Jim Clegg: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: PalatineWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Palatine Council, District 3Age: 63Family: Married to Phyllis for 39 Years, two children, Kelly (30) and Kevin (26)Occupation: Retired Manager of Bussiness Development at Northrop GrummanEducation: Bachelor of Science in Electronics Technology, Southern Illinois University, 1970Master of Science in Business Management, University of Northern Colorado, 1977Civic involvement: Palatine Zoning Board of Appeals. Committee member of the Palatine High School VIP Booster Club for eight years serving as President for two years. Committee member for the American Cancer Society Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Inverness (PRMI) Relay for Life for eight years and Co-Chairman of the event in 2008 2009. Member of the Palatine District 3 Advisory Council for 19 years.Elected offices held: Palatine Councilman, District 3, 2010 - present.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continued reach out to existing and new businesses to further develop Palatine and build a stronger tax base to ensure Palatine remains a viable and desireable place to live and raise a familiy.Key Issue 2 Reach out and be available to the residents within the Village of Palatine District 3 to serve as their represetative and resolve issues that surface within their neighborhoods.Key Issue 3 Reduce costs wherever possible within the Village of Palatine while still maintaining critical services at an acceptable level to meet residents needs.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Over 35 years of business management experience. Past community involvement along with leadership positions. Current experience while serving on the Village Council.Given the delicate balance between the need for revenue and over-taxing local businesses, what is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.I believe that the present Village of Palatine local sales tax is at the proper level. There was a small tax increase this year of 3.99% that covers state mandated fire and police pension increases that he Village has no control over. This increase represents ~ $40 per household per year and only covers what the Village has to pay to the state.Talking with your friends and neighbors, what seems to be their biggest public safety concern? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.The biggest public safety concern is adequate police and fire protection. In tough economic times, many municipalities have forcefully reduced their police and fire staff thus risking response times in critical emergencies. Maintaining adequate staffing requires a close working relationship with police and fire unions allowing for reasonable contract negotiations with aceptable wage concessions to maintain budgets. In addition there must also be sacrifices in other areas within the Village to adequately fund safety services.In these tight economic times, municipal budgets have to be prioritized. Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?We are certainly in a period of tight economic times. In being proactive, the Village of Palatine took some very drastic action by trimming the 2011 budget down by $25.4 Million over the previous 2010 budget. This was done while still maintaining the basic resident saftey requirements for police, fire and public works.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?It is my desire to develop a detailed Long Range Strategic Plan for the Village that lays out a plan for desired improvements with identified resorces and measureable metrics for the next seven years.