One of Local 150’s longstanding priorities is to encourage and help its members run for public offices. Local 150 members have valuable perspectives, strong work ethic, and proven leadership qualities that make them well-suited to help lead their communities. With that in mind, the III FFC is proud that Local 150 member Michael Glotz serves as Mayor of the Village of Tinley Park, Illinois.
Michael Glotz and his family have resided in Tinley Park since 1994. He and his wife Kristie have two children, Kyle and Katie. Michael is a past boys baseball and girls softball coach. The Glotz family attends Parkview Christian Church. After many years of local volunteer work and community activism, member Glotz threw his hat in the ring for a seat on the Tinley Park Village Board of Trustees in the April 2017 election. He won that election and spent his term diligently learning the details of Village management, budget, and community concerns. Four years later, he ran for Mayor and was elected in April 2021. In his term, Mayor Glotz has focused on an aggressive prodevelopment agenda and strong support for workers’ rights, all while ensuring careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Tinley Park Mayor and IUOE Local 150 Member Michael Glotz
Michael has been instrumental in securing numerous exciting new developments in the Village, including the Tinley Park Plaza shopping center, a Pete’s Fresh Market grocery store and distribution center, a new business park, a Loyola Medicine ambulatory care center, the Boulevard at Central Station, and several restaurants and residential developments. In addition, Mayor Glotz has made no secret of his strong desire to see the shuttered Tinley Park Mental Health Center redeveloped and transformed into an economic engine for the south suburbs. He has aggressively pursued efforts to convince the State of Illinois to sell the property to the Village, with developers articulating early plans to create thousands of construction jobs and nearly a thousand permanent jobs.
As Mayor, Local 150 member Glotz spearheaded the adoption of an ordinance creating an Advisory Commission on Labor and Development (ACLD) within Village government. The ACLD was created for the purpose of structuring sound labor policies for public works construction and commercial developments to protect local workers, contractors, and taxpayers. The ACLD makes findings and recommendations to the Board of Trustees and is comprised of local labor experts and advocates appointed by Mayor Glotz. III FFC Policy Director Josh Weger is the chairman of the ACLD. Mayor Glotz and the Commission have worked together to secure passage of an improved contractor licensing and registration ordinance to protect workers against wage theft and misclassification, as well as a strong responsible bidder ordinance to ensure public works construction is performed only by qualified, competent, local contractors.
Mayor Glotz also spearheaded the adoption of a resolution by the Village Board of Trustees asserting its support for the Workers’ Rights Amendment. Following passage of the resolution, Mayor Glotz stated, “I want us to make it clear that in Tinley Park, we are both pro-business and pro-labor. We want new business developments, and we will help make that happen. We also want workers to get a fair shake, get paid a livable wage, and we want them to have strong workplace rights. We can and should stand up for both of these values, and we have, and we will continue to do so.”
In addition to his service as mayor, Michael is a member of the board of directors of Together We Cope, a prevention agency based in Tinley Park that serves 27 south suburban communities by providing resources to families in temporary crisis, including food, shelter, clothing, toiletries, diapers, prescription assistance, past due rent, utility payments, school supplies, and holiday presents for children.
We at the III FFC are proud of Michael Glotz for stepping up to serve his community in public office. We admire his agenda and priorities and look forward to seeing his plan realized throughout his first term in office. Michael is a great example of what Local 150 members can do when they pursue leadership positions in local government. We hope Michael’s example will inspire more members to put their talents to work and take the plunge to pursue opportunities to make a difference in their communities.
From the Fall/Winter 2022 Issue of The Monitor