Deborah Allan: 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: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Kane County board District 17Age: 63Family: Married to Arthur Allan, 36 years 2 adult stepchildren and 5 grandchildrenOccupation: Professional harpist for many years; law office manager from 1979 to the presentEducation: Sycamore High School; attended Northwestern University in Applied Music program (harp performance)Civic involvement: Gifford Park Association (Historic Housewalk is September 8); Near West Neighbors Association; Neighbors Of South East Elgin; South West Area Neighbors; Admirers of Beautiful Old Dwellings of ElginElected offices held: Kane County Board District 17 beginning December, 2002, to the presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Responsibility to the people in the District I represent. They work hard for their family and their community, and it is appropiate for them to feel their representatives are doing the same, and are as accountable to them as possible. Governments pass taxes and send out programs because they can, and they sometimes don't make sense to the people they are supposed to help; if an elected person is at hand to 1) do no harm, and 2) provide connective tissue between people and their government, we can deliver the services people want in the most cost-effective way possible. We will not always agree, but we can talk to each other about the choices and solutions with candor and good will.Key Issue 2 The County Board's responsibility is to set policy and build the budget, and in order to do that well, we must be in a partnership with the elected officers of the county and our staff. The recent law suit complaining that the Board's responsibility was usurped means that the Board needs to be more vigilent about doing our job. We Board members have to make sure the poicy and budget decisions are wrapped within our committee structure and not allow them to slip outside. We are not working these Board positions as our regular employment; we work our County responsibility into our regular lives, so it is more difficult to have regular conversations with the County's elected officers and be sensitive to the daily workings of the County's business as performed by our staff. I predict there will be an even greater learning curve as the Board has a greater percentage of new members after this election, and though I understand many of my neighbors think people longer in office become deadened to new ideas and more productive ways of doing things, my experience is that it takes some time to learn what is in place, and to build relationships where people are comfortable enough with each other to say "I have a better idea" or "I need to question why this is being done." Our natures are to worry when people want to change how we do our work, and to wait to trust someone enough to suggest spending money differently because we think it will be more effective. The Board needs to build a community of confidence where other elected officers and staff can be their most productive and can work in an environment where everyone is valued and their suggstions can be heard and acted upon. Everyone needs to have a seat around the dining room table where we decide to provide services for Kane County's citizens and spend their taxes. We need to build a partnership.Key Issue 3 Transparency is the touch-stone of the moment. How can anyone refute the need and desireability for government to allow its citizens to see into its workings? But it is not unusual for us to focus on whether an intersection needs a red light camera, rather than understand the opportunities and responsibilities of an animal control program. It is easier to understand the need for a wider intersection so traffic can move more efficiently, than it is to understand the finances of right-of-way purchases and line-up of vendors who will complete such a project. Real transparency is for a body of people to understand the choices in how taxes can be spent to improve the lives of our citizens and reach a consensus on which ones to choose. Building a transparent network that shows those processes and choices is worth working toward, and though we all have our favorite projects and issues, a truly transparent government shows us openly trying to convince each other about the best ways to provide our services and spend our money, and showing how money is moved into and out of funds in order to accomplish known and agreed-upon goals.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?Yes to both questions. The Ethics Ordinance in place was passed about 2 years ago and was recently re-approved after a year of discussion. This Ordinance is based on recommendations by the Collins Commission, a non-partisan group charged with improving Illinois government by strengthening the ethics rules under which we all operate. We have the problem that we cannot legislate ethical behavior any more than we can legislate intelligence or a generous spirit, but setting out rules for our behavior in the public's workplace gives parameters for elected people and government employees and vendors to understand what is expected and what we will abide by. It also lets employees know they are protected from politically-motivated lines which cannot be crossed. Most people elected to offices close to their constituencies (City, Township, County) want to serve in order to make life a little better for their neighbors. We represent a relatively small and very local group of people among whom we live and whose issues we share. That's the whole point of representative government. And I think we share the values and problems of our neighbors and have no qualms about reporting information of interest to them as citizens and taxpayers such as connections to vendors or companies doing business with the County as are now or could be required by the economic intsrest statements. Currently their filing is required and can then be viewed by any interested party, but the Ethics Ordinance now requires an annual review of all the statements filed. I actually want a firewall to exist between all electeds and the entities they do business with. A Judge should not accept any contributions from the attorneys who appear before him, and I should not go to dinner with or receive money from someone doing business with the County. If a vendor is also my brother-in-law and he writes me a check, I need to disclose that on my D-2 and either abstain from a vote concerning his company or disclose the relationship when I cast my vote. He may be the best choice for a County project, but everyone needs to know what relationships he has with the people voting on the project. Every vendor. Every project. Every time.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?Yes, but in the context of prioritizing a number of potential capital projects. This prioritization discussion has been promised since I was elected in 2002, but there has never been enough traction to actually do the work. Some of the projects we need to consider using cost/benefit analyses are the adult corrections build-out and also the Juvenile Justice Center addition which could earn money housing neighboring juveniles (we have recently begun housing DuPage County youngsters in our current facility); a proper facility for the Coroner, whose operation is still housed in one of the old seminary garages at the Government Center (where it was upgraded from the old Fabyan Parkway jail facility basement); various proposed additions to the Route 38 Courthouse in order to add courtrooms, space for the Circuit Clerk (who is normally housed within a courthouse), the State's Attorney's office, the Public Defender, and Court Services, plus a parking deck; the Diagnostic Center, currently located at the old Fabyan Parkway jail facility; the fleet maintenance building, also currently located at the old Fabyan Parkway jail facility; and housing for the Regional Office of Education (currently in the Sixth Street School in Geneva). Some improvements are possible/in planning stages for the Third Street Courthouse (ADA elevator and restored 2nd-floor courtroom), and more should be considered for that building, since it is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the County's inventory. Seeing how DeKalb County expanded its historic courthouse to continue its function for the next 50-100 years is an example for all of us interested in preserving an important building and continuing its use successfully into the future. A landmark is an interesting concept; a well-used functioning beloved landmark is a gift to its community. Interestingly, money was spent to research and design a plan to incorporate all the offices currently located at the Government Center into one building PLUS PARKING DECK at the Route 38 Courthouse location, a project for which there are no funds and which I would place at the bottom of the above list.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?Judge Keith Brown has convened a committee of vested partners (Judiciary, Circuit Clerk, Sheriff, State's Attorney, Public Defender, Court Services) to design an integrated computerization of the Court system and I fully support the concept. The County has spent money on technology to serve a population grown to over 500,000 while reducing staff from 1500 people in the 90's to about 1250 today. It makes sense to bring the Court system under one umbrella, to enter a Defendant into the Court system once and follow that person from arrest through probation, or whatever steps are appropriate in each case. Sheriff Perez, one of the vested partners, has agreed that about half of the RTA sales tax money dedicated to his public safety needs could be used for the project, and his office already owns the Sheriff's part of the system and Court Services has started its portion. The work done by the Recorder computerizing her office, as well as technology tying together the Recorder, County Clerk, and Assessor for the property tax cycle, plus elections and vital records in the County Clerk's office, suggest that the price tag can be much lower than $12 million. Money spent here truly benefits the public since record-keeping, including reimburseables, done on 3"X5" cards is a dreadful use of staff time. Accurate Court schedules available on-line are an immeasurable time saver for the public and attorneys needing to use the Courts, while simultaneously freeing up personnel in the Circuit Clerk's office. The integration of information and services within the planned system will protect information that needs to be kept private, and share information for statistics-gathering, collections, and reimbursements. The justice system represents the largest portion of the County budget each year, and helping it work more safely and efficiently benfits us all.Do you support the call by the state's attorney and public defender for raises for their staffs? Where should that money come from?There are several elephants in this room: union staff have enjoyed raises while non-union staff have had no salary increases since 2007; there is a cost to training a large percentage of replacement people; and it is in the public's interest to have the brightest and best working at the County. I believe the answer is an administrative plan which reviews salaries across the County annually as part of the budget process. Elected Officers and Department Heads once again need to be included at the table, so that when revenues are available, they can see how funds are being spent relative to the salaries of their staff, and the same is true in lean years. Sometimes, the actual question involves the discretion of the elected officer or department head: should a new person start at a certain level, and then be compensated once that person proves to be a good fit in the office? The present confines don't allow a raise, even when there are funds that could be used, if appropriate, within the budget.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 believe, as do many of the people in my District, that the old county jail property should remain public land, because once it becomes private property, it is unlikely the public would ever again have anything to say about its use. This particular property is surrounded by Forest Preserve property and a landfill which is to be reclaimed to public use. A proposed amenity for that segment of land is a resort or restaurant or banquet facility to draw prople to use the rest of the property and make it a destination place for corporate use as well as private celebrations. I suggest a pattern already established would work well: the Forest Preserve District (the public) already owns golf courses, a baseball stadium, and a hockey rink, overseeing lease agreements with entities competent to run them and make a profit both for themselves and the Forest Preserve. It would be reasonable to allow a resort/multiuse facility to be built and leased on that land at such time as there would be an audience to use it, and if that did not come to fruition, the public would still own the land and be able to make different plans for it. The Settlers Hill complex I believe will be built out over time and include inexpensive uses such as a sledding hill, low-tech skating pond, and observation area, and eventually add more expensive projects such as courses suitable for cross-country running and skiing and mountain biking. Some reconfiguration of the golf course and adding a driving range are already ongoing. We are still learning what can actually be safely added to a land-fill while hearing from the public what they would like to be able to do there. There has been a lot of public imput about restoring the native woods of the Fabyan East Forest Preserve and encouraging the public to move through the site on trails in a more sensitive way. The mountain bike camp meanwhile has the opportunity to prove themselves good stewards of forested land on the property currently owned by the Forest Preserve District, Dundee Township, and Dundee Open Space. The bikers' work there would make a difference, I believe, on the participation we would encourage on the Settlers Hill site.