Lake County Treasurer Ryback: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: GurneeWebsite: glennryback.comOffice sought: Lake County Treasurer Age: 61Family: One son, Peter. Despite being challenged by Down Syndrome, he has an amazing work ethic. One Daughter, Carissa. She and her husband met in Kuwait while serving in the Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Son-in-law Mark has served in 3 of the 4 military branches, currently enlisted with the US Air Force.Occupation: Village President, Real Estate ProfessionalEducation: Northern Illinois University-Program leading to BA in Business Management Triton College River Grove - Program leading to Technical Degree Trinity College Bannockburn - Program leading to Interpersonal and Group Communications DegreeCivic involvement: Lake County Municipal League-Vice President and former Treasurer. Saint Patrick's Church - Lector, Voices of Praise Choir, Christmas Choir, Eucharistic Minister. Knights of Columbus-Fourth Degree. Gurnee Exchange Club - current member and former director. Wadsworth Farmers Market Exchange Club Foundation - former director. Gurnee-Wadsworth Relay for Life-American Cancer Society. Naval Station Great Lakes-Mayors Supporting NSGLElected offices held: Village of Wadsworth Village President Solid Waste Agency of Lake County-Executive Committee Chair and Board of Directors Vice-Chair Lake County Stormwater Management Commission- Alternate Board Member Lake County Council of Mayors-Vice Chair. Village of Wadsworth Trustee 1993-2007Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoQuestions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?I have been supportive of my Village since 1991, responding to then Mayor Craft's request to chair a special committee he envisioned would improve the community. After that success, more elected and appointed office followed along with several volunteer activities. In this race, a new Treasurer must be elected. He is the banker for the county, handling over $1.7 billion each year. Most important is that units of government entitled to tax proceeds receive them timely. If late, Tax Anticipation Warrants must be issued and later redeemed. My process would eliminate their use and associated costs.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?To accurately answer this question, I would be a challenger seeking an open position created by the retirement of the incumbent. A fresh perspective would include new available technology to reduce operation costs and priority given to making current information more easily available to the public. Current employee procedures would be evaluated for efficiency and improvements added using employee input and suggestions. As far as being the incumbent in the office I currently hold, the many contributions and improvements to my community would need to be addressed in a separate volume.You would take over a fairly unknown office. Do you see any potential for collaboration with other local governments to get people more in tune with what the treasurer does and resources available?The office is not unknown to me. I have followed its operation for several years and formulated a number of improvements that can be phased in during the short term,. If the question refers to "other local governments" as meaning those units seeking regular tax income from the Treasurer's Office, there a number of improvements that can be implemented for more rapid disbursement. Many disbursement activities of the Treasurer, however, may be intentionally restricted from consolidation with other County or Municipal departments by State Statute to provide a measure of checks and balances.How do you assess the success of the treasurerâ#128;™s office on what you see as its chief duties? Do you see areas of the operation in need of improvement?The public is interested in transparency and we all seek greater efficiency with new available technology. While many County operations are required to utilize the Lake County website system, room for improvement still exists. There were similar concerns with our website for the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO), but as Executive Committee Chair, we at the Agency worked through the challenges to arrive at the current user-friendly website which has been well received by the public.Describe your position on transparency in the office and the ease of access to records by the public. How effective is the officeâ#128;™s website and other outreach efforts in helping the public interact with the office and understand their government? If you believe improvements are needed, what are they and how would you go about achieving them?As noted in the previous reply, operations and costs should be transparent to residents. While numerous records are available using on-line services, more items can and should be added as the public requests them. Other transparency issues can include direct deposits on a proportionate basis directly into the taxing district's "accounts receivable" system as the Real Estate tax payment is made by the taxpayer. Tax bills can also be sent by email to the taxpayer as well as to the indicated mortgage holder.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The County Treasurer, County Clerk and Chief County Assessment Officer all have the responsibility of preparing real estate tax bills after receiving information and assessments from each Township Assessor. Real Estate Taxes affect every property in the county and many residents have expressed concern about increasing costs during times of decreasing property values. Every possible cost reduction should be investigated and implemented to decrease those costs to our Lake county residents.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.United States Senator Dick DurbinWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Don't spend what you don't have!If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would not have run for the office of State Senate against Adeline Geo-Karis in 2002, regardless of the encouragement received by many residents.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Biology FX by Doctor Holzer at Glenbrook North. Later in life it has helped me evaluate surprising ingredients on labels of the food we consume.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Will Rogers advised us to buy real estate since they aren't making any more. I would advise them to proceed cautiously in the current economy