A Vision for Normal

Public services such as maintaining roads, regularly picking up garbage/recycling/bulk waste, providing clean water, clearing snow and ice, and keeping our community safe with fire and police protection are Chris’s top priority day-to-day.

As mayor, Chris’s responsibility is to safeguard these essential services.

Our community cannot enjoy new developments and improvements unless essential services are both provided and funded.

Normal is a town with strong and conservative financial discipline. It is why the Town holds the highest credit rating available to a municipality of our size. One of the main drivers behind earning that credit rating is the stability of leadership and the ability of a united town council to make tough decisions. Normal would not have earned this credit rating without Chris Koos behind the wheel as mayor.

We have long known our community is a Midwest oasis, but people all around the country are beginning to discover what we have known all along: Normal, Illinois is anything but average.

Our town offers an exceptionally high quality of life, strong educational options from elementary school through college, and access to transportation through several interstates and eight trains a day at our Amtrak station. These community attributes attract new residents and new businesses, and it is Chris’s continued goal to capitalize on these assets to continue growing and developing our town.

Normal is in a prime position to drive economic growth by attracting new businesses, fostering innovation, and strengthening our local workforce. Strategic investments in infrastructure, workforce development, and pro-business policies have already laid the foundation for long-term success. By encouraging diverse industries—ranging from electric vehicle manufacturing and healthcare, to agriculture business and collaborative education—we can create high-quality jobs and generate new opportunities for residents. Economic expansion doesn’t just benefit businesses; it strengthens our community by increasing tax revenue, improving public services, and reducing the financial burden on everyday taxpayers. With smart leadership and a commitment to sustainable growth, Normal can continue to be a hub of opportunity and prosperity.

Normal is the envy of the Midwest because of successes like the redevelopment of Uptown, investments of businesses like Rivian, reliable transportation, a strong partnership with Illinois State University, and so much more. We still have work to do, and Chris knows our community can achieve more progress as we look ahead.

Our community has grown a lot over the years, thanks to a booming local economy and explosive industry growth that’s created thousands of jobs in a very short time. Unfortunately, that success is accompanied by significant challenges.

One of the biggest challenges facing our community is the lack of not only affordable housing, but housing overall. Members of our community and newcomers alike are struggling to find places to live in the town they work and play.

The Town of Normal needs strong, proactive leadership to work with community and state partners to ensure we have a plan to address the housing crisis. I’m concerned that my opponents lack the experience and understanding of the financial and infrastructure challenges necessary to develop effective housing strategies. Our community needs informed leadership that can navigate these complex issues and deliver real solutions—not just rhetoric.

Our responsibility as a unit of local government is to make sure our zoning laws and regulations are up-to date and do not stand in the way of development or growth. By investing in infrastructure, creating incentives for affordable housing, and working with developers to increase the amount of homes and diversity of housing types available, we can create a future where everyone has access to a place they can afford to call home.

This isn’t just about keeping up with growth—it’s about making sure our community remains welcoming, vibrant, and livable for all Normalites. With the right leadership, we can tackle this challenge head-on and build a stronger, more sustainable Normal for generations to come.

Community-wide sustainability is a vision of Normal as a community that stewards all resources responsibly so our town will continue to thrive and grow for generations.

Sustainably goes way beyond “green” initiatives.

During his tenure as mayor, Chris has taken steps to ensure Normal is headed down the right path toward sustainability. Under his supervision, Normal participated in the Smart Cities Initiative. Our town became the first in the Midwest to get a Tesla charging station. Through his support of and the town’s partnership with Rivian, he strongly encourages the production and use of electric vehicles. In fact, Chris drives an electric vehicle daily in an effort to decrease his own carbon footprint!

As mayor, Chris works alongside the Town of Normal Sustainability Task Force and a diverse group of community stakeholders to champion the strategies necessary to promote and foster a healthy future for residents. Their work is not to be achieved individually, but to be embraced collectively as an investment in our future. And our future depends upon community-wide sustainability.

Transparency among elected officials is something Chris takes very seriously. Chris decided decades ago, when he began his career as a public servant, he would make himself available to residents as much as possible.

Chris prioritizes responding to emails, missed calls, and mail as a key part of his day-to-day duties. He intentionally sets aside time on sunny afternoons to walk around Uptown near his office to engage with the citizens of Normal. Chris knows being mayor in a town as close-knit as Normal means building close relationships with the people of Normal.