Jeffrey Meyer: 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: ElginWebsite: http://www.electjeffmeyer.comOffice sought: Kane County board District 17Age: 30Family: Married to Courtney L. Meyer.Occupation: Attorney, Smith Meyer LLCEducation: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science - Northern Illinois University College of Liberal Arts Sciences, 2003. Juris Doctor, Cum Laude - Northern Illinois University College of Law, 2007.Civic involvement: DeKalb County Bar Association, Member. Kane County Bar Association, Member. Illinois State Bar Association, Member. Elgin Township Republican Central Committee, Committeeman. Elgin OCTAVE, Board Member. CASA - DeKalb County, Volunteer Attorney.Elected offices held: Republican Precinct Committeeman, Elgin Township Precinct 29.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Providing Property Tax Relief and Increasing Fiscal Responsibility: It is imperative that the County Board adapt to the realities facing our community. Many Kane County residents are out of work; their property values are declining; many residents are making less; and, everyone has had to tighten their belt. The County Board must do the same. It is not sufficient for the Board to hold the line on taxing and spending. The Board must work aggressively to spend less. To begin bringing relief to residents and to serve as a restraint on spending the Board should immediately freeze its property tax levy. The Board should then implement zero-base budgeting to root out wasteful spending and reduce appropriations so that property tax levy decreases can be made in coming fiscal years.Key Issue 2 Encouraging Job Creation: The greatest incentive the County can provide to encourage job creation is a low-tax, regulatory unobtrusive and predictable business environment. The County must consider proposals that decrease the cost of doing business in Kane County. It has long been a policy goal for the Elgin community to bring retail back to its historic downtown, located primarily in County Board District 17. The County can help in this effort by lowering its commercial property tax rates thereby lowering prospective and existing business owners? up-front overhead expenses. Adjusting the corresponding sales tax rate can make this largely revenue neutral to the County but at the same time make the storefront itself more affordable, predictable and less risky. The Board must also reconsider its development impact fees. If impact fees are driving development from the County then they should be reduced, restructured or eliminated. Attracting development will help put the unemployed and underemployed working class residents in our community back to work in well-paying jobs.Key Issue 3 Increasing Government Accountability and Ethics: Accountability comes about through transparency. For far too long the Kane County Board has operated under the radar of many of its constituents by meeting at times when residents are not able to attend, observe and participate. The County Board?s meetings should be moved to the evening when more residents are able to attend. The Board should also act to eliminate the fringe benefits for its members. It is irresponsible to provide Board members a publically funded pension benefit for part-time public service when many residents are losing retirement benefits at their private, full-time jobs. The provision of fringe benefits to Board members incentivizes service on the Board for the wrong reasons.Questions Answers Did the county board get it right when they decided to leave an ethics ordinance that is more stringent but more open to a legal challenge in place? Would you support the creation of more detailed economic interest statements?I support a more stringent ethics ordinance for the Kane County Board. The community must be assured that pay-to-play politics have no place in Kane County. To the extent legally enforceable, Board Members, County Officers and employees should be prohibited from accepting gifts or campaign contributions from the County?s vendors when they are of a size that has the capacity to influence policy. Campaign donors should not be priority candidates for government appointments. Most importantly, the ethics ordinance must have teeth. Within the parameters permitted by law, fines, disgorgement of benefits received and, in the case of willful repeat violations, further penalties or enforcement through the courts should be potential penalties.Would you support the buildout of the shell space in the Kane County jail if it could be shown that the space could/would be used to increase profits from housing federal inmates?Kane County residents are not in a financial position to be able to afford unnecessary capital expenditures. I do not view a build-out of the additional jail space as a capital priority at this time. The idea of housing Federal inmates on a contract basis in a built-out Kane County jail is deserving of consideration only if it can be demonstrated that both increased operational expenses and any capital investment by Kane County residents is paid for by revenue from the contract.Do you believe the 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 it, or do you have a different plan? If not, what is your alternative plan?A lack of leadership and vision has left us with an antiquated court computer system in Kane County. It is unfortunate that a system that continues to work in other counties is now behind the curve in Kane County. If the existing system cannot be upgraded in a cost-effective manner using existing funds in the Clerk?s budget then a new system should be acquired, provided that the new system allows for e-filing by attorneys and others utilizing the court system. Allowing for e-filing will reduce paperwork processing and personnel needs at the Circuit Clerk?s office which in turn will allow for savings that offset the cost of acquiring the new court computer system. The use of RTA funds to pay for an unrelated capital expense in the court system is not an attractive policy proposal and should only be considered if a new court computer system cannot be paid for by cost savings.Do you support the call by the state's attorney and public defender for raises for their staffs? Where should that money come from?The Kane County State?s Attorney?s office and the Kane County Public Defender?s office continue to lose talented attorneys to other counties, departments and private practice because they are not paid competitive salaries. Kane County residents invest tremendous resources in training young attorneys and the Board should assure that sufficient appropriations are made to the State?s Attorney and Public Defender to be able to offer salaries to their attorneys that will facilitate retention. I do not support increasing the property tax levy or sales tax rate to fund any increased appropriations. Accordingly, any increased appropriation to the State?s Attorney and Public Defender will need to be paid for by reduced spending in other areas or by increased court filing fees, fines and penalties to the extent permitted by law. It only makes sense that the defendants and litigants using the court system bear the cost of increased appropriations to these offices since it is those defendants and litigants who cause the demand for their services in the first place.What aspects of the Fabyan/Settlers Hill campus redevelopment vision created by the task force do you support? What should happen to the old county jail property?I am generally supportive of efforts to increase use and functionality of the Fabyan/Settler?s Hill Campus but I am skeptical of pie-in-the-sky visions to recreate a Ravinia-style festival park. I am critical of unnecessary capital expenditures in the midst of a recession and do not believe the County should be looking to enter into the hotel/banquet business. Concert venues, hospitality and convention operations should be operated by private enterprises with expertise in their industry, and Kane County taxpayers should not be compelled to finance the construction or operation of their businesses. The task force?s revised conceptual plan for further development of the Fabyan/Settler?s Hill Campus should be seen as just that: a concept. No action should be taken on further development of the campus until an environmental study is completed. The Board should consider marketing the former jail site for private development when real estate market conditions are more favorable. Caution should be used to assure that the environmental integrity of Fabyan Forest Preserve is maintained and that further development of the campus does not needlessly interfere with existing residential communities or overburden road infrastructure. Most importantly, development of the campus should be an open and deliberative process over time with final decision being made by elected representatives.