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Politics & Government

Election 2011 Candidate Profile: Vanessa Bell-LaSota for 3rd Ward Alderman

Bell-LaSota says her commitment to community service qualifies her for the position.

Name: Vanessa A. Bell-LaSota

Position sought: Alderman, 3rd Ward, St. Charles

Campaign contact information


Age: 55

Family: Husband Leon LaSota, age 60; daughter Leigh LaSota, age 20.

Education: Bachelor of science degree in art education K-12 from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb,IL; coursework at American Academy of Art in  Chicago.

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Occupation: Sales, leadership and training with Mary Kay, Inc., 25 years; served as an art teacher and developed art programs for children and senior citizens; Freelance artist and graphic design and marketing professional; community activist and secretary, Near West Neighborhood Association.

Political party affiliation, if any: Conservative Republican

Applicable experience qualifying you for the position: My longstanding record of community service and involvement in specific ward issues gives me a base of knowledge, experience, and familiarity, that equip me to work on issues that come before City Council and I know how to organize diverse groups of people toward a common goal.

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I have a track record of working within groups to accomplish big tasks, like the St. Charles East High School P-ARTS Variety Show, Student Mosaic Projects, and the St Charles Fine Art Show. I initiated a fundraising event with the Chicago Sky WNBA team, which led to my creating an event with the Kane County Cougars, called "Play It Pink," raising funds for cancer research.

For the past 2.5 years, I helped to bring residents of the 3rd Ward into the Near West Neighborhood Association, begun by Kim Malay in the 5th Ward. This coalition arose and solidified during the stages of the Shodeen Towne Centre proposal, and succeeded in defeating that proposal.

I have also revived the Neighborhood Watch in the 3rd and 5th wards. If elected, I can encourage the aldermen of all our wards to organize their Neighborhood Watches, for the good of all of St. Charles. I have initiated a new aspect of the Neighborhood Watch—an Apartment Neighborhood Watch-organizing discreet Watch "neighborhoods" within apartments that currently participate in the Apartment Complex Officer Program through the St. Charles Police Department. This had never been done in St. Charles.

In addition, I am collaborating with the Fox Valley Literacy Volunteers to bring their English mentoring program to the apartments within St Charles. All of this will serve to bring down the walls that create distrust and discomfort between the apartment communities and their surrounding neighborhoods. Our 3rd Ward has the most apartment density of all the wards, this is crucially important to development, and has been neglected, not pursued.

I have met with the Richmond and Davis PTA/PTO's, the police and fire departments, and District 303 superintendent of schools Dr. Schlomann for their views of our ward's profile and needs.  I was able to secure a resident for the Spanish translation of government communications through my own 3rd ward website; this creates greater community engagement for residents in their government and schools.

I have owned two graphic design companies, Bell Associates and Bell Graphics, where we produced signage and advertising for the apartment sector, trade shows, and corporate design for small businesses. I designed banners for  commercial corridors and worked on a residential marketing campaign
for the Wrightwood Community Development Corp. in Chicago.

For the past 25 years I have mentored hundreds of women and men, one-on-one, teaching them skills to build their home-based businesses with Mary Kay, Inc., as a sales director in the top 7 percent of a $2.5 billion company. This demanded "golden rule thinking" that is relevant in any organization. I have travelled and taught groups across the U.S and I have the ability to work closely with individuals in city staff and government.

  • What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

To improve communication between government and my entire 3rd Ward community; to shine a light on the "center-city" core of the ward, re-examining codes and ordinances, and to support forward-thinking development that maintains the quality and character of St. Charles community values, improves revenue, while rethinking the priorities of ongoing projects.

  • What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

My ward. This demands that I advocate on the most impending issue—to stop further action on the construction of Red Gate Bridge . I am not confident of the environmental and neighborhood impact studies, nor our need for the bridge.

  • What sets you apart from the other candidates, if contested?

My residency in the "Center City" segment of the 3rd Ward gives me a daily sense of the needs in the area. My attendance in city meetings over the last three years distinguishes me from my opponents. My activism in specific 3rd Ward issues like the St Charles Mall, Neighborhood Watch, and Red Gate Bridge project, demonstrates my commitment to the entire ward.

  • How long have you lived in St. Charles?

I first lived in St. Charles from 1979 to 1986, then returned with my family in 1997 for a total residency of 21 years, all spent in the 3rd Ward. This gives me the unique opportunity to see the contrast of growth, development, and change within our community over the course of three decades. I believe this gives me a unique vantage point in representing the interests of 3rd Ward residents.

  • What's your favorite thing about St. Charles?

The "small-town" character and strong sense of community. Most recently, the advent of our St. Charles Arts Council, with its mission statement of the arts becoming an "economic engine" for St Charles.

  • What is the biggest problem in St. Charles?

The biggest problems facing the 3rd Ward is the neglect of density issues and housing ordinances, and the lack of progressive marketing of  "center city" neighborhoods; which contrasts what's happening with development in the 5th Ward. The City of St. Charles has a  lack of aggressive and successful marketing to renew vacant retail, commercial, and open air parcels of property; there is a need to revisit and reinvent our current views in positive economic development.

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