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Robert Jarecki: Candidate Profile

Bensenville Village Board

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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: BensenvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bensenville Village Board Age: 63Family: Married for 40 years to wife, Donna. Two Adult DaughtersOccupation: RetiredEducation: Bachelors from Illinois State University, 1973Civic 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 Village Trustee for almost four years. Prior to retiring in 2011, I spent my entire working life in public government with the Bensenville Park District. I believe I have accumulated the knowledge and experience to successfully deal with the decision making process and nuances the position requires.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 portion of property taxes for 2015 increases less than 1.5%, while sales taxes generate almost $8.6 million and have been trending upward since 2011. This mix helps to keep tax revenues stable and allows the Village to reinvest resources in capital projects and ongoing maintenance. In my opinion the balance is right for moving the Village forward.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?The Village is constructing a new Police Station/Public Safety building that should be completed in 2015. The up to date equipment included will allow our police professionals access to the latest techniques in police enforcement. The Fire "District" is a separate taxing body with its' own Board of appointed Trustees. They recently received an upgraded I.S.O. rating of 2.0 from the previous 4.0 with a ranking of 792 out of 49,000 communities. I think this is indicative of their dedication to the community. Personally, I do not have any public safety concerns with either our police or fire preparedness.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Moody's bond rating service recently upgraded the Village to Aa3 saying the Village "has successfully maintained reserves through conservative budgeting and posting annual surpluses between $1 million and $3 million". I believe this says a lot about a small town with a $31 million operating budget. Staff has done an excellent job balancing the budget while allowing for capital improvements of $30 million to our wastewater treatment plant, $16 million for the construction of the police headquarters and the cost sharing improvements to the northern Industrial Park.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I believe ideas for improvements are easier to talk about than they are implementing. I am committed to keeping consistent with the goals of the Villages' Strategic Plan. Tree removals and replanting due to the emerald ash borer infestation, redevelopment of the vacant Legends golf course site and the noise impact on the residents from new runways at O'Hare are being addressed. We have had some success in attracting new business and addressing flooding issues and the Strategic Plan identifies all these items as continuing priorities. The Village is working on numerous projects and improvements simultaneously. This is why public government normally moves at a slow pace. We try to do the best we can for the biggest impact on the greatest number of residents.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The water system replacement in the unincorporated White Pines area. The Village has made a generous cost sharing offer for replacement in exchange for annexation into the Village boundaries. Naturally, a number of the homeowners there oppose annexation and this issue presents a difficult decision. Ultimately a majority of the homeowners will have to approve the Village offer in order for this project to proceed as presented.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.N/AWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?N/AIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?N/AWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?N/AIf you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?N/A