Ask Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld why he is running for an eighth term and the answer includes a long list of recent economic development accomplishments.
The list includes projects big and small, from the addition of The Hartford, which brought 36 apartments to the downtown area, the Wind Creek Casino, which opened in November 2024, to the relocation of Bergstein’s New York Deli to the former Homewood Florist space.
“Economically, we’ve just had tremendous successes. I want to see that continue,” he said.
The economic development projects help keep village revenues healthy, and Hofeld said he is proud of the fact that Homewood carries very little debt.
“Up until last year, we didn’t have any debt, and I love that,” he said. “Staff talked me into a small bond issue for specific purposes — capital expenditures, a new ambulance, a fire truck.”
In his next term, if he’s re-elected, he has a number of goals and challenges. One big challenge is finding the resources to complete the lead service line replacement project, something the federal government mandated but so far has not provided funding for.
He also hopes to add several police officers and firefighter/paramedics to the staff.
The long-awaited conversion of the Homewood Auditorium to a performing arts center could get started, too. The village has been allocated some state funding to pay for early stages of that project.
“When you bring people in to a performing arts center, hopefully they’ll eat in town. They’ll shop in town, and we’ll get the residual effect for that.”
