Chicago Tribune Questionnaire ~ McHenry County Board Candidates ~ March 19 2002 Primary Election

1.) Has the county reached the point where it needs to put any controls on the amount of commercial development occurring in towns like Lake in the Hills and Algonquin?

By law, we have no authority to control development in a municipality. But the fact of the matter is, we have the ability to encourage development by providing low cost loans, a SSA (Special Service Area), and by withholding dense residential and commercial zoning in areas where it is demanded outside the municipality, encouraging developers to ask for annexation to a municipality.

Our only hope of controlling development is to arbitrate boundary agreements between municipalities. This requires the confidence and trust of the mayors and the boards of the municipalities. Our recent decision to arbitrarily withdraw from the Rakow Road agreement, our decision to sell the Highway Department and Fairground property (open space park), and sue the City of Woodstock did not strengthen the county’s ties or encourage their trust. I am on record on opposing these actions. We must work rapidly to regain their trust and rebuild the lines of communication.

2.) Traffic congestion has worsened significantly in a short amount of time in McHenry County. What, if anything, should the county be doing to improve traffic flow?

McHenry County is experiencing explosive growth. Many people are commuting outside the county. The traffic could be lessened appreciably if we had a good public transportation system. The people are presently paying for this transportation, by tax. We are not getting our fair share of taxes returned, and are subsidizing the RTA for their operations in other counties. PACE is currently suing the RTA to recover a fair share of our revenues. Bus routes that connect to the train could significantly decrease drive times and pollution. But this would happen only if they ran a usable scheduled service, which at this point does not occur. McHenry County needs to be proactive in implementing a public transportation system all citizens of McHenry County can rely on.

When a municipality expands and property is annexed, the county loses 1% of sales tax dollars, a portion of the motor fuel tax, and responsibility for the roads. These tax dollars go to the municipalities for improvements and roads.

The municipalities that are annexing land and encouraging commercial development are not always able to foresee the problems that are inherent with this growth. This is where the trust (as in question #1) between the county and the municipality can work to our advantage - if we work together . Any new development should be designed to accommodate the high flow of traffic.

3.) Do you feel the county has reached a sound balance between preserving open space and allowing development? If not, please explain, and then discuss what should be done about that.

In some townships, such as Richmond Township, I believe the balance towards open space has been achieved. But in the county as a whole, I believe we still have work to do. I helped protect land near Greenwood from development because according to the 2010 plan it was zoned agriculture. Preserving open space must continue in an orderly manner by the McHenry County Conservation District and by developer donations of open space.

4.) Is there any way that you, as a county board member, could or should address overcrowding in schools?

Yes, but our options are limited. We should address overcrowding by making consideration of schools a more prominent part of the rezoning process, and in the future consideration of uniform impact fees.

5.) If you are elected to the county board, what three specific actions would you most like to accomplish during your tenure?

a.) Upon re-election I will continue to be a watchdog for taxes. During my first term I was able to identify and save hundreds of thousands of dollars of budget excesses in the Highway Department Administration Building Project alone. With our hard working people in this poor economy, I will do everything possible to keep taxes from rising at a uncontrollable rate.

b.) I will continue protecting the homeowner from footing the bill for the developer. Good developers are happy to pay their own way. We must help them do it… proper roads, schools and infrastructure must be in place when the residents occupy the development.

c.) I will continue cutting bureaucracy so that the people can get the services without the intrusion. As a member of the Management Services Committee, I worked to streamline the departments, and to place people in positions where they could do the most good for the taxpayer. I strongly believe in the rights of the individual. I worked to defeat a concept that the state initiated that would have charged people a tax for the water from their own well.