Craig Wilcox: 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: McHenryWebsite: Under constructionTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: McHenry County Board District 4 Age: 48Family: Janice Ricci - FianceeJoey, Alissa, Briana, - Future step childrenAlan Claire Wilcox - Parents, live in VermontArlene Sobin - Future Mother-in-Law, RoselleAndrea Ahern - Sister and family, live in TexasFrank Sobin, Arelene Snow, Rick Sobin, Mike Sobin - Future Brother/Sister-in-LawsOccupation: Leadership Command Instructor @ Air University, Consultant @ Corps LeadershipEducation: Master of Science: National Resource Strategy from Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Wash DC, 2008Master of Science: Military Operational Art Science from Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, 2002Master of Business Administration from Webster University, St. Louis, MO, 1997Bachelor of Science: Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 1989Civic involvement: Involved Volunteer: Air Force One presenter to Retired Adult Program at McHenry County College, Volunteer Librarian @ St John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School, Speaker/Organizer for Veteran Events (Memorial Day Parades, Honors Breakfasts, Veterans Day Specials), Honor Flight (World War II Korean War Vets) Volunteer Trip Counselor, Member: Veterans of Foreign Wars-Post 4600, Member: American Legion-Post 491, Member: McHenry Moose Lodge 691, Former Board of Director-Veterans Network Committee, Former member of Education Commission-St John the Baptist Catholic Elementary SchoolElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?To serve my local community and lower property taxes! I recently served our country in the United States Air Force and after 24 years retired and moved to McHenry. I want to be active and serve the local community, and be part of a solution that reduces property taxes in McHenry County. We need to find solutions that reduce the number of government entities, either through collaboration, cooperation, or consolidation, and to reduce their levy demand upon the home owners through greater cooperation and more efficient operations. It may include referendums to reduce certain services, giving the voter final say.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?As a candidate I bring years of Integrity, Loyal Service, and Leadership as a Colonel (retired) in the military. These traits position me to lead change, find unique solutions to problems, and foster consensus building. Lowering Property Taxes by finding opportunities to reduce levy demands will be my top priority. We are paying way too much for the services provided and the lack of growth and opportunity occurring in the county. I will assess budgets and reserve funds, identify services provided above that required by law/mandate, and work to allow the final decision to rest with the voters.Describe your position regarding the balance between county spending and revenues as it exists today, then describe the chief threats you see looming in the future and how the county should deal with them. In particular in the suburbs, President Preckwinkle has set a goal of eliminating unincorporated areas from county oversight. Do you agree with this approach? If so, how should the county go about it?My opinion holds that tax levying bodies in McHenry County have a tendency to lean towards grabbing as much tax as possible under PTELL, and then find ways to spend that revenue or hold it in reserves for capital projects that should be voter referendum issues. That is the chief threat in McHenry...the taxing bodies process. That process needs to change and we must aggressively pursue a budgeting process that identifies what is the minimum required, and then spend even less. Tax revenue needs to remain in the taxpayers wallet until it's finally needed, and only for voter approved activities.How do you rate the county government on transparency and the public's access to records? If you consider it adequate, please explain why. If you think improvements are needed, please describe them and why they are important.When I first considered entering the race for County Board, I was amazed at the issues and the detail I could find on the local government websites. Being former military, where intelligence is still based on a "need to know" basis, I felt the government bodies were being very transparent, or at least were complying with the letter and intent of transparency guides. However, as I have learned there are still Open Meeting violations, and quietly held reserve funds with questionable goals in mind, and we need to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people...period!Please list any elected office you have ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?I have never before run for elected office nor have I ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?As a candidate I pledge to remain true to the ideals of honest debate, where we might debate the validity of certain candidate positions on vital issues, but we do not attack or critique the candidate personally. I feel that mudslinging and negative political attack campaigns ultimately hurt the nation, the state, the county and the local community. If we want to change our system for the better, then lets talk about that vision and the path to achieve it, and stop bringing down the intellect in the debate by attacking good people who just have a different viewpoint.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House. He is frugal, sleeping in his DC office vice owning another home, and is an expert on the budget.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I would say being frugal was the biggest lesson, not spending more than you have. I want our government to start working that way too.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have learned at an earlier age to listen more and talk less, which translates to actively listening to other opinions before offering solutions.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math: it fostered my engineering degree and a love of solving problems, not just equations, but problems on grand scales, like lowering tax burdens.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?To dream often and dream big, then everyday take one step forward towards achieving those dreams, knowing that some days will result in steps backwards.