Richard E. Guzman: 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: AuroraWebsite: guzmanforaurora.orgTwitter: @guzman4auroraFacebook: @guzman4auroraOffice sought: Aurora Mayor Age: 39Family: I've been married to my wife, Desiree, for nearly 15 years (2002) and we have two young daughters: Micah (age 7) and Josea (age 5).Occupation: Assistant Chief of Staff - City of Aurora (Mayor's Office)Education: B.A. - Sociology and Public Policy - North Central College (1999 - Suma Cum Laude)J.D. - Northern Illinois University College of Law (2009 - Magna Cum Laude)Civic involvement: Emmanuel House - co-founder and Board Chair since 2002;Hesed House - Board member 2013 - 16;Joseph Corporation - Board member 2007 - 2016;Family Focus Aurora - Board member 2007 - present;Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley - Board member 2012 - present;Also served as Mayoral or Gubernatorial designee to numerous state and local boards and commissions.Elected offices held: No Elected Offices.Questions Answers After seeing a year without a single murder in 2012, crime in Aurora has risen and police often say they can't rule out gang motivation in violent offenses. What can the city do to root out gangs, reduce crime and ensure safety in all parts of town?Given Aurora's population, a year without a single murder was an incredible feat, especially considering that in the decade prior, Aurora's homicide rate was upwards of 4x the national average. Today, Aurora's homicide rate remains below the national average, but I think we can all agree that even one homicide is one too many. In 2016 major crime was down once again, falling 6.2% from the previous year and decreasing 21.1% over the past 5 years. Rather than looking to change for change sake, I would double down on the strategies that have been successful in driving crime down over the past decade.(1) Expand Community Oriented Policing strategies throughout the entire Aurora Police Department (APD). By building trust with the community, we can ultimately bring peace and stability to higher crime neighborhoods. (2) Increase the number of Sworn Officers on the streets and prioritize providing our officers with state-of-the-art tools and technology to work smarter.(3) Ensure fair and impartial policing by reinforcing rigorous police training programs that tackle the difficult issues such as implicit bias. (4) Double the number of active Neighborhood Groups by expanding the Neighborhood Group Support Program that I helped form in 2015. Active neighborhood groups become the eyes and ears of the Aurora Police Department. (5) Protect Aurora's Crime Free Housing law, which reduces crimes, drugs and gang problems by encouraging property owners to take a proactive approach to preventing problems before they begin and holds them accountable for problem rental properties.The opening of RiverEdge Park has brought many concerts and concertgoers to Aurora. How should the city capitalize on the revitalization of this riverfront land to continue downtown redevelopment and make progress on economic development in other areas of the city that need it most?The successes Aurora's experienced downtown can be directly attributed to the community coming together to create and implement a realistic plan for downtown development. Aurora has partnered with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to engage residents and businesses in an update of our downtown plan. We need to quickly finalize the plan update and once again engage the community in its implementation.To create a vibrant downtown where people want to live, work, play and grow businesses, we need to:(1) Preserve, protect and restore Aurora's most valuable natural asset "â#128;œ the Fox River. This includes cleaning up contaminated areas, preserving riverfront access and working with developers to expand Aurora's Riverwalk. (2) Enhance access to the downtown Metra Station through the construction of the planned pedestrian bridge between Wilder RiverEdge Parks. Constructing the bridge will spur new development on the west side of the river strengthening the tax base and creating renewed interest in nearby historic neighborhoods.(3) Engage and embrace Aurora's creative community. Aurora's investment in arts and culture has attracted a strong artistic community to our downtown. Public/private development projects, like the one I created to convert the vacant Waubonsee Campus into an Arts Center with housing for artists, help grow and support the arts as an economic engine downtown. Building on the success Aurora's experienced downtown, we should create targeted economic development plans for all of our major economic corridors including Orchard, Galena, New York, Lake, Farnsworth, Hill, Eola, Butterfield, Bilter and Route 59.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Given that no local government can rely on Springfield to pay its bills, Aurora must brace itself for continued cuts and unfunded mandates. Through strategic partnerships and government consolidation, I believe we can continue to provide high quality services and reduce operational costs. As an example, currently both the Fox Valley Park District and City of Aurora operate and maintain neighborhood parks across our city. By consolidating the maintenance and operations of neighborhood parks, we can eliminate duplicative processes, create efficiencies and save taxpayers money. Similarly, there are literally dozens of institutional entities (layers of government, school districts, chambers of commerce, etc.) that all have challenges with maintaining IT services and I'd like to explore opportunities to collaborate with other institutional partners to share technology systems and reduce costs. I would prioritize returning the majority of dollars saved to taxpayers so they can be reinvested in our community, strengthening area businesses and growing our economy. At the same time, I believe we need to shift existing resources to invest additional dollars in initiatives that:(1) Keep the community safe "â#128;œ by putting more police officers on the street and supporting the development of neighborhood groups"â#128;ťparticularly in those areas that see a disproportionate share of crime.; and (2) Spur economic development. Through an aggressive economic development program, targeted development incentives and strategic investment in infrastructure, we can continue to attract high quality employers, like Chicago Premium Outlets and Amazon to every corner of our city.Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board or city council.There's an African proverb that says "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." My leadership style takes this idea to heart by not only seeking to partner in general, but to seek out partnership even when it is hard. I always begin by keeping all the possibilities open and I am willing to put in the work taking the longer and more difficult road even when"â#128;ťand perhaps especially when"â#128;ťthe task might seem improbable. And an important component of this leadership style is to hold no grudges and keep no loyalty tests. Even if I've had disagreements with someone in the past, there is always the possibility to identify common ground and worth together. There should be no "sides" that we feel obligated to take"â#128;ťexcept whatever is best for the City.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I am the only candidate that is talking about how to create big-impact projects through a unique, collaborative resource investment model. I recently implemented the strategy to transform the vacant, dilapidated, historic St. Charles Hospital property into a renovated, restored senior living center. The model is now being used to redevelop the vacant, former Waubonsee Community College campus into an Arts Center, Restaurant and artist housing.A number of challenges can be solved using the collaborative resource investment model. For example, the sale of the Fred Rodgers Community Center to School District 131 several years ago, left the city's highest need area "â#128;œ the near east side "â#128;œ without a community center. Providing a safe place for kids to learn, play and receive home-work help is critical to our city's support of education and violence prevention. Under this new paradigm, I have proposed reestablishing a community center on the near east side without any significant costs to local taxpayers.I first used this collaborative resource model when my wife and I founded Emmanuel House "â#128;œ a non-profit that turns renters into permanent homeowners. In just a short time, Emmanuel house has helped to stabilize neighborhoods and change hundreds of lives "â#128;œ for generations to come. Last year, Emmanuel House was recognized as one of the 100 most innovative social enterprises in the world by the Stanford Social Innovation Review and The United Nations Foundation. The recognition is designed to spotlight "the brightest minds and boldest leaders solving problems through innovation."What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Maximizing Every Auroran's Ability to Contribute. The concept of "Asset Based Community Development" (ABCD) will be a pillar of my administration. So much of what Aurora needs to reach the next level of development already exists within the City's diverse and talented citizenry. Many of the solutions and/or resources needed to solve community problems already exist and simply need to be bundled with other resources, leveraged and/or unleashed. So rather than focusing on the community's deficiencies (as many do), Aurora will be more successful by honing and leveraging its existing strengths, resources, skills and experience.This was the concept upon which my wife and I founded Emmanuel House. Many people are surprised to find out that Aurora's poverty rate is NOT disproportionately high"â#128;ťin fact it's within a fraction of the state and national average. Aurora does, however, have a disproportionately high number of working-class families earning full-time, but lower incomes. Most people might view this as a deficiency, but at Emmanuel House we viewed that consistent, earned income as an asset that could be leveraged to help hard-working families save their own money toward a down-payment on their first home. One of the mistakes that I intend not to repeat is to categorize some people as "poor" and place them outside of the solution to building a stronger community. Aurora residents should always be at the center of problem solving. We need to view our residents as actors"â#128;ťnot recipients"â#128;ťin development.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bill and Melinda Gates"â#128;ťwhose foundation's mission is to "unlock the possibility inside every individual." They're not interested in charity. They're interested in results.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?The value of service to others. Turns out that my most meaningful life moments have come in the context of putting service above self.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wish I'd gotten to know my grandparents' stories better. Sometimes we don't think to ask what we don't know until it it's too late.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I took a 5-class series called "The History of Ideas" in college that taught the value of multiple viewpoints and the necessity of continual growth.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Don't let the fear of failure keep you from trying new things and developing your best self.