Mark Wissing: 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: West ChicagoWebsite: http://markwissing.comOffice sought: Geneva Township Highway Commissioner (4-year Term)Age: 60Family: I?m married to my wonderful wife and best friend Vivian. We have one adult daughter, Rachael who is 32 years old and living in New Orleans, recently she announced her wedding plans.Occupation: Most of my working life has been in the construction trades as a business owner, union carpenter, and Project Manager. In addition to currently serving as Highway Commissioner, I also am an Illinois Licensed Home Inspector.Education: Geneva High School Graduate 1971, Carpenter Trade School, ITA professional training, and adult continuing education classes from WCC, ECC, and COD junior collages.Civic involvement: Civic involvements includes but not limited to: Tri City Ambulance Association 2006 Current, Geneva Beautification, and Friends of Fabyan.Elected offices held: Geneva Town Board of Trustees 2005 2009, Geneva Township Highway Commissioner 2009 CurrentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NOCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Repair and resurface 4 miles of roadway over the next 4 years.Key Issue 2 Complete the repairs needed to the water run-off ditch systems by re-sculpting the ground and replacing rapidly deteriorating culverts.Key Issue 3 Work with local units of government to develop a new bike path along Wenmoth Road and McKee Street to create a Green and safe connection from the Geneva trail system to the Batavia system.Questions Answers Name the three most important goals or objectives this board should tackle in the coming term. Prioritize them, and briefly discuss why you believe each to be critical, and how the board should go about addressing them.I was elected to the Geneva Town Board as a Trustee from 2005 2009 and enjoyed the time I served and would recommend the experience to others. Currently I am not a member of that board and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on their goals and objectives.In the 21st Century, with municipalities gobbling up vacant land, why are townships needed? Should they be serving a new role? If so, what?The Townships still serve a similar role as in the past but with a new spin. When I was a child the Township Boards would help with the exploding needs of the Baby Boomers. Now we have 10,000 of those kids retiring every day. When I served as a Township Trustee we developed a senior center to help care for the seasoned citizens of Geneva. The services I voted to provide included tax consultants, lunches at a very reasonable prices, flu shots, activities, a computer lab, and much more for our users. What I learned as a Trustee was the difficulties a surviving spouse has when losing a partner. We will need to do more as the population ages.What should be the primary responsibility of township government?Provide services to the communities that are not available by larger units of government. The cheapest and most efficient use of our tax dollar is spent by smaller governments that are closer to the people that they serve. Contacting your Assessor or Highway Commissioner is very easy and you could be served quickly.In these hard economic times, can you identify some township expenses/programs that could be trimmed or eliminated to reduce the tax burden?I did not raise the Tax Levy next year to service the roads. The road District maintains the entire system on $290,000.00. This money is used to care for approximately 13 miles of roads in the unincorporated portions of Geneva Township including 10 miles in sub divisions like Mill Creek, The Leas, and Spring Green. Services the Highway Department provides are; snow plowing, road maintenance, sidewalks, street lights, trees, curbs, signage, shoulders, ditches, culverts, four bridges, mailboxes, insurance, professional services, and more. I reduced the cost of my operation by over $350,000.00 through careful management of my resources. I will continue to search for other ways to be efficient at the same time providing a safe driving experience for the public.What specific background or experience do you bring that makes you the best qualified candidate to serve as an elected official in the township?I spent my life working in the construction business building structures and managing projects. As the incumbent Highway Commissioner I am very proud of my accomplishments over the last 4 years and I have listed some of my achievements below. I applied for $406,000.00 in grant money from Geneva's three State Representatives (Schmitz, Hatched, and Fortner) and from the State Bridge fund administered by the Kane County Board. To date the Geneva Road District has been approved for $316,000.00 and received $266,000.00 leaving $90,000.00 still in play. Using the grant money and savings I have repaved almost 3 miles of roadway, replaced Wenmoth Road bridge over Mill Creek. I also replaced all of the regulatory signs, restriped roads, trimmed the parkway trees, removed scores of Ash Trees, replaced culverts, resculped ditches, repaired shoulders, developed a Web Site, created a new permit process, and much more. I have worked hard to care for the road system under my control and I would like to continue repairing all of the roads that are at or near the end of their serviceable life before they become dangerous to the users. I would be honored to have your VOTE.