Eugene Fregetto: 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: Des PlainesWebsite: www.eugenefregetto.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Des Plaines City Council Ward 3 Age: 69Family: Wife Judy, Daughters Julie and Katie, Grandson OliverOccupation: Retired, University of Illinois at Chicago professorEducation: PhD Urban Planning, MBA Marketing, BA Journalism, and Associate degree in Architectural and Structural EngineeringCivic involvement: Served as Treasurer on the Des Plaines Library Board recently and the Civic Service Commission during the 1990s. Also, 4-H, Girls Scouts, and church activities. Directed student consulting services for small businesses.Elected offices held: Appointed offices to the Des Plaines Library Board and the Civic Service Commission. Vice President of Finance for a national academic association for 10 years from 1983 to 1993. President and co-founder of a non-profit organization, 1994 to present.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I treasure my community and the friendships my wife, my daughters, and I have developed over the last 40 years, and certainly plan to leave my grandson with a better Des Plaines. I will be an independent voice for the 3rd Ward and be available 24/7. I have a lifetime of experience to bring to the City Council from my two careers. I have extensive entrepreneurship and marketing knowledge acquired from my 32-year career as a professor for the University of Illinois at Chicago. During my career at UIC, I gained exceptional insights about small businesses from teaching a small business consulting course where student teams worked with small businesses. My entrepreneurship, small business, and marketing expertise will be especially valuable in the city's effort to revitalize our business community. From my 25-year purchasing career with Chicago Transit Authority, I have extensive contract, capital program, budget, and negotiation experience. During the last 10 years of my CTA career, I handled many complex and multi-million dollar contracts including the automatic fare collection system still in use today. My contracting and budget experience will be a valuable in helping the City Council make the best contract and budget decisions for the citizens of Des Plaines.I also served as Treasurer for the Des Plaines Library and produced detailed line-item budget analysis to determine the most cost effective approaches to delivering quality library service. I will bring the same comprehensive budget analysis to the city budget as alderman of the 3rd Ward.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.Des Plaines sales tax is the third largest source of revenue for the city and includes retail sales, auto rental tax, and use tax. The sales tax is reasonable at this time because it is collected from ten different industries: Food, restaurant, apparel, furniture, lumber and building supplies, automotive, drugs, agriculture and manufacturing.The city of Des Plaines property tax levy represents about 12.5% of the residents' total property tax collected by Cook County. Des Plaines property tax levy has remained the same for at least the last five years, and in discussion with my neighbors, we feel that the tax levy is just about right for our community. Our community has excellent police and fire protection, public works and community services, and is conveniently located near great health care services as well as being at the center of a regional and world transportation hub with access to great job opportunities.Should city elected officials receive city-funded health insurance benefits? Do you receive the benefits now? Would you accept them if elected?If elected, I will not accept health insurance benefits from the city, because I already have good health insurance coverage. I consider that the elected officials' option to purchase health insurance through the city to be part of their compensation in return for their service to the citizens of Des PlainesI would welcome a public discussion about how much our city's elected officials should be compensated. However, opponents of health insurance coverage for our elected officials argue that the city can reduce its health insurance costs. To me, if the issue is solely a concern on lowering the city's health insurance costs, then the city should focus on the cost of health insurance for its 338 employees instead of creating an issue over how much we should pay our elected officials for their service. The good news is that the city is presently re-negotiating its union contracts to significantly lower the cost of health insurance.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The council did a good job of establishing the 2017 budget, because the budget was passed without the need to increase the property tax levy and without a need to issue a bond for any city projects. If elected, I will certainly look for areas where the budget can be trimmed and will give equal concern to important areas that need full funding. As Treasurer for the Des Plaines Library Board, I did participate in a line-item review of the budget and made many recommendations to ensure taxpayer money was properly spent to maintain high-quality library services. As alderman, I will be equally diligent on behalf the taxpayer.Do you support a plan to commit city dollars, along with Rivers Casino, to acquire and renovate the shuttered Des Plaines Theatre, then hire an event planner to book concerts and shows?I would gladly work with River Casino on the downtown renovation project that would acquire and renovate the Des Plaines Theatre, if it is part of a plan to develop downtown Des Plaines as an entertainment center. Simply to renovate the theatre in isolation from developing the rest of downtown, will end in failure. We need to tap all the downtown resources and business people in a joint effort to make downtown Des Plaines a destination site.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?City Culture: Breach of Confidentiality "â#128;œ The recent breach of confidentiality for political gain is a sign of a poor city culture. The Herald reported that both an elected official and city employee leaked confidential information that was intended to hurt the reputation of another elected official. In a city hall with integrity, this lead would never occur. In a city hall with integrity, a cover-up to protect the guilty culprits would never occur.TIF "â#128;œ The city's TIFs are like dark clouds looming on the horizon signaling the coming thunder storm. The property owners of Des Plaines presently have a $15.5 million potential debt looming over their property if three TIFs of the five city's TIFs fail. Independent Voice "â#128;œ It is important for residents of the 3rd Ward to have an alderman who cares about all residents and will be an independent voice on the city council to voice their concerns. State's Expansion of Casinos "â#128;œ The city's net revenue from Rivers Casino will decrease quickly if the state approves casinos for Chicago and several other cities within the same regional market as Rivers Casino. The city's contract with the state will need to be re-negotiated.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Candidate did not respond.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Candidate did not respond.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Candidate did not respond.