The Tribune asked candidates in contested races for Lake County Board five questions about issues facing county government.
This week the Tribune is running responses from those candidates. The following answers are from candidates in District 21. For a full list of answers from candidates in districts 4, 6, 11, 13, and 15, click here.
What is the biggest issue facing Lake County residents, and how would you address it as a County Board member?
Arlene Hickory (Democrat): Lake County has a balanced budget. This was done by eliminating 113 positions, largely by vacancies (from Lake County Website). It is known that economic contraction in the long run will not sustain well-being. At the same time we know foreclosures continue to plague the economy and efforts to support mortgage refinancing and principle write down has been blocked by agencies one would expect would bring relief to the people and communities struggling to survive.
As people experience a seemingly indifferent government it becomes more important that local government stays close to and responsive to the needs of its citizens and the struggle of college students carrying enormous debt facing an uncertain future. There are states, cities, towns, that sought to resolve their budget crises by privatizing their public resources. As they sold off their water systems management, they later found themselves confronted with a decrease in services, increased cost with neglected infrastructure and suffering residents.
Because of the sand mining corporations operating in Wisconsin, Minnesota and possibly Southern Illinois, there is a threat of land loss, degraded water quality, loss of tax revenue and decline in community life.
Paying attention to housing and energy needs will be critical and can be an avenue to recovery activities; integrating transportation resources, reducing automobile commutes, energy conservation and sustainability initiatives are going to be the areas of job development. This speaks to a crucial need for ongoing participative citizen/government collaboration.
I would promote the use of new cloud-based internet technology to enhance this collaboration. I would bring attention to new economic models, some aspects of which are happening in Lake County now. There is an increase in the number of small farms in Lake County because of the increased demand for organic products as well as the incentive from the buying local movement. I would promote the concept of a County Public Bank. Illinois joins 18 other states by introducing HB 2064 to establish a public state bank. The Public Banking Institute encourages public banking at all levels: local, regional, state and National. A public bank is owned by the people. It could be available for lower income people who cannot afford banking fees, it would be a ready source of affordable credit for local government, it can serve local initiatives, it is constitutional and has additional advantages.
In the next ten years we could be facing tragedy, or with mindful planning we could introduce a deepening of Democracy-Community-Dignity-Humanity.
Ann B. Maine (Republican): High property taxes are the biggest issue facing Lake County. Voters in my district want their government to be fiscally responsible, and specifically, for those of us in public service to remember that government money belongs to the taxpayers. Government MUST live within its means, just like every household must do. We simply cannot spend money we do not have and expect to increase taxes to cover the difference. That means we must prioritize expenditures and put County funds toward areas that are required by law and have the greatest impact on residents’ lives.
At the County and the Forest Preserve we are always evaluating the effectiveness, necessity and cost of our programs as we look for ways to save taxpayer money and keep expenses low, while maintaining public safety and funding mandatory programs.
Specifically, we have cut the number of County employees by 10 percent, saving $50 million in employee salaries since 2009. We evaluate the need for programs and departments continually. With the downturn in the economy, the Planning, Building and Zoning Department staff was reduced by 1/3. We reorganized that and other departments with more appropriate levels of staffing to better use resources. Retrofitting and remodeling of buildings has saved millions of dollars over the past few years.
The Forest Preserve has cut the tax levy by 12 percent in the past 4 years.
Since 90 percent of the typical tax bill is not controlled by the County, the best way of countering high taxes is to promote sustainable economic growth.
While County government has a more limited role in these issues, we still assist in important ways. First, we work with the public-private partnership of Lake County Partners to promote and actively seek new businesses in Lake County, while also providing assistance for current businesses of all sizes. Secondly, in the past decade we have invested over $200 million in the infrastructure of Lake County through our water, sewer and road programs. This includes not only important road improvement projects, but also programs such as PASSAGE, which gives real time traffic information to commuters. Sitting in traffic costs individuals as well as businesses time and money.
Protection of our natural resources is not only good for the environment, it is good for the economy. Businesses and workers are attracted to areas that value and protect our environment. Lake County has a number of task forces (of which I co-chaired one) that are examining steps to safeguard a safe, clean, sustainable water supply. This important resource is vital for the health and well being of the county. A number of studies project that the Chicago region will have a severe water shortage in 20 years. By tackling the problem now, we can ensure residents and businesses that Lake County is a place to call home.
Finally and importantly we provide a fiscally responsible County government with a AAA bond rating. All these factors help create an environment to retain businesses and to attract new companies that will bring new jobs to our County.
Lake County and the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency are to conduct a land-use study for a proposed extension of Highway 53. Do you support the extension? What issues should the study take into consideration?
Arlene Hickory (Democrat): The Lake County Improvement Project was completed in 2001, it included consideration of the extension of Route 53. There are multiple concerns regarding impact to natural resources, possible advancement of development sprawl and lack of funding options. Pressure for better North-South transportation access has created renewed interest by the Illinois Tollway. Some see this as an opportunity for increasing job market. The environmental issues are significant. Wetland conservation and preservation is not a small concern and has far reaching impact when overall water sustainability is considered. There are also many smaller environmental impacts.
My concern is a significant knowledge gap — the general population has a wide range of awareness or understanding of ecosystem challenges and a cultural gap exists as divergent views of climate change and the role of Nature in the Human experience shapes belief systems. In order to mitigate negative outcomes, for example, fostering solutions based on short-term goals of access to jobs vs. developing long range goals based on stewardship of the land; valuing land as an essential commons like air or water. This divergence needs to be addressed.
My advocacy for increased citizen/government collaboration through advanced Internet technologies is about fostering the kind of social interactions that can reduce knowledge deficit, and expand social inter-connectedness. While this may seem an elusive objective, any tangible effort will be helpful.
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In any effort to protect, restore, or advance environmental issues, the social ecology is equally important. Note this excerpt from Preister and Kent (Center for Social Ecology and Public Policy: JKG Group): “The central thesis put forth in this paper is that successful restoration depends on cultural restoration. Success in ecosystem restoration will depend on the good will, stewardship and participation of citizens”. My contention is that successful preservation will also require the same cultural elements. Few projects in the next decade can afford to exclude a full participation of its citizens. Increasingly, physical change and social change will be co-determinant.
Ann B. Maine (Republican): I support the decision of the Blue Ribbon Commission to design a road that will balance the travel needs of people, goods and services, with the environmentally sensitive areas. Specifically there are a number of sensitive wetlands in the area that need protection. Our aquifers are very important. The sodium levels in the groundwater is already rising and we must ensure that the road design and maintenance do not add to the salt levels. Typically roads change the adjacent land use to one that is more intensive and commercial. This needs to be examined carefully to ensure that existing neighborhoods have proper buffering and are not isolated. In addition, the impact on local roads due to any rezoning needs to be minimized. Finally, it is crucial that this road incorporate and make connections to non-motorized travel and multimodal transit.
Motorola Mobility’s announcement this summer it would leave Lake County for Chicago and lay off employees in the process came as a surprise to many people in the county, including elected officials. As a County Board member, what would you propose county do to retain employers like Motorola Mobility and also attract new jobs?
Arlene Hickory (Democrat): Motorola Mobile leaving Lake County should not have been a surprise. Pam Martens (editor of Wall Street Journal on Parade) documented back in 2009, “corporate buy-out of America” listing the sale of “parking meters, zoos, toll roads and drinking water” precipitated by reduction in state and local tax revenue. This trend has gone national and is surging in privatization of prisons, education, nothing is secure from commodification. It is astounding that this is an area of silence in political debate. This is one of the main points in my platform: to resist privatization and deregulation which is often the wedge to opening areas to takeover.
Holding a local government hostage to a promise of job development, extracting favorable taxation or financial arrangements is a variation on the privatization scheme which promises to provide essential services and reduce costs only to obey the bottom line, extract value, neglect infrastructure and raise costs. The answer is to resist the siren call of corporations and focus on job potential locally. This is where an agenda for energy conservation and sustainability programs becomes important, these are going to be the areas of job development.
The College of Lake County has curricula developed in these areas. The demand isn’t there because the full social ecology – remedy of knowledge deficit and development of social awareness of emerging new economies is missing. Gar Alperovitz, author of Beyond Capitalism and Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution, two of many social activists, speak to what is going to be needed in the next decade: a resistance to corporate interests and expansion of social action. The nature of work/jobs are going through a transformation. New economies are emerging requiring social interconnectedness and healing of our fragmented social ecology. This doesn’t mean corporations are ignored, it means bringing balance between strong local economy and imported ventures.
Ann B. Maine (Republican): I do not believe in economic enticements for individual companies for a number of reasons. I do not think government has the ability to decide which companies will be most successful. One needs to look at the Sears move to Hoffman Estates and recall the $36 million tax credit given to Motorola in 1994 for a Harvard, Illinois cell phone campus, to know that these actions are often short term at best and in some instances end up costing tax payers.
Importantly, these enticements put existing businesses at a disadvantage. The result of this is that those businesses then come and request economic breaks, often leading to local municipalities competing for the businesses. Regional growth is not advanced in these types of situations.
Lake County is in a difficult situation; we cannot control the state corporate tax burden which is a deciding factor for many businesses. As I described in an earlier question (#1) by providing a stably financial government and investing in infrastructure the County can provide a solid base for both existing businesses as well as prospective businesses. In addition, it is crucial that elected officials be accessible to all individuals and businesses in order to meet and discuss and understand issues and barriers to investing in the Lake County. A strong support of Lake County Partners is critical for economic success.
The Lake County Assessor’s Office has indicated that even though property assessment valuations are generally lower this year, property taxes aren’t likely to decline for residents. As a County Board member, how would you respond to residents frustrated that they aren’t seeing property tax relief even in difficult economic times?
Arlene Hickory (Democrat): Which has higher standing? Sympathy for those with financial resources or compassion for the poor/newly poor. Going by which topic has dominated the political debate it seems that those fortunate enough to pay taxes qualify for attention and sympathy and the poor paying their taxes while struggling to survive on minimum wage unadjusted for inflation are ignored. To redirect this attention would immediately reveal a social ecology drastically misaligned in distribution of resources and rights – see the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to verify the loss of rights: Article 23,24,25,26. None of which is open to discussion because this part of our social ecology is not accessible. So, how would I respond to residents? I am a resident. Was I “frustrated” by increase in taxes? Sure. I hated thinking about purchases or plans I would have to put off or give up. Following this was a period of self reflection that encompassed a larger social reality. We have limited recourse in our public domain for social reflective mechanisms that would develop and strengthen empathic structures in our social ecology. Developing social solutions to social problems will require something that goes beyond 1%, 99% or 47%. The question is, are people ready to address this.
Ann B. Maine (Republican): As a county board member I have communicated with residents about how to check their assessment and how to appeal it. In addition, I encourage people to contact all the taxing bodies listed on their tax bill and ask for accountability. The Forest Preserve has decreased its tax levy by 12% over the past 4 years. At the county we have made a number of changes to decrease our expenses, including decreasing the work force, no salary increases for non-union employees for a number of years. All taxing bodies need to do the same.
The Lake County Board recently approved a “planned unit development” concept for a shopping center in Ela Township on a property owned by the Dimucci family. Even with tighter controls on the site, neighbors still objected to the potential size and scope of the project. Did the board make the right decision, and if a developer makes a specific proposal for the site, what should be considered in the county’s review?
Arlene Hickory (Democrat): The issue of the shopping center in Ela township is related to the social ecological issues regarding Highway 53, from another aspect. The aspect of property rights vs. the issue of land as a commons or a commodity deepens the search into value conflict of competing social needs: profit, aesthetics,land value manipulation, etc. This additional example confirms the need for management of change with full citizen participation through interactive, collaborative methodologies.
Ann B. Maine (Republican): Yes, I believe the County Board did make the right decision. It is important to keep in mind that the neighboring villages had shown the site as commercial in their long range plans. In addition, there is the singular condition that the County will share sales tax with the 2 communities, Hawthorne Woods and North Barrington. This rezoning is also unusual in that the rezoning can not occur until the time a detailed plan that meets the criteria set forth in over 80 pages of documents is brought forward. One of the conditions is that only 50 of the 103 acre site will be built on. At the time a plan is presented it will be before the Lake County Planning, Building and Zoning Committee, which will offer residents an opportunity to comment on the plan.
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