Brent Paxton: 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: ZionWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lake County Board District 4 Age: 52Family: Wife-KathySon-SamSon-ZachDaughter-ZoeOccupation: Chiropractic PhysicianEducation: Doctor of ChiropracticCivic involvement: Jubilee Days committeeZion Community Action PanelPast member of CREWinvolved with local soccer clubElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office? If you are running for re-election, is there an important project you want to implement? If you are a challenger, is there a particular issue that motivates you? Please explain.Not a project, but a concept. As a member of the County Board I have worked very hard to keep our taxes as low as possible. Over the past several years the Board has frozen our tax levy, cut millions of dollars from our budget,and concentrated on our "core" business and not expanding programs, to keep our expenses down. The last thing the County needs is a candidate that is promising a lot of expanded projects or services with no idea how to pay for them or worse yet, increasing our taxes to pay for them.What are your ideas to ensure the Lake County Discovery Museum remains relevant with county residents during the year it is closed while it moves from Wauconda to Libertyville and its new space is prepared?Unfortunately, the Discovery Museum has been largely irrelevant in District 4 because it was so far away and people did not know of the programs. Moving to a centralized location in Libertyville is a step in the right direction for District 4. I think the move will give the FP a great opportunity to re-market the museum and re-introduce the residents of the county to the many great programs that are held there. Building excitement about a grand Re-opening would be nice.Do you believe all of the county board's and forest board's committee meetings should be televised live and webcast? Why or why not?I have no problem with the transparency argument for televising the meetings. I wish more people would pay attention to the business of the County. However, it definitely needs to be weighed with the cost factor. It would cost the County/Forest Preserve quite a bit of money, that we were not planning on spending, to televise the meetings. And right now the one meeting that we do televise (our full County Board meeting) is one of our least watched programs. I wish there was a better option to engage the public in our meetings.Some municipalities are turning to Lake County government for contracted services in areas such as building inspections. For example, Lake Zurich signed a two-year contract with the county in late 2015 and expects to save $100,000 by paying $67 an hour for the inspections. Do you see this as a good thing for the county because of the revenue or are there concerns that should be addressed if these arrangements continue to grow? Please explain.I certainly like the concept and have been in favor of the concept of partnering with different communities. It could save certain municipalities a lot of money and could enhance the revenue for the County as well. However, it needs to make sense fiscally (for the County) and needs to be implemented in a well thought out manner. I don't think a "blanket" contract for any community that wants it would work. It cannot over burden County staff and cannot lose money for County. It must, at the very least, break even for the County.Please list any elected office you've ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?County Board/Forest Preserve is the only office I have run for. And I was elected when I ran. I have never been appointed to fill any unexpired term.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I cannot stress enough the importance of continuing to keep the County fiscally responsible. Currently the County portion of District 4's total tax bill is 5% or less which represents around $400 per year on a $200,000 house. This has allowed the Lake County Government to have a triple A bond rating with both Moodys and SP, which further saves us money when we do need to borrow. This has all been accomplished by having strict fiscal restraint. I would hate to see that affected by someone who has a new vision for the County.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Not a current leader, but my Dad was leader in Zion that served with great integrity. A trait that I strive to emulate.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?To be honest, and to not take shortcuts to achieve a goal.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I'm not a big one for dwelling on the past. I try to make the most with the decisions I've made.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Anatomy class. It has been a huge help in my profession as a Chiropractor.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Trust in God, and he'll take care of the rest.