Joseph K. Ptak: 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: Island LakeWebsite: http://www.rightparty1.com/Office sought: Island Lake Village boardAge: 58Family: Happily married with one teenage daughter at Wauconda High School.Occupation: Owner of small contracting firm, specializing in commercial tile flooring projects, utitilizing union tradesmen.Education: Graduated from Lane Tech H.S., attended Wright Jr, College and Southern Illinois University.Civic involvement: Past President of Chicago Hispanos Jaycees.Served in USAFR ten years (ret. staff sergeant)Roselle Methodist Church Trustee.Member of Island Lake Chamber of Commerce.Director on Westridge Homeowners Association.VOIL Community activist.Member Wauconda Township Republican Club.Republican Party precinct captain.Elected offices held: None.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NO!Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Dramatically reign in our legal cost expenditures.Key Issue 2 Bring civility and productivity to Board meetings.Key Issue 3 Remind everyone that we are neighbors and that we need each other to help move our town, and region, forward, towards a more prosperous future...for ourselves and our children.Questions Answers Village board meetings are contentious and often filled with anger. If elected, what will you do to ensure the board operates professionally?Do your homework and be prepared to discuss agenda items in detail. Do not make points of disagreement personal. Focus on the real problems and continually seek intelligent solutions. Always keep planning ahead.What do you think the village should do to improve government transparency?Develop an effective Village Web Site! Keep topics of interest current on web site. Have prompt postings of scheduled meeting agendas and meeting notes. Seek public input on items and issues of concern to residents/businesses.What can the village do to fill vacant storefronts and attract new business and development?Improve the image of our town in the media. Address any concerns by the VOIL Chamber of Commerce and solicit their help and cooperation with any future planned projects. Work with developers to help them sell homes in our new sub-divisions.Name one area of the village you#146;d improve, and how would you accomplish that task? If the project requires funding, explain the source.Install urgently needed sidewalk and street crossing light(s) to Converse Park. Eliminate building of paved parking lot, obtain monies owed to Village for sidewalk from large local business, have fundraisers, get charitable contributions, loans, and apply for grant monies available for sidewalks. Converse Park is the jewel of Island Lake and mostly volunteers built it. These safety upgrades will be part of overall effort to help developers sell homes.What suggestions do you have for increasing revenue and/or decreasing expenses?Decreasing expenses is most critical and we must learn to live within our means. Obtaining competitive bids and doing work in house would be main immediate objective. Focusing on increasing revenues is counter-productive and a continuous source of conflict. Focusing on what we can do to bring prosperity to the entire region is far more productive. One of the best ways to gain revenue is to plan large money producing community events that coincide with events in Chicago. Most importantly, we need to do whatever we can to extend Rt. 53 all the way from Lake Cook Rd. to Wisconsin now!