North Cook News

Dan Donnelly has gotten an even better response from the people of Norwood Park Township than he had hoped after announcing his candidacy for committeeman.

“The people of this community have been without quality representation for so long, they don’t even know what they should expect from their committeeman,” Donnelly, who recently launched his Democratic campaign to replace Robert Martwick Sr., told the North Cook News. “They were ecstatic to hear that I would be there to help them with everything from county services to senior services and a host of other things.”

Donnelly has also vowed to open an office in the heart of the township so that he will be more easily accessible to all constituents. He claims Martwick, who has endorsed Frank Avino as his successor, has always kept his distance from the people he serves.  

Dan Donnelly

“Right now, the office is set up downtown and that makes it especially hard for working people and senior people to come in and talk to their representative about getting the kind of help they may need,” Donnelly said. “With me, they know that will no longer be an issue and that they will no longer be represented on a part-time basis.”

Donnelly claims that many of the people in the community still don’t know who Martwick is, despite him having been on the job since 1969, and that he’s never around to assist or interact with them.

“My number one job will be to represent the people of the community, knowing what their problems and concerns are and relaying them to the party leaders,” Donnelly said. “Since I launched this campaign, all I’ve been doing is knocking on doors, getting to know people and getting to understand what those issues are.”

A local businessman who has owned a sewer and water company and a pizza parlor, Donnelly resides in Norridge with his fiancée and two young children.

Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly referred to Robert Martwick Sr. as a state representative. This has been corrected.