a result, Aurora continues to be one of very few Illinois cities to maintain a AA rating for both General Obligation and Water Revenue bonds.

Mayor Weisner has also made the development of a skilled workforce a priority for Aurora in order to ensure a growing economy and plentiful job opportunities. He has led the effort to create new educational structures in this multi-district city, from early education (SPARK) to STEM education (Aurora University’s STEM Academy), to high school skills training (Pathways to Prosperity).

Mayor Weisner is also a leader on the regional, state and national level.  He will assume the Chairmanship of the Chicago Metropolitan Mayors Caucus in November 2013. He is currently the Kane/Kendall representative to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Executive Board member of the Illinois Municipal League and Past President of Metro West Council of Governments. Tom was appointed as a Director at the Illinois Toll Highway Authority by Governor Quinn and also serves as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee at the Tollway. Additionally, he is founding Chairman of the Northwest Water Planning Alliance, a collaborative planning organization involving municipalities and counties in a five county area of the Chicago suburbs.

Mayor Weisner also serves as Chairman of the Board for OnLight Aurora, a public-private partnership created to connect the Aurora schools, hospitals and businesses to the city’s 50-mile fiber optic network . . . and to the digital world beyond.

Locally, he was founding Chairman of the Aurora East Educational Foundation, former Chair of the Quad County Urban League, and board member of United Way, Family Counseling Services and several other Not-For-Profits. His wife, Marilyn, currently serves as Executive Director of the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry.

Prior to joining City staff in 1986, he and his wife served in the Peace Corps, assisting rain forest dwellers in the highlands of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.