From The Village: Chatting With Mayor Joe Werner

Mokena is a busy community. , , and , and many other things happen on a daily basis. Sometimes, things happen and residents are left wondering, “Just why exactly did that happen?”

Well, it was exactly that question Mayor Joe Werner wanted to answer—or at least some of those questions. Which is why Werner sat down with Craig McCutcheon, a Mokena resident and local business owner, to answer questions on several topics in a video interview posted on the Village's website.

“Primarily I wanted to do something different,” Werner said. “Trying to reach out to a broader audience on a more informal level. The goal being to try to answer people's questions, or answer the kind of questions, that we hear informally.”

Werner said that almost all of the questions McCutcheon asks him during the video, which range from questions about Front Street to local businesses to Village Board decisions, came in some form from residents.

The more than hour-long video sees Werner fumble for answers, racking his brain for the words to answer some questions—and that's exactly how he wants it to be. He said that the goal of the video is to show that he is just, “a plumber who happens to be mayor,” and to answer the questions as best he could.

“I'm in a role, and part of my role is to know what's going on,” he said. “To be able to respond without pre-calculated answers and scripts and power point presentations, because sometimes that stuff goes over people's heads. I wanted to answer the questions in a more conversational tone.”

Check Out Mayor Joe Werner Answering Craig McCutcheon's Questions Here.