Toby Shaw: 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.votetobyshaw.comOffice sought: Elgin City Council (2-year Term)Age: 34Family: Married, four childrenOccupation: IT Database ManagerEducation: Bachelor of Arts in Computer Information Systems-Business Tract, Judson College, 1999Civic involvement: Vineyard Church of ElginElected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Taxes Elgin City Council needs more business experience. We need council members who understand that increasing taxes drives businesses and residents away from Elgin. We need council members who will be good stewards of our limited tax dollars.Key Issue 2 Priorities Why does a city with money for three golf courses, two recreation centers and hundreds of commercial and residential properties need to collect a trash tax? For too long City Council has been distracted by shiny objects and slick marketing presentations.Key Issue 3 Jobs Elgin's Unemployment averaged 11.03% over the last five years and we continue to push businesses away from Elgin due to our taxes and fees. We need to first support existing businesses to remove any roadblocks that are preventing them from growing. Next we need to focus on drawing new businesses to Elgin. This will grow our tax base and provide badly needed jobs for our residents.Questions Answers Should the city continue its opposition to allowing video gambling outside the grand Victoria?Yes, I am against further gambling expansion in Elgin.What is your position on the city's plans to to implement a stormwater utility fee in 2014?I am opposed to the Elgin Rain Tax. However, this issue is a priority and should be treated as one. We need to stop the frivolous spending on such things as fancy medians, brick clad sidewalks, and ideas of hydro-electric dams. Many residents are living on fixed incomes and cannot afford additional taxes and fees.Do you support the city funding the $900,000 overhaul of the Eastside Recreation Center? What do you think of closing Eastside and consolidating operations with The Centre of Elgin?Spending nearly a million dollars to overhaul the Eastside Recreation Center is a perfect example of what's wrong with our priorities. The city council strayed from its mandate to provide core services and we are now left to pay for and maintain three golf courses and two recreational centers. At this time the damage has been done with the overhaul of the ERC. We do however need to investigate ways to reduce our annual operating losses at both the Centre and ERC. If we are not able to reduce these losses I would propose that we look for an exit strategy from the ERC to a different owner/operator that could continue providing these services.What is your view on the city's recent property tax levying history and imposition of other charges, such as the refuse fee?Fact, Elgin is collecting more money through more taxes and fees than ever before. I do not support the concept of revenue diversification implemented in the 2012 budget. It decreases the transparency to residents and reduces resident's ability to deduct additional property tax. This concept is a slippery slope that will only lead to less money in the hands of residents.The Elgin Symphony Orchestra wants the city to resume its yearly disbursement of Riverboat funds to the ESO. Do you support this? Why or why not?I do not want the ESO to cease as an organization and will search for ways to assist this organization. I do at this time, given the pressure on the budget, support halting direct disbursements to the ESO. Extensive needs have been identified to address the storm water and sewer separation issues and this is a higher priority and must be addressed first to prevent the need to raise taxes.