Lakia Colquitt — CEO of the From the Roof Down Organization — recently announced the organization’s 2023 Mayor of the Year Award to Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant.
On Dec. 28, the award was presented to Mayor Bryant during the From the Roof Down Organization’s 2023 Community Service Awards Gala at the Hidden Manor Restaurant in Matteson, Illinois.
“What Mayor Bryant has exhibited as a first-term Mayor is simply amazing. He lured $40 million of development to a town that had no significant new development in over five decades. The 20-plus million-dollar MWRD project that was launched under his leadership has ignited enthusiasm and restored the Robbins’ pride in which residents there have been known,” says Ms. Colquitt.
Mayor Bryant was elected in May of 2021. Since being sworn in as Mayor he resolved the inherited unresolved police contract in Robbins by not only raising the rate of pay to record-setting levels, but also provided state-of-the-art resources in which the rank and file lacked for decades. This includes body cameras and bulletproof vests.
In addition, the Mayor has advocated heavily for an improved water flow system that has challenged Robbins for over three decades. Through his relentless lobbying efforts in Springfield, Robbins has now secured an additional $20 million of necessary funding, including $4 million, to repair the popular water tower and pumping station.
In addition, Bryant has the Village out to bid to develop a $3 million commercial complex to revitalize downtown Robbins—the first commercial development in over 20 years. The remaining 13 million includes capital improvements to infrastructure and buildings across the Village.
“I am grateful, honored, and blessed to be recognized in this fashion. However, our Village Board of Trustees are well deserving of recognition for the many improvements within our community. I could have never achieved this much success with a strong and vibrant village board. Moreover, we collectively have benefitted from the enormous support we have received from our residents. The Robbins Pride is back and more energized than ever. “says Mayor Bryant.
The Mayor is also being lauded for many of the changes within the government that have advanced the town into the 21st century through remarkable additions in technology. The five-thousand-resident community is now experiencing expedited services and shorter wait lines within the Village Hall.
Not only are residents are seeing change within Village Hall, but outside within the community as well. A town that once had over 160 distressed properties has shrunk that number to 100 through the self-initiated demolition efforts led by Bryant’s Public Works crew.
Mayor Bryant concludes, “There is so much more work to do. But I am primed, energized, and prepared to complete our mission of a more efficient, effective, and engaging Robbins.”
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