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Terry Wilke: Candidate Profile

Lake County board District 16 (Democrat)

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: Round Lake BeachWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lake County board District 16Age: 47Family: Single, 14 nieces nephewsOccupation: Self employedEducation: NJATC journeymen certificate, Pilots License, Currently attending University of Illinois working on my Ph.D in EconomicsCivic involvement: College of Lake County, Habit for Humanity, Christmas in April, Pima College, National Joint Apprenticeship Training, Avon Township Pilots clubElected offices held: County BoardHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Lake County's standard of livingKey Issue 2 Lake County's manufacturing baseKey Issue 3 Lake County's tax rateQuestions Answers The county remains in the black, but property taxes across the region are high. Should programs be cut to save taxpayers money? If so, which ones and why?I feel that the largest costs in any organization are personnel. However not all personnel costs are equal and while one could argue the sliding scale differential between productive and non-productive employees, I feel certain that no one would argue that an excess of management and supervisory positions would hurt the bottom line value wise. While businesses are pushed toward efficient operation by the market there is no such invisible hand for government and so we often see a friends and family atmosphere in upper level positions. Lake County is no exception and this is where I see the greatest degree of waste. The county simply has become so top heavy that to get the garbage taken out we hire a contractor, to get a sidewalk swept we need to hire a contractor, we employ some 2700 individuals and far to many have chairs and far to few have work gloves.What should be done with the Fort Sheridan golf course? If no building or management proposals come back from vendors, do you propose abandoning golf? If so, are you concerned about a lawsuit? If you propose building a course, how should it be funded?I would not support a golf course at Fort Sheridan on county property, further I would not support a golf course on county property anywhere else until such time as the course could be profitable and financially stand on it's own with reasonable assurance that it could continue to do so into the foreseeable future.The Winchester House nursing home recently was turned over to a private company for operation. Should other county or forest district departments be privatized to save taxpayers money? Please explain.I do not support privatization when it lowers the standard of living or when it costs more or when the level of service drops to the point that there is less value per dollar. Having said that there are certain areas of the county operation that I believe could benefit from privatization such as professional services and administration along with some management operations. There is little differential between private and public sector labor jobs but there is a great deal of savings potential between public and private management. Private sector managers often have greater responsibilities, more employees, less benefits and do all this for much lower pay while being much more responsive to the boss, which in this case is the tax payer.Is there a specific type of service or amenity that is lacking in your district? If so, how do you propose to provide and fund that?Of all the things that the Round Lake area has been short changed on I think road dollars might be the most egregious. being at nearly the center of the county and having to deal twice a day with not only Lake County's traffic but also a substantial amount of both McHenry county's and Kenosha county's as well. The Round Lake area needs Cedar Lake Rd. improvements, also Fairfield Rd., Rt. 134, Rt. 83 and Rt. 120. These improvements could be paid for with the 1/4 cent sales tax and if anyone needs proof that there is an economic boost to the area by improving roads we would just point them to the Rollins Rd. corridor.Should the county continue to pursue open space policies' Why or why not?I think the county should keep an open mind to the idea that property may never again be this affordable. However I did not support the last referendum because I believed the economic crisis would be worse than expected and I would not support another referendum until economic conditions improve and retain those improvements for a substantial period of time, perhaps twelve to sixteen quarters.