Small Title
UP COMING-
*SUNDAY DECEMBER 15 SANTA/ELF PARTY at CLAW CITY 3200 OAK PK. AVE.
*CHRISTMAS DECORATION CONTEST.
A.M. With an Alderman
TBA
3rd Ward Cleanup
TBA
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3rd Ward Meetings
December 5, 2024
Though the weather was bitterly cold, hardy residents turned out to
close out my quarterly ward meeting schedule this year with our usual Christmas festivities and door prizes. As usual, I provided flyers for everything Berwyn and did a recap of 2024 including the lead pipe replacement cost share program, flood abatement cost share program, benefits of my moratorium on building on small parcels of land and the success of my Crossing Guard Recruitment Initiative. We discussed issues for 2025, including 0 City of Berwyn tax increases for Berwyn homeowners, the senior center, Ogden Avenue project, and Roosevelt Rd, Cermak Rd, and 26th street future projects. Speakers Detective Podgorski and Battalion Chief Manfredini gave riveting talks on safety issue for this time of year.
We finished with a lively Q & A and everyone went home with a Christmas gift.
Looking forward to my 12/15/24 Claw city Santa/Elf party and the 3rd ward Christmas decoration Contest!
Richard E. Leja
My wife and I have made Berwyn and the 3rd ward our home for 43 years, raising our 3 children here and serving as a community advocate. As alderman, I am committed to being your voice and representative, no matter who you are, where you are from, or what you believe. I work hard to make the 3rd Ward, and all of Berwyn, a welcoming and safe place. I have improved community relations between residents and the city, championed issues of safety, transparency, accountability and advocacy. My goal is to empower every resident and I will not back down. Long before I was in office I served those in our community including our veterans. In 2014 I was instrumental in helping to bring the Viet Nam Moving Wall to Berwyn.
After the major flooding we had in July I heard from countless residents and visited over 40 homes. I studied what other municipalities are doing. The first thing most are doing is to stop building on every small lot and reconfigure their zoning laws and ordinances to mandate more drainable opportunities on every lot they do build on. I wrote and passed a moratorium on building on any land less than 30’ wide, which is what our ordinance was until just a few years ago when it was changed to 25’.
As a Berwyn parent, I enjoyed volunteering as a Cub Master, Parish Council and School Board Member, member of the Morton High School’s fathers and football clubs, as well as Nazareth Academy’s parents’ club and Berwyn’s 911 Board.
As a retired citizen, I am active as a member of the Berwyn Development Corporation, Sokol, Berwyn Historical Society, Knights of Columbus, Friends of the Library, finance board of St. Odilo, Executive Board Member of the PAV YMCA, and a member in the IUPAT union for 45 years.
