Jamie R. Saam: 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: BataviaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Batavia AldermanAge: 27Family: Married to Douglas Saam; three children: Dexter, age 5(stepson), Tucker, age 3 and Maximilian, age 1Occupation: Restaurant ManagerEducation: Waubonsee Community CollegeUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoCivic involvement: Batavia Arts Council; Art In Your Eye Fine Arts Festival, food and hospitality chair; Batavia MainStreet Gala on The Fox chair;Elected offices held: N/AHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Downtown RedevelopmentKey Issue 2 Upholding the standards that the City of Batavia has earned as a great place to raise, grow and establish a family.Key Issue 3 Continuing on a path toward a balanced city budget with all community members as a priority.Questions Answers The ward includes several rental units. People complain about drug dealing and other crime in this ward, and blame it on rental housing. Is that an accurate depiction? Why/why not?I do not believe this is an accurate depiction of the 4th ward or of rental housing. Drug and crime problems can and do happen in both rental and single family homes.Aldermen recently discussed a rental housing inspection program, including licensing, background checks of tenants and interior inspections of units. Do you support that? Why/why not?I would support the rental housing inspection program. Anything that can impove and monitor the condition of housing in Batavia will only help to increase property value to the neighboring homes. Since renting out property is usually used as a source of income, licensing fees would help bring revenue to the city as well.What do you think of letting people raise a limited amount of hen chickens in their yards?I have been in support of allowing chickens to be raised in Batavia since this became an issue. This could hopefully assist in making sustainable living more of a reality. The research that was done with this issue was thorough and positive.What is your opinion of the downtown area and what are your specific ideas for improvement?My family and I spend a lot of time in downtown Batavia. We enjoy the bike paths, the riverwalk area, the restaurants and all of the events. I believe that downtown can only improve. With the economic situation, interested businesses can possibly receive lower rental and construction rates, making it more appealing to move into the area. Specifically, I would like to help attract businesses that would increase pedestrian traffic on both the East and West sides of downtown. In the near future, it would also be nice to see the First Baptist Site developed into revenue producing realestate.Are you satisfied with the growth in the Randall Road corridor? If not, what enhancements do you suggest?I have been a batavia resident for most of my life and have seen Randall Road grown enormously. Of course businesses have closed down, but new have come in to fill most of those holes. It was great to see Dunkin Donuts move into the old Schlotzskys location and Smash Burger open at Fabyen and Randall this past year. Not to mention the other businesses that moved in and are planning on opening in the near future as well.