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the Mokena Messenger | June 7, 2018 | 11
Mr. Mokena
From Page 9
ways trying to make our
community more livable for
the people who were already
here and the people who
would be coming.”
They were about to start
working a lot more closely,
because in 1993, Mazzorana
was elected to the Village
Board.
Taking public service
seriously
Upon his election to the
board, Mazzorana began a
run as trustee that spanned
five re-election campaigns
— lasting from 1993 to
2018, when he was forced to
step down because of illness.
And from the very start,
he was all-in on his commitment
level to the Village.
“Trustees get packages
[of information] delivered
to their houses a few times
a week, and my dad was always
very thorough,” Stokes
said. “He always said, ‘Mokena
is my hobby.’ He took
things very seriously, and he
did a lot of research.
“When things were up for
zoning or special things were
happening, he was always
driving around and looking
at the sites or looking at the
things being done. He’d be
talking to people when there
were possible problems that
needed to be addressed. He
really invested in being prepared
for the meetings.”
From a staff perspective,
Downs also saw firsthand
how much time and effort
Mazzorana put into being
an informed member of the
board.
“He could clearly identify
why he was making a decision,
and why he felt it was
in the best interest of the
community as a whole —
knowing there could be others
who disagreed,” Downs
said. “I admired that, because
he often brought back
insights for not just me but
also for other board members
that they may not have
had because they didn’t take
that time and effort to seek it
out.”
Trustee Joseph Siwinski
started on the Village Board
in 1995. He said Mazzorana
was a shoulder to lean on
right away.
“He was very thorough,
and he was someone to look
up to,” Siwinski said. “He
was approachable, but he was
tough. He was no nonsense.
“John was a true public
servant, who cared about the
good of everyone. What was
good about John was that he
would spend the time that
was really needed to find out
the different background [on
an issue].
“He would truly investigate
and try to hear all sides
of a story. He would listen
to all sides, come to his conclusion,
and he was tough.
When he made up his mind,
he made up his mind. He’d
give everyone a fair shake,
but in the end, he wouldn’t
be afraid to stand up for what
he believed.”
Siwinski said he didn’t always
agree with Mazzorana,
but he recalled the elder trustee’s
famous saying: “Reasonable
people can differ.”
“That’s one thing that I
really learned from him,”
Siwinski said. “You don’t always
have to be on the same
side, but you want to try and
reach a resolution that works
for everyone. I think he truly
did that.”
That statesman trait came
in handy in 2005, at a time
when the community was
on the precipice of change.
Mazzorana was part of a
group of people who formed
Citizens United — a political
group aimed at garnering
commercial development for
the Village.
“There was a lot of commercial
growth that was happening
around us,” Downs
said. “Some people thought
it was good, and some didn’t.
As this all evolved, I think
the identity of the community
was teetering on ‘Do we
want to be more residentialonly,’
which sounds good but
means there will be a longterm
price for everybody; or,
do we want to attempt to get
a more diversified economy
that would provide revenue
so services could be provided
and make the community
more livable with less demand
from the Village.”
Downs said Mazzorana
thought that being neighbors
to communities seeing gains
from commercial growth but
not reaping any of the benefit
didn’t make sense.
“He campaigned very hard
on that, because he felt it
was the right thing long-term
thing to do,” Downs said.
Siwinski said Mazzorana
was “a true leader” during
that period, and that his vision
helped guide the group.
“There were different fractions
of the community that
wanted different things, and
it was going to go one way
or the other,” Siwinski said.
“Citizens United, at the time,
we were of the opinion that
you needed meaningful businesses
in order to have the
revenue in order to support
the Village in the future. You
had to do it right, but they
had to be meaningful businesses.
“I think that we’ve given a
good tax base for our town to
move forward with, and John
was a huge part of that.”
Proud of his community
Mazzorana also was a big
supporter of the community
organizations and businesses.
Skye Bergeson, president
of the Mokena Chamber
of Commerce, said one of
the things Mazzorana was
known for was being “the
voice” of the Fourth of July
Parade.
“We definitely always appreciated
his willingness to
show support for the community,”
Bergeson said.
Bergeson first met Mazzorana
about six years ago
when Bergeson joined the
chamber.
“I knew I could always
rely on him to be a friendly
face and somebody who
would welcome new people
to the chamber and to the
community,” Bergeson said.
Mazzorana also was active
in the Mokena Area Historical
Society — something his
daughter said was a passion
of his. He loved history —
particularly, the Civil War —
and would take his family on
vacations to see the famous
battlefields.
Siwinski had a direct view
of just how proud Mazzorana
was of his community,
as the elder trustee rented
space from Siwinski for his
law practice. Siwinski said
Mazzorana would constantly
come and tell him about the
goings-on of the community.
“He just exuded pride
in what people were doing
throughout the community,”
Siwinski said.
But it wasn’t just Siwinski
who noticed how Mazzorana
had his finger on the pulse
of the community. In the
days after her father’s death,
Stokes said she received numerous
calls and emails from
people offering condolences.
But they also brought up
how Mazzorana was viewed
as “Mr. Mokena.”
She said her father would
likely get a kick out of that
description.
Leaving a lasting legacy
Stokes said she believes
part of the reason Mazzorana
was so passionate about improving
Mokena is because
he was raising a family of
five there — but also because
he had a genuine desire to
help the residents.
“I think he had an interest
in making sure the place he
chose to live and plant his
roots was well established
and governed fairly,” she
said. “And because he had a
unique sense of fairness, he
believed in governing for the
people, and that people had
the right to talk about and
have a voice for how they
lived. He cared about Mokena
and the people in it.”
Siwinski said Mazzorana’s
passing is a “big loss” for the
community. But he left behind
a great legacy, as Mazzorana
was instrumental in
the Village providing quality
core services to the residents,
including good roads, police
and garbage collection.
“And I think he was instrumental
in making sure we
have the resources to fund
that into the future by having
a diverse economy,” Siwinski
said.
Meanwhile, Downs said
Mazzorana left a positive impact
on his peers on the Village
Board, as well as setting
a high bar in how the position
is viewed and should be
treated by the public.
“I think he has a tremendous
impact on the quality
of how our elected officials
act as a whole,” Downs said.
“That trickles down to things
like a good, strong financial
base as a community, because
he understood that if
you don’t have enough money
to do the basics, you are
going to have to get it from
somewhere. That means asking
residents for more of it,
and he was not in favor of
that.
“We also have a very low
tax rate but sound infrastructure.
We have good long-term
planning and good employees,
who like to work for our
elected officials and respect
our citizens. They respect
them, because [Mazzorana]
demanded they respect the
citizens. It was his view that
it was an honor to work for
them, either an elected official
or an employee, and they
deserved your very best effort
all the time.”
In a lot of ways, Mazzorana
left his community in a
much better place than when
he arrived in 1976.
“I do think that some of the
decisions my dad made did
impact generations,” Stokes
said. “I think his love of history
and his love of military
strategy [helped]. Certain
people have that unique vision,
and they can kind of
see the moves ahead more
than other people. They just
think that way. I think Mokena
benefited from that type
of vision.”
Now, having lost both parents,
Stokes said it means a
lot to her and her siblings
that her father’s efforts were
appreciated by the community.
“It’s nice to know that the
town that my dad dedicated
so much time to — and,
frankly, love for — valued
him and valued what he contributed,”
Stokes said. “Two
of my siblings still live in
Mokena, and my nephew
and niece live there. I think
they will benefit from what
their grandfather has done
for them.”
Downs went one step further.
“He’s going to have an impact
on our community forever,
in my opinion,” Downs
said.
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