Bridgeview Village Trustee Claudette Struzik saved the biggest bombshell of her career when she announced late last year she was going to step down as a trustee.
“You do know I’m not running again? This is my last year,” she said.
And with that, a causal conversation between her, husband Rich and a reporter suddenly became a news story.
Why not seek another term?
“I’m old. I turned 80 in October,” Stuzik said.
She has been a village trustee since 2007. She was village clerk from 1999 to 2007, and was deputy clerk from 1989 to 1999.
“When I was a clerk, I knew every clerk from the border to Cicero. Every year, we went down to Springfield to learn how to be a clerk, to learn how to take care of a budget, how to run an office. It’s a lot.”
When she decided she no longer wanted to be a clerk, she told Mayor Steve Landek she wanted to be a trustee.
“He said, ‘Whatever you want to do’,” Struzik recalled.
While she has enjoyed her 35 years in politics, she’s ready for a break.
“I’m 80. I don’t want to do it anymore,” she said.
Asked to share favorite memories, she said, “as a trustee, I think (it is) mostly what you do to keep this village running well.”
Struzik oversees the village’s zoning and building committees.
“It helps that Rich is the building commissioner,” she said of her husband.
Although he retired on Dec. 31, 2023, Rich still helps the village when needed.
“My biggest memory in the clerk’s office was having to fight with people over the stupidest amount of money,” she said.
One man raised a stink because his water bill was 25 cents higher than the previous month’s bill. Wanting to end the debate, Struzik pulled a quarter out of her pocket and handed it to the disgruntled resident.
Stuzik will serve out her complete term as trustee until the new board takes over in May.
She has enjoyed meeting with and helping residents.
“Most people in this village are wonderful people. They obey the laws. They do everything they can to be a good citizen.
“We try very hard to make sure the people who live here get everything they can possibly need from the village. Making sure their streets are clean. Whatever. You call the village, we take care of it. That’s why nobody ever runs against us. What are you going to run against?”
Before she worked for the village, Struzik was a buyer for the florist company in the south suburbs. Prior to that, she worked for H&R Block.
“Before that I was a Girl Scout leader, I was (in the) PTA, I was involved in choir, the women’s club at St. Fabian’s Church.
“From the time my kids were little, I’ve always volunteered. Always. You don’t vote against somebody you know you can trust,” she said. “The people trusted us to take care of things and I think we’ve done a good job,” Struzik added.
Asked if she has any regrets, she said she has none: “To me, it’s been a pleasure to serve the village.”
With all this free time on her hands, she and Rich plan to visit family in Seattle later this year, “then take a rental car to Portland, get on a riverboat, go down the Columbia and Snake rivers.” Visiting family in Florida is also on tap.
Struzik grew up in Chicago at 61st Street and Narragansett Avenue and has lived with her family in Bridgeview for decades.
She and Rich celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last year. What is their secret to success?
“Never go to bed mad,” Rich said.
“Work it out before you go to bed,” she added.
“We had plenty of late, late nights,” Rich said.
“But we never went to bed mad,” she added.
Laura Cardenas, who was elected to the Indian Springs School District 109 board in 2021, has been slated to replace Struzik. She is running unopposed.
The election is April 1. Early voting is now underway.
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