Trustee Tiffany Robinson aims to bring resources to Robbins (Robbins, IL) — Village of Robbins Trustee Tiffany Robinson, who has been on the board since April, said her time in office has seen her trying to bring needed resources to the village.

“The village is lacking in many areas and so I think networking, getting out, introducing myself to people so they’ll know that Robbins is actually in the building, so to speak, has been one of my biggest accomplishments,” said Robinson, noting the importance of building relationships with politicians and local officials in other municipalities.

“We have to get out there and let people know what our needs are,” she continued. “People want to come to Robbins but I think they need to know why they should come.”

That’s why the village is looking at bringing some kind of grocery store to the area, she said. The idea is for it to be both “unique to our community and also the communities surrounding us because maybe they don’t have it there,” she said. To that end, she hopes the board can move toward developing a comprehensive economic development plan and setting up an Economic Development Corporation office in the village.

“To me as a trustee, it’s about connecting with other people who can show me what I can possibly do because every municipality is different,” she said. “What works for us may not work for someone else so I’m very interested in learning how to figure out what will work well for us.”

The village also needs financial resources that’ll come as a result of more commercial development, she said. One step toward this is improving a flood zone that’s inside of a village commercial district. The village can’t welcome businesses in that area until the issue is addressed, she said. However she pointed to a Metropolitan Water Reclamation Department project that will help fund those improvements.

It can be challenging trying to juggle her village responsibilities as a mom and a Chicago Public Schools teacher, but she said she draws from her teaching experience to inform her role as a public official.

She’s also had to develop openness, patience and adaptability as both a teacher and a trustee, she said.

“As as teacher, I’m an operative of change, so I can change any day literally; I might’ve taught one way yesterday but today, based on going back to the drawing board and seeing what I did wrong or when something isn’t going over well, I reflect and look at myself to see what I can do to retweak it,” she added.

Additionally, she’s learned the importance of data and research.

“With data you have to do research,” she said. “Research actually gives you the facts. Sometimes people are operating off of what they think but we definitely need concrete data. Being a teacher certainly affects me as an elected official because I think about things in a plethora of ways.”

Some of the things she’s looking forward to working on is resolving the police and fire contracts, stimulating economic growth in the community with new housing developments and helping people become more financially literate, providing classes.

“It’s really just catering to the whole citizen because people need to know the kind of power they actually have if we get ourselves together,” she said.

Trustee Tiffany Robinson aims to bring resources to Robbins

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