Republican John Harmon wants your vote for mayor of Rockford saying he plans to straighten up the city's money problem.

"First thing I'm going to do is try to straiten up the money problem, second thing is to try and straiten up the crime problem, then we're going to fix the streets, the alleys and the sidewalks." says Harmon.

The mayor's job can cover many different areas but republican mayoral candidate John Harmon says he wants to narrow the focus to three areas that he thinks need the most work: the city's budget, crime, and infrastructure. Harmon says the city needs to stop spending every dollar it takes in and instead save some money.

"We only have a few things the state says we have to do: fire, police and public works. Until we get into better shape moneywise that's what we're going to do for the next four years." he adds.

Harmon says he was a member of the public safety committee and he has looked into the crime problem extensively. He says Rockford should communicate with court services and the state's attorney and study what other cities have done to fight crime. He believes the city is spending too much money on truancy programs.

"It may very well be the criminal kid who doesn't go to school rather than the kid who doesn't go to school is the criminal kid. We need to figure out which one is the cart and which one is the horse." says Harmon.

In addition to fixing the city's infrastructure Harmon would like to establish clear and evenly enforced zoning laws to make Rockford attractive to new businesses. He also says we should contact every company in the country looking to expand and sell our city, claiming that the creation of new jobs is the best way to fight unemployment.

Harmon says he would like to combine the Rockford Area Economic Development Council with the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to save money because he says their jobs are the same, to sell the community.

We recently interviewed the democratic candidate Doug Block as well as independent incumbent Larry Morrisey. We contacted the Illinois green party in an effort to speak with its candidate Jesus Correa, but they haven't returned our calls.