Edward Tiesenga: 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: Oak BrookWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Oak Brook Village Board Age: 54Family: Married to Elizabeth Pope-Tiesenga Two adult daughtersOccupation: AttorneyEducation: Timothy Christian High School, Elmhurst, Illinois (1977); Hope College, Holland, Michigan ((B.A., Business Administration, 1981); American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C. (J.D., 1984).Civic involvement: Timothy Christian High School Mock Trial Team (Attorney advisor, 1990-2000) Read Asia (Board Member, Treasurer) Oak Brook Club (Chairman, Security Committee)Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?My roots are here. Oak Brook has grown up from cornfields riven by streams, into a crossroads for commerce, and along the way some things have changed. The old millstones that once ground corn at the Graue Mill are now decorations cemented into the sidewalk out front. Yet the wheels of commerce still thresh out higher value products to the West in the premier shopping district and signature Mall property. This economic activity throws off sales tax revenue into our Village budget, to pay for our infrastructure and services that host our enterprises protect our homes with top level police and fire services. I grew up in Brook Forest, in the home where my parents still live. My wife's family lives in Hunter Trails. My law practice has been based here for 15 years. I'm with you, and for you. I'm going to maintain the essential strengths of Oak Brook.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 power to tax is the power to destroy, and here in Oak Brook, we should not destroy anything with taxes. Oak Brook has one of the lowest sales taxes in the Chicago area, and no Village property tax. I will take a hard line and a close look at the budget in order to keep it this way.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?Oak Brook's police and fire coverage is very good for the most part, and I support planning to optimize response times by innovative right-sizing of response vehicles, staffing, and ambulance staging facilities. Public safety concerns are best improved by partnerships with the business community, the retail district, and our homeowner associations. For example, in the Oak Brook Club community, we are training with the fire department to cardiac emergencies. Because 100,000 people come into Oak Brook each day, we have a lot of responsibility for safety beyond our full time population of 7,800 people.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Discretionary capital projects, and the soft money services that must precede them are a natural candidate for review at a time when our police and fire pension obligations are increasing, and remain unfunded. Right now, these pension commitments will drive a re-prioritization of how we spend our funds.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?The biggest threat to a new idea is a government monopoly over our Sports Core, which started as Paul Butler's private recreation area. The Sports Core is the center of our rural atmosphere, and extends into Fullersburg and throughout our Village. Some parts of it are declining, and becoming just another line item in our budget to be managed. My idea here is to reconceive that area to give it a new birth of Butler's vision, to match the interests of our residents who would like to update and extend our use of this priceless property to keep it as the heart of our Village.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?When new and existing retail and commercial enterprises consider where to locate or expand business facilities, Oak Brook should be at the top of their list. We can support our busineses by public-private initiatives like our Streetscape and Beautification programs. The improvements to our hotel area walkways and landscaping have been dramatic. I support current Village development efforts, and will make sure those efforts are realistic, effective and attractive to our business community. We govern ourselves, by our free and equal choice of elected representatives. Each one of us can vote and contribute ideas to keep our public officials and employees accountable. I look forward to representing you, and to working with individuals, community groups and homeowner associations to keep Oak Brook fiscally conservative, responsive to its residents, and open for business.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Rudy Giuliani, who led a diverse and vibrant city and earned the respect of police and firefightersWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I learned from my surgeon father: "Your best is good enough," and he brought that lesson home, where we applied it across the board.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Chinese lessons at a very young age, to get more fluent, and faster, to communicate directly with my Chinese friends in their native language.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Economic History, which teaches that you can make a living learning and applying systematic ideas to the real worldâ#128;#148;for better or for worse. Hopefully better.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?"Think it, then do it." Don't regret not taking a step to even start something, much less to persist to complete it.