Patricia Kalinowski: 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: North BarringtonWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: North Barrington Village Board Age: 53Family: Widowed. I have family in the collar counties around Chicago. I do not have any children.Occupation: Retired (Supervising Environmental Specialist with the MWRD)Education: North Central College in Naperville (Biology/Chemistry)Roosevelt College in Schaumburg (Public Administration/ Environmental Law)Civic involvement: Chairman, North Barrington Environmental Health Commission; Participating Party, Flint Creek Watershed Plan Partnership; vocal resident attending Village Board Meetings.Elected offices held: Current: Chairman, Environmental Health Commission (EHC), Village of North Barrington.Previous: Vice Chairman, EHC; Commission member, EHC.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I have been a Village resident for 18 years, and an active volunteer on the Village's Environmental Health Commission (EHC) since 2008, currently serving as the EHC Chairman. In that appointed position, I promoted environmental awareness and initiated and coordinated an informational EHC kiosk at Village public events to meet with residents and answer questions about septic systems, wells, recycling and local conservation. I authored the Village's Septic Maintenance Ordinance, presided over public hearings, and saw the Ordinance through to Board approval. I heard Heritage Tree Ordinance and Septic Variance appeals brought before the EHC, and made appropriate recommendations to the Board. I initiated and coordinated the first Village Earth Day spring event in 2017, in association with Arbor Day. I am a vocal citizen at Village Board meetings, asking questions and providing comment. Being retired, I have ample time to devote to the position of Trustee, address resident concerns personally, and perform due diligence on issues that come before the Board. I have municipal govt experience (MWRD), including: federal regulation and local ordinance enforcement; budgets; revenue forecasting; cost recovery; supervision of professional staff and technical projects; public contact and customer service; IT management and administration; field inspection and pollution control; and duties as an appeal hearing officer and subject matter expert for the MWRD.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.North Barrington receives tax revenue from two golf country clubs and a small group of professional services entities along Rand Road. There is potential to add additional revenue with the retail development of the DiMucci property to the northeast. The portion of property taxes residents pay to the Village of North Barrington is small; however the village has been able to responsibly allocate those tax dollars and garner State funds to the betterment of the Village. I plan to encourage more resident involvement and donation of talent to avoid the costs of additional consultants or services for certain Village activities (ex., ROW and storm drain maintenance, litter collection, social media development monitoring, invasive species control, neighborhood watch). The Village Trustees need to brainstorm for new sources of revenue without compromising the rural feel of the community.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?The Village currently does not have its own police/fire service, but contracts with the Lake County Sheriff and Lake Zurich Fire Dept. Response times are more than acceptable, and I support continuing the arrangement with the County Sheriff and Lake Zurich FD. Concerns include lack of enforcement of speed limits within the village, issues related to the aging population in the village, percentage of vacant homes during winter, and lack of Village Code enforcement for non-violent activity (dog waste pick-up, littering, loitering in woody areas, noise, heritage trees, septic maintenance, etc.). The Village may need to address approving Ordinances without an active enforcement mechanism.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The Village does not make the budget process very available or transparent to residents. No public hearing is held or period of review/comment of a proposed budget. I believe the Village needs to prepare and publish an annual budget, audited by an independent firm. Care should be given to hiring of consultants, single source vendors, open bid contracts, preparation of RFPs, and follow-up and accountability of consultants and staff. Any budget requires flexibility, and reserves should be available for emergencies, catastrophes, or short term initiatives (eg, EAB tree removal, failing septic assistance, infrastructure damage from storms or subsidence).What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to see a comprehensive review of the Village Code, rescinding archaic or unnecessary ordinances and regulations, and updating or correcting language where appropriate, across all Titles and Chapters, for ease of understanding and use by residents.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?-Improved Village communication with residents via text message, email and/or Facebook, reducing the cost of USPS mail for those who prefer other methods of contact. The Village lags behind other villages in modern communication methods and outreach.-Formation of neighborhood clubs or groups, outside of the country clubs, to bring communities together (garden club, block club, neighborhood garage sales, etc.).-Mitigation of storm water runoff issues and addressing the damage that undermines Village roads and culverts due to heavy rain events. -Review of brine discharges from private water softening systems and investigation of other point sources of pollution from abandoned or improper residential discharges (septics, grey water, cisterns or cesspools). The salt, sudsing and fecal coliform levels in the waterways and lakes in the Village contribute to poor water quality, based on monitoring conducted by the Village in that past few years.-Prepare and publish an Annual Budget and Annual Report.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope Francis. (Current political leaders are not inspiring.)What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Do your best and work hard and you will be recognized and respected for your ability and dedication.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Meeting my husband earlier in life so we would have had more time together.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Zoology. It fascinated me and contributed to how I approach adult life: wonder, inspection, advocacy and connection.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always do the right thing when others shy away from responsibility and honesty, whether for yourself or someone less able.