Mark Setzer: 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: Des PlainesWebsite: marksetzer.comOffice sought: Des Plaines City Council Ward 3 Age: 46Family: Wife SonOccupation: Firefighter/ParamedicEducation: Associates DegreeCivic involvement: Local Union President - East Dundee Fire Pension Fund President - East Dundee FireElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?What makes me the best candidate for the job is that I will strive to put residents first. Since serving the public in the fire service, I can handle many different situations. I feel that I can bring common sense and respect to the Ward and to the City.Do you approve of the direction in which Mayor Bogusz is taking the city? Why or why not?Yes, the Mayor is going in the right direction. He has been in office only for two years. Change is hard. It's easy to do the same thing. It takes courage to try something new. People can take a while to adopt to a new change. There has been opposition against the Mayor; however, he is doing his job.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?First the Finance Director does an amazing job in keeping us balanced. The current budget could be trimmed by eliminating the health insurance for elected officials. This would save about $118,000 in fiscal year 2015. I also think we should budget more for infrastructure and the police department.What is the single biggest problem in your ward not getting enough attention right now and what do you propose to do about it?The biggest problem is flooding. This has been an ongoing problem for many years for Des Plaines residents. I would propose an ad hoc committee to really look into attacking flooding on all issues. We need to try to come up with a sensible, reasonable plan and stay the course to help the residents.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?An idea I had was to start converting all the street lights to LED and start to save money on our electric bill. I think that it is worth the effort to start looking to make a better green community.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I am not a big fan of red light cameras, because it seems to be more about revenue then for the safety that it was intended for. Also, communication with residents needs to be improved. We need to promote better ways of getting all information out to residents in addition to the cable channel and newsletter.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bruce RaunerWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?The biggest lesson I learned is to look at both sides of a situation before making a decision.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would go to law school.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My favorite subject was math. It helped me learn how to rationalize to solve problems.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?To stand strong and be your own person.