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Andrew Frasz: Candidate Profile

Kane County Board District 18 (Republican)

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: ElburnWebsite: http://will not be active until Fall campaign seasonOffice sought: Kane County Board District 18Age: 55Family: Married to Gail for 32 years. Daughter, Laura, 22 Son, Aaron, 19Occupation: Owner of A. E. Frasz, Inc. for 34 years, excavating/construction companyEducation: Associates Degree from College of DuPageCivic involvement: Worked on Rustic Road designation for Brundige Road over a 10 year period. Vice President of La Fox Civic Organization, formed to represent La Fox area on development issues, 2000 to present.Elected offices held: Kane County Board, District 26 representative - April, 2008 to presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 I have several long term initiatives coming to a head including the railroad noise abatement project near La Fox; the Anderson Road bridge project in Elburn; the fire service training center at the Fox Valley Career Center, the reorganization of the Mill Creek SSA administration, and several pending open space acquisitions.I will be fostering these issues to a conclusion.Key Issue 2 I strongly believe that county board members should not take campaign contributions from businesses, developers, professional service providers, and unions that will directly benefit from our votes.Key Issue 3 I believe in minimal, simple, straight forward government and responsible development with the preservation of open space.Questions Answers Do you support a more stringent ethics ordinance for Kane County governing the conduct of elected officials and county employees' Why or why not? If so, what should the ordinance contain?I partnered with County Board District 9 representative, Jim Mitchell on bringing forward the stronger ethics ordinance proposal.This was based on the fairly recent DuPage ordinance.Unfortunately two rounds of review and legal opinions have greatly diminished the original proposal.If the legal opinions are correct, I cannot argue with them.The bottom line is that each board member can set their own ethical standards and let the voters decide if they reflect what they want in their representative.I will maintain the standards I set for myself in the last election and not take campaign contributions from entities doing business with the county.The county's portion of gambling proceeds has been decreasing every year for several years. What is your plan to prioritize use of that money? What might be done to wean the agencies and programs that receive this money off of it?This trend will be continuing and we are already communicating this to both outside agencies and county departments that have benefitted from this funding in the past.River boat funds were never intended to be a perpetual and ongoing funding source.Do you believe the Kane County court system needs a computer system upgrade that might cost as much as $12.6 million? If so, do you support using RTA sales tax money to fund the cost, or do you have a different plan? If not, what is your alternative plan?Yes, the old system is an incomplete patchwork that is over a decade old and would cost $5 million plus to upgrade to the minimum desired level.The $12.6 million cost is an early high end estimate and is likely to be much lower and will be implemented in stages.I would support using the RTA revenue to repay bonds over a set term.Some of the project line items may be funded from cash on hand or other sources as the project is implemented.Do you believe county board members and the chairman should receive health insurance and pension benefits' If you are running for one of those positions, do you plan on accepting those benefits' Why or why not?Chairman - Yes for both pensioin and health care.It is a full time job. Board Members - Yes to health care, no to pensions. The issues with the pension for county board members is that once you sign up at the time of employment, you cannot withdraw from the IMRF retirement plan.I tried to do this.I would be in favor of eliminating this for future board members.That puts the current board members in an awkward position, but it should be done. I do accept the health benefit as part of the compensation for the 20+ hours per week I spend on county business.We have eliminated per diems and mileage payments to county board members recently.How do you resolve the ongoing debate over the county board setting budgets for departments run by other elected officials whom the county board has no control over? How should the county board enforce the budgets it sets'This system is used by all counties in Illinois.The problems arise when there is not a team effort and cooperation between the county electeds and the county board.The county wide electeds should be responsible for budget overruns and the county board should consider special cirumstances and deal with them on a case by case basis.In the end, voters can decide if their elected officials are responsibly managing their departments.