Ken Arnswald: Candidate Profile

Back to Wauconda Village Board, 4-year terms

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: WaucondaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wauconda Village Board, 4-year terms Age: 59Family: Wife Nancy, daughters- Tracy and Beth, Stepdaughters- Carly, Lauren Annie Shepherd.Occupation: Retired Firefighter/Paramedic. Now working at Cook Memorial Public Library.Education: Mundelein HS graduate. Attended several years at CLC for classes related to the maintenance of fire equipment. I have attained numerous certifications in the Fire and EMS field.Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Village Trustee for the Village of Wauconda.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I believe my best qualification for the job is my experience on the Board for the last 3 circ;frac12; years. In that time, I have attended 99% of all Board meetings and Committee meetings. My commitment to serving the Village of Wauconda is a top priority and I am well informed of our current and ongoing issues.How would you describe the condition of your community's budget, and what are the most important specific actions the town should take to assure providing the level of services that people want?Currently, the Village of Wauconda is at a positive in the budget and will continue to be in the black for another year or two. With the future pension obligations for the Police Department, our focus has to be on economic development.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?I believe our Village Administrator, Department Directors and staff throughout the Village have done a great job working within the current budget. Our finance staff and department heads manage the budget professionally and maintain up-to-date records, keeping our Village Board well informed. The current budget was set up very well and I feel very comfortable saying there is no "fluff" in our budget.Do you support or oppose eliminating the 911 center and outsourcing the service? Why or why not?At this time, I support our 911 center. We have state of the art equipment and we have good personnel operating the equipment. I feel we need a dedicated supervisor in place and performance standards in place and they have to be met. We need to stabilize and expand our customer base.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I've been an elected official for the Village for a short time. In that time, we have discussed many ideas to better Wauconda. I'm sure that one good idea is yet to come. Our Main Street is second to none for dining and entertainment. It's been discussed before, but I believe we have to have more options available for our residents and to attract visitors to our fine Village. The increased sales tax revenue will definitely reduce the burden on our budget.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe economic development is very important to the growth of the Village of Wauconda. We have too much money going to other towns, because we can't fulfill our resident's needs. We need to get retailers in our Village that can fulfill their needs and keep the sales tax revenue in our town.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I would have to say Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor, with his communication skills and ability to work with other members of the Board.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I would definitely have to say to tell the truth. Also the Golden Rule is very important.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Honestly, I don't believe in do-overs. Things happen for a reason and I am very happy where I'm at now.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Mathematics. During my career as a Firefighter/Paramedic, I used math frequently on the fire ground and as a paramedic, math was used when delivering medications.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be honest and the one thing in life you can't have too much of is friends. The more friends they have, the richer they are.