Alderman remembered as guardian of taxpayers

BATAVIA -- Former 1st Ward Alderman John Stolarz was remembered by the mayor this week as "a person who had an extremely independent streak about him."

"John was ... going to speak his mind and represent his ward," Mayor Jeff Schielke said.

Stolarz died Thursday at the age of 97.

Stolarz served on the City Council from 1983 to 1990.

Schielke paid tribute to Stolarz at this week's City Council meeting.

He said the former alderman initially came to the City Council with some level of suspicion about city government but became a "team player" and specifically was very active in the city services portion of local government.

"He was the one who guarded the taxpayers' dollars to the utmost," Schielke said.

The mayor said Stolarz became a strong proponent for enhancing the city's street and sidewalk improvement program. "He certainly was one of the key figures that started the idea that we needed to start building more sidewalks and putting up streetlights in town," Schielke said.

Schielke said in the First Ward, development had been done without sidewalks and the city had to go back and retrofit the streets with sidewalks.

"A lot of those improvements are a result of the hard work, credit and tenacity of John Stolarz and his service to the citizens of Batavia," Schielke said.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Moss Family Funeral Home in Batavia.