Michael Light: Candidate Profile

Back to Glendale Heights Village Board District 3

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: Glendale HeightsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Glendale Heights Village Board District 3 Age: 50Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Candidate did not respond.Education: Candidate did not respond.Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I have been a proud resident of the Village of Glendale Heights for 48 years. I grew up in Glendale Heights and I have raised my family here. I have served as District 3 Trustee since 2011. I am the Village Board liaison to the Appearance Commission and I regularly attend all Village Special Events including being the chairman of the "Show Shine Car Show" event. I consider it a privilege to have served on the Village Board for the past four years, and I would like to continue to represent the residents and businesses in our community. If there is one thing that I have learned during my 4 years on the Village Board is that when the board members work together we can accomplish great things. When we set aside personal differences and share a common vision, we build extraordinary momentum and direction for the future.What is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales and property taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.The Village Board has continued to be mindful of the tough economic times, and I am happy to say that the 2014 tax levy is still less than it was in 2009. On average, only 10.2% of a resident's property tax bill comes to the Village, while the remaining percentage goes to other taxing districts with schools getting the highest percentage. In addition, it is very important to note that the Village's overall property tax rate appears to be high when compared to other communities in DuPage County. This is primarily due to the fact that Glendale Heights does not have a separate Park District. The Village's portion of the tax levy includes funding to operate our community's Parks and Recreation Department. I feel our local sales tax rate is consistent with most of our surrounding communities. The last increase in the sales tax was in 2009 and was specifically designated and utilized to support our local road program and storm water management improvements in our community. We have no plans to increase the sales tax in the immediate future. The Village has a credit rating of AA3, which means Village obligations are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.I am also proud that the Government Financial Officers Association has awarded the Village the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its 2014/2015 budget document.This reflects our commitment to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting and be transparent to the public with our finances.Rate the efficiency of your town's police and fire coverage. Are the departments well prepared for the next decade? What, if anything, should be changed? Do you have specific public safety concerns?I think we have a top notch police department. I am extremely proud that our police department has continued to be re-accredited by CALEA, which is a process where outside assessors examine ourcrime prevention and control capabilities, our essential management procedures and personnel practices, our service delivery to residents and our interagency cooperation and coordination. Nationally, only 3% of police agencies are accredited. One of the items that I initiated and worked on with the Police and Public Relations Department was an Emergency Preparedness Guide that was sent to every household that gives information and checklists on how residents can stay prepared for all types of emergencies. I want to continue to build on our successes on getting residents prepared for anything that comes our way. Since being on the Village Board, I have been extremely impressed with how closely our Police Department works with our two Fire Districts. In fact, annually we perform preparedness exercises for a variety of different types of emergencies with all of our community partners to ensure we are ready to respond and recover to any major incidences.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Annually, the Village Board meets with our Executive Staff to review budget line items and makes necessary reductions where needed to stay within a balanced budget. Most recently we have made significant changes at our golf and recreational facilities to reduce salaries without impacting services. During my tenure as District 3 Trustee, I have given attention to park improvements throughout our community by attending all of the Parks and Recreation Committee meetings to discuss long-term park enhancements. Most recently, Ollman Park has a new walking path that was a direct result of neighborhood surveys. If re-elected, I will continue to focus my attention on essential services, such a police protection and public works infrastructure that are vital to keep the Village on the right track for our future.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?Economic development and pursuing grant opportunities are very important to me. I was a strong supporter of our new Tax Increment Financing District, known as TIF 5, which the Village created at the southeast corner of President Street and North Avenue to help spur economic development in that area. The Village has also been very successful at supplementing current property and sales tax revenues through the aggressive pursuit of grant funding. The Village has received over $12 million dollars in grant funding that has greatly helped finance our capital projects. During my tenure, the Village was successful in its application for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to alleviate flooding around the James Court, and the Glendale Square Shopping Center off North Avenue. This has been a key project for the Village with a total estimated cost of $1.8 million. Most recently the Village was awarded another grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to purchase a new bus for our Center for Senior Citizens. We were also awarded several Illinois Clean Energy grants to replace the exterior lighting at public buildings and many of our parks.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I support the Village continuing to have a focus on code enforcement efforts aimed toward maintaining properties and stabilizing our property values. In addition, I revamped the Adopt-the-Street program in an effort to help volunteers in the community have avenues to keep our neighborhood property values up by keeping our streets free of litter and debris. I am also a strong supporter of our Crime Free Rental Housing regulations to hold landlords accountable for allowing tenants who violate the law to continue to rent their properties. The rental licensing and crime free housing programs help ensure that our neighborhoods are safe and well-maintained.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Treat others as you want to be treated.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend more time with my great grandparents. The things they saw and learned in their lifetime was amazing.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Candidate did not respond.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?You need to work hard to achieve anything you want in life.