Kankakee Times

First-time Bourbonnais Village trustee candidate Chris Deschand always wanted to serve his community through public office, but finding the time to do so was challenging.

“My kids are 15 and 12, so they are in the Bourbonnais School District,” Deschand told Kankakee Times. “I thought about (getting on) the school board, but I didn’t have the time due to work.”

Despite his hectic schedule, Deschand, a physical therapy assistant, still found the time to be involved in the community.  

“I’ve actually been on the Bourbonnais Village Park Advisory Committee for probably 10 years now,” he said.

The committee is responsible for advising trustees on park conditions and other issues like what equipment is needed.

In addition, Deschand has been on the board for the Dynamos Soccer Association, a local recreation soccer league, for the past 10 years.

“I got on the boards so I could help make whatever I could better,” he said.

So when another opportunity to run for public office came up, Deschand decided to take it.

“Jeff (Keast) brought up the position for trustee to me again this year, and with my change of hours, I now have time to put in towards the trustee position and just help make the Village of Bourbonnais better,” Deschand said. “That’s why I’m running.”

Deschand and Keast, along with Mike Zenz and Brad Arthur, are all on the Republican ticket this spring in Bourbonnais and are running as a team under the campaign “Bring Back Bourbonnais.”

Being a newcomer to politics, Deschand believes he can offer fresh ideas to the administration.

“I hope to bring a fresh perspective to the village board,” he said. “(Offering) new ideas and trying to think outside of the box a little bit is something I want to do to help make the village grow.”

Reducing taxes and government waste are high priorities for Deschand and the team.

“Taxes and government waste are always a concern of the residents of every village, city and municipality,” Deschand said. “So I’m hoping to take a look at what’s going on in relation to taxes and government spending.”

Another goal of the team is to attracting more businesses to the village.

“We’ve started building a new interchange off the interstate just north of the village, and we’re hoping to bring more industry whether it be more restaurants, businesses or factories… to bring more jobs, increase (the tax base) and help the community grow,” Deschand said.

Deschand, who has lived in Bourbonnais for 15 years and in Kankakee County most of his life, said the campaign is going well.

“It’s all new to me, so right now I’m just getting into what I need to do for campaigning. But so far so good,” he said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and (they) have a pretty good response to me running for trustee.”

Prior to becoming a physical therapy assistant, Deschand was a police officer for three years but decided to switch careers to spend more time with his family.

“My father was a police officer and just the schedule and the time away from home, I didn’t want to put my kids through that so I got out of the police department,” he said.

More information on the “Bring Back Bourbonnais” campaign can be found on the team’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RebootBourbonnais/.