Nancy Shepherdson: 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: Deer ParkWebsite: nancyshepherdson.com/trusteeTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Nancy Shepherdson for TrusteeOffice sought: Deer Park Village Board Age: 61Family: Husband, Larry. Married for 33 years.Occupation: Magazine writer, author and speakerEducation: B.A. University of Illinois, EconomicsM.A. University of Michigan, EconomicsMBA, Northwestern University, Finance and MarketingCivic involvement: Assistant Governor, RotaryVolunteer, Save-a-PetSixth District State Central CommitteewomanElected offices held: NoneQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Deer Park is a wonderful place to live but it has always been fairly hard place for residents to get what they want. Since we moved to Deer Park in 1998, my husband and I have attended a few village board meetings per year. Sometimes we wanted to advocate for a particular change, which invariably did not happen. Other times, we just wanted to hear what was going on in town. As a result, I have a historical perspective on Deer Park that many other trustees might not have. Why is that important for voters? Most importantly, I have witnessed what has worked and not worked. But also because the village no longer has an archive of meeting minutes online. Currently, only two months' worth of meeting minutes are posted there, meaning that residents cannot easily find out what is really going on in the village without using the Freedom of Information Act. As a long-time resident with an interest in good government and a former banker with an MBA in Finance and Marketing, I feel that I can understand what is going on and look out for the interests of all residents.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.In Deer Park, we pay no property taxes and never have. That's a tradition worth keeping! Retail development, including the Deer Park Town Center, has supplied most of the revenue we've needed for the past decade or so, now providing nearly $2 million per year. The stalled Palazzo development (empty lot) south of the Deer Park Town Center, assuming it gets going again, should provide an adequate increase in sales tax revenues to cover rising costs in pensions and health care. The Deer Park administration would also like to annex more business properties for development along Rand Road, although there is strong resistance to that from exisiting businesses there. Other retail alternatives need to be considered going forward, although revenues are adequate right now. An advisory referendum aimed at increasing sales tax rates failed soundly a few years ago, so I would recommend against trying that again. Sales tax rates seem to be just right for the village's needs at present.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?Reports by the Lake County Sheriff's office to the village board over the past few years show a startling level of crime for such a small village. (More than 500 incidents in January alone.) Reports have included many property and traffic problems, but violent crime is rare. I would like to be able to compare the level of crime to that several years ago when we were protected by the Kildeer Police Department. I hope that crimes have not increased but I fear that they have. Patrols are much less visible these days and Sheriff's personnel are often occupied with the huge unincorporated area they must cover in addition to Deer Park. This could be causing delays in response, which I have experienced myself. The Sheriff's department recently reported that "ruse crimes," where criminals use a distraction to steal from vulnerable seniors, are on the rise. Since we pay almost a third of our budget to the Sheriff's office ($1.4 million budgeted for next year), we need to make sure that our police protection is adequate to our needs. And don't we already pay for Sheriff's office protection though our county property taxes?Fire coverage in our area is provided by the Lake Zurich Fire Department and (in the far western part of the village) the independent Barrington Countryside Fire Department. Now that Lake Zurich has won its tax referendum, the former fire chief tells me, adequate response times are no longer a major problem.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?I recently attended a budget planning meeting for Deer Park. I was bothered by an attitude on the village board that small expenditures don't really matter as far as budgeting goes. But if you overspend consistently on the small stuff, pretty soon those thousands can add up to real money. There is not a huge budget crisis right now and so this attitude is understandable. And the village has done a good job over the past few years to put itself on much sounder financial footing and build up good reservces for a rainy day. We face, however, a proposal by Governor Rauner that cities and villages may see revenue sharing reduced or eliminated. Therefore, I believe it is necessary to sharpen our pencils and pare every expenditure down to its minimum level. That rainy day may come sooner than we think.I think the village also needs to be more realistic about future planning. A new village hall is on the drawing board but the board seems to have no idea how much they can afford to spend on it. There is also more than $100,000 in the budget to pursue annexation of property along Rand Road south of the Deer Park Town Center but many businesses that would be annexed are adamantly opposed. As a result, getting them to cooperate would probably require a lot more expense than that. Trustees should consider whether it would cost more to get it done than the sale taxes development would generate.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to see residents participate much more in decisions that are made regarding spending village money. In Hartford, Connecticut, Cleveland, Ohio and many other places around the country, a process called "participatory budgeting" empowers residents to direct a portion of the budget to projects important to them. A group of trustees, no matter how many surveys they send out, cannot know all the good ideas that are out there for the discretionary dollars the village spends. It would be a good idea to start small, for instance letting residents decide how to use the "tourism" dollars that are generated by the hotel tax paid on every room rented in the village. Along with more transparency in spending, more control over spending will allow residents feel they have a say in their government and so become even happier with life in Deer Park. And as for the argument that residents won't be interested in doing that? You never know unless you ask.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I decided to run for Deer Park trustee because I felt that it was time for greater diversity on the board. I have spent the majority of my life as a business owner. At the same time, I've gained a lot of satisfaction from volunteering in leadership capacities for a variety of non-profits and know how to manage successful organizations. A new perspective should help the board expand its thinking about how to make life in Deer Park even more rewarding for all residents.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Senator Dick Durbin. His philosophy is: if something is important to accomplish, never give up. You'll get it done eventually if you persist.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Keep your promises. My mother, who passed away recently, taught me that nothing was more important. She was right.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have taken the Knight Fellowship in Investigative Journalism I was offered at Ohio State. But moving to Columbus? Nah. I love it here.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I got the most out of a Negotiation class at Northwestern. It really helped me understand that there are always many sides to an issue.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Find something to do that will positively impact the lives of others. Making money is not nearly as satisfying as making a difference.