North Cook News

Dan Donnelly argues that he would be an improvement over Norwood Park Township Democratic Committeeman Robert Martwick Sr.  just by showing up.

“No one ever sees him or gets to speak with him,” Donnelly told the North Cook News regarding Martwick. “He has a downtown office that’s open from nine to five. Not a lot of working people are going to be able to get down there during those times to get the kind of help they might need.”

Martwick has been the Democratic committeeman since 1969, although Donnelly says the last 15 years have virtually been in absentia.

Dan Donnelly

“I’ve always been someone that has gone out of his way to help the people of this community,” Donnelly said. “I want to be able to do more of that, and based on all the conversations I’m having, there’s a great need. A lot of people are hurting, and it seems if you don’t have the right connections you can’t get any help from local government.”

If elected, Donnelly, who resides in Norridge with his fiancee and two young children, has vowed to set up shop in the heart of the township, with office hours centered around when people most need him to be there.

“All my life, I’ve been a businessman, and that’s how you do things,” he said. “You make yourself available to the people you work for, and being committeeman should be about working for the people.”

Donnelly’s business background includes owning his own sewer and water company and then a pizza parlor. Though he has never held or even ran for public office, he insists his knowledge of Norridge and affinity for the only home he has ever known make him up to the challenge.

“I’m running on a platform to give voice to the people of this community,” he said. “I think that’s something people respond to whether you’ve been a career politician or not.”