Lily Lake challenger calls for transparency, communication

Jesse Heffernan has been the village president of Lily Lake for almost eight years, but now she has a challenger who thinks it's time to add more of a small-town touch to the office.

Mike Carlson said he decided the run against Heffernan because he believes the village can be more transparent about its finances and decision-making.

Carlson said village financial information should be accessible not just by attending village board meetings. He wants a regular treasurer's report with a full accounting of fund balances, bills paid and bills outstanding.

Carlson doesn't think anything untoward is occurring, but he does think local residents must have a better understanding of the village's financial picture.

"The president should be there, but it shouldn't be that she's the person in charge of all the money," Carlson said. "We need more of a treasurer involved. There's no transparency right now, in my opinion."

Heffernan said the village's finances are small, but the accounting is an open book for anyone who is interested. She's been working with the village clerk on a better village website. In the meantime, village ordinances and board actions are being posted to the village's Facebook page.

"It's basically myself and the clerk doing most of the work," Heffernan said. "Our financial picture has been, I'll say, stable. We're never in the red. However, we don't have a surplus, and we never have enough to address our infrastructure, our roads."

The loss of revenue from the village's only gas station was a major blow. Heffernan and Carlson agree there is no easy answer to reviving the gas station.

A series of subleases and high rent at the gas station are large barriers to bringing a new tenant into the space. Neither candidate believes the village can do much other than wait and see how the landlords handle the vacant space.

Heffernan said the village is managing despite the financial loss - for now. When the economy improves, village officials may revive discussion about creating a property tax for the first time, she said.

"I hate to impose such a thing," Heffernan said. "I know almost everybody in town. I know who's out of work. I know who's taken a huge pay cut. I can't in my right mind put that imposition on people in a time that's so hard. I can't do it to myself, either. I've just been trying to hold off as long as we can."

Carlson said he's just as worried about the village's spending as he is about the income. He questioned the need to have a code enforcement officer.

For $250 a month, the officer deals with residents who may have let their grass grow too long or have other eyesores on their property. Carlson said most if not all of those situations can be addressed by a neighborly conversation instead of a threatening letter, ticket, or costly trip to court.

"You can get a lot more response just by talking to people," Carlson said. "If you talk to them, they'd probably get rid of the problem. You can't yell at people because they make mistakes. You should talk to people. Sometimes they agree with you; sometimes they don't. But you don't have to take them to court.

"You don't need a guy going around harassing people because maybe they hang laundry outside. I lean more toward conversation rather than, 'I have a big stick, and I'm going to keep poking you until you get it right.'"

Heffernan said the code officer is a useful buffer between the village clerk, president and residents with code violations. The code officer is not someone who lives in the village. And that's intentional, Heffernan said.

"This is a small community," she said. "It's hard to be friends with someone next door and then have to reprimand them for something and remain neutral. And it's better than having the residents come in and deal directly with the clerk who then may have to deal with them when they need a permit or have other questions. We've had a code officer for ages. And that communication is well worth the price."