Illinois State alumnus Scott Skyrcki ’08 returned to campus to talk to Department of Politics and Government Professor Nancy Lind’s class on Professional Development.
Skyrcki is the assistant village manager in Bartlett, where he spends considerable time engaging in community and economic development. He shared stories with the students on how the village used tax increment financing districts to lure businesses to one of its two business parks. He also explained to the students how the village has to issue bonds to pay for two major capital development projects, including shifting its water supply from the city of Elgin to Lake Michigan.
Skyrcki talked about how much of his job and that of the village manager is to handle calls from irate citizens over projects that may have an immediate tax impact but which will bring benefits down the road. He told students “local government is where it’s at if you want to make an immediate difference.”
