Carl Dinwiddie: Candidate Profile

Back to Batavia City Council Ward 1

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: BataviaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Batavia City Council Ward 1 Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Wife Yvonne 3 sonsOccupation: Aviation Consultant - Previous Chief Operating Officer for opns for my ORG in 22 midweswest statessEducation: BA Economics, Roosevelt University U.S. Navy Jet Flight Training Northwest Airlines Flight Engineer School Navy Aircraft Accident Investigation School FAA Air Traffic Controller's School National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Inv. School Two Tours - Brookings Institution - Best Practices in American BusinessCivic involvement: Illinois Representative Sudden Infant Death Alliance - 6 years Deacon in church Board Member - Batavia VFW Secretary - Annual Loyalty Day Parade PADS - Volunteer Thanksgiving Day Volunteer at church and VFWElected offices held: Could not legally run for office until a few years ago due to my employment with the government.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Have attended many Council and Committee meetings over the course of 28 years, which makes me more knowledgeable on the issues. My children are full grown and I have moved on from a full time job to consulting which gives me plenty of time each week to thoroughly prepare for the meetings, do additional inquiry into issues, and I can be physically present at the meetings.l I have a history of not only opposing, but exposing, wasteful government spending locally and poorly thought out proposals. I have a record of not being afraid to stand up firmly on controversial issues when the citizens need someone to standup for them vocally and with action defeat bad government ideas.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.I have spoken many times over the course of 25 years in front of all Batavia government bodies regarding their wasteful spending and unnecessary levy increases and what adverse effect that is having on residents and property values. I have spoken to the Batavia City Council about the flaws and problems with their Economic Development Incentive plans. I opposed the tax levy to make up for the lost revenue because of the poor decision by the City to get involved with the Prairie State Coal Plant.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?Our police and fire coverage are the best. Both departments stay up on the latest threats and protocols to minimize hazards to the public. I can't speak too highly of the work the Fire and Police departments do in Batavia.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Staff in Batavia have given up raises over the last few years to balance the budget. I'm concerned about the loans we give businesses and some of the decisions about what businesses get improvement grants while other businesses don't and that the City is granting money to businessmen while overburdening the tax payers and City employees.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?A complete overhaul of the City's Economic Development Incentives and creating standards that are codified so everyone knows what they are. This is any and all incentives from loans, grants, TIF districts, tax rebates and memorandums of understanding and agreement, and intergovernmental agreements.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?That council members get involved earlier in the process for major issues that are coming up rather than a briefing memo a week or a few days before a vote is necessary and deadlines have already been set by the City Administrator which creates time pressures and bad decisions. For example, a plan to form a storm water utility to raise taxes on residents without giving clear, hones, and in depth information to the Council by the Administration. I'm concerned about the quality of hiring since Batavia has had three Human Resources Directors in the last five years, the assistant city administrator reportedly just got up and walked out one day last June and hasn't been heard from since, and that we have had two vacant engineering personnel openings so long without accelerating the hiring process.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Honesty, integrity, and moral courage.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wouldn't change anything because who knows what good things in my life I would have missed.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?All math and science. Helped me become a good Navy Jet Pilot and commercial pilot, and later on an investigator.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Try to excel further and learn more each day. that is, continuous improvement