Mary T McCann: 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: WoodstockWebsite: www.mccann-dist6.com/Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: McHenry County Board District 6 Age: 70Family: Husband BobOccupation: Owner McCann Berry Farm and Former Project Management ContractorEducation: BS Chemistry Barat CollegeMAT University of Chicago Chemistry, EducationCivic involvement: McHenry Farm BureauElected offices held: McHenry County BoardQuestions 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?Property taxes. I understand county government finances, and am not afraid to question spending priorities. I will continue to press for Board budget planning workshops, which have been cut. The Board tends to leave finance to the Finance committee, where I continue to question priorities, track spending, and remind Board members of future building repairs needs and costs. I hope to make data-driven decision making more common. I bring a technical/scientific background to the board which needs at least one person who is not afraid to tackle technical challenges facing the County.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?My technical background drives my systems approach to addressing County issues. Being a data driven decision maker, I look for efficiencies. I successfully built support for codification of county ordinances; initiated/lead efforts to: re-write the Stormwater Ordinance; fund new permitting software for Planning Department; develop a Water Resource Plan with well monitoring program; develop a County-wide Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan; promoted Context Sensitive Solutions for transportation planning; promote County Budget planning workshop; assure that grant programs pay for themselves; work to improve Animal Control functionalityDescribe 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?The County is in balance between revenues and spending where it should be: 3 month reserve (cannot spend) required by law, 2.5 month fund balance for cash flow before tax revenues come in. The County is in balance if infrastructure maintenance needs continue to be disregarded. Building roofs, deteriorating parking lots, and other maintenance projects have been neglected for too long and need to be addressed. Funding price tag for such repairs and the badly needed financial system software is around $23 million. It will be a stretch to fund these necessities.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.The County is very transparent in its activities except for one area: its policies. McHenry County policies are not easily accessible, and not in one document. A complete County Code is expected by June, but it has been a long time coming.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?Ran for County Board and have been successful. I have never been appointed to fill an elected office vacancy.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Unfunded state mandates that impact general fund budget; lack of a sustainable long term budget plan to address the County's maintenance needs; need for Board member budget planning/training workshops and education on the County's looming financial needs and revenue constraints. McHenry County government is 80% dependent on residential property taxes, which is not likely to change anytime soon. As long as the State continues to mandate, without funding, local programs and services, and refuses to meet its constitutional obligations to fund schools, property taxes will remain high.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope FrancisWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Criticize constructively.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Travel more.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Science. Taught me systems approach to problem solving, and the value of observation and data collection.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?think for yourself but strive to understand the views of others