Jeff Werfel: Candidate Profile

Back to Lake County board District 6

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: GrayslakeWebsite: www.WerfelForLakeCounty.comTwitter: Not ApplicableFacebook: Jeff Werfel - Lake County Board, District 6Office sought: Lake County board District 6 Age: 55Family: Wife - Jeanny and Two Children - Emily (age 21) Chase (age 18)Occupation: Lake County Board Member Marketing/Management ConsultantEducation: Bachelor of Arts in Government 1984, Georgetown University, Washington, DC Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing Strategic Management 1997, Loyola University, Chicago, IllinoisCivic involvement: - Grayslake Chamber of Commerce - Grayslake Exchange Club - Grayslake Historical Society - Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce - Conserve Lake County Board Member (2003 - 2013), Member since 1998 - Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency Board of Directors -Alternate Director (2003 - 2014), Director (2014 - Present) - SWALCO Board of Directors Executive CommitteeElected offices held: Lake County Board Member (2014 - Present) Lake County Forest Preserve Commissioner (2014 - Present) Grayslake Village Trustee (2003 - 2014)Questions Answers If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?Main Contributions: Responsibly managing Lake County's (and the Forest Preserve's) budget and finances while continuing to deliver high quality county services. - Balanced Budgets, Stable tax levy with one year freeze - Average 7% of property tax burden - Minimal debt, AAA Bond Rating - Staff reduction of 11 in one year, 46 in five years Road and transportation improvements in District 6 and Central Lake County, such as: - The Rollins Road/Route 83 Underpass - Peterson Road Widening and Improvement - Washington Street Underpass and Widening - Center Street Repaving and Improvement Pursuing and expanding innovative shared services and joint purchasing relationships with local municipalities and other governmental entities. Actively driving and supporting local government consolidation investigation and enactment (more detail below). Initiatives I'm Leading: Getting the Ãâ#128;™Belvidere Road Corridor Road Capacity PlanÃâ#128;œ, created by 6 municipalities in Central Lake County, funded and enacted as soon as possible through an intergovernmental working effort comprised of the State, County and the municipalities served by IL Route 120 in Central Lake County.Regardless of whether this is a current problem, what can the board do to reduce harassment, especially sexual harassment against women, in the county or forest district offices? If there have been complaints of harassment, have they been investigated properly? Are new policies needed?This is not a current problem at the County and Forest Preserve offices. The policies and training programs in place are rigorous and effective keeping harassment incidents minimal. We are always striving to improve, though. The County Board did just pass (January, 2018) some amendments to its Harassment Policy and Procedures to codify within them a few long-standing best practices already in place. This was done to be in compliance with recently enacted Illinois State statutes requiring particular language to be in local government written Policy. To be proactive, an awareness/training session focused on sexual harassment education is being set-up for County Board Members to attend. I support this effort and investigating what other best practices in this area the Board could benefit from.The county board sets salaries for its members, as well as the countywide elected officials. Do you believe these various salaries are at the right level now? Are raises or pay cuts needed?I believe the current salaries are at the right level. County Board Members' salaries along with the Chairman's were reduced in 2010 and frozen for the next 6 years. Countywide elected officials' salaries were realigned and lowered for three offices in 2013, and frozen, also. In 2014, a 2.5% Board Member salary increase to take effect in 2017 and 2018 was enacted. This applied to 1/3rd of the Board due to State statute. In 2016, the same increase was passed for the rest of the Board. Salary benchmarking analysis with the other suburban Chicago collar counties was part of this process. Salary levels for 2019 and 2020 for these offices will then remain unchanged.The forest district still has a lot of undeveloped preserves. Name one such preserve you'd like to see get amenities, and tell me what you'd like to see built there.Currently the Forest Preserve has dozens of public access and amenity capital improvement projects approved with various levels of funding (ranging from $0 to full funding). In these exceedingly tight budgetary times, the projects that can have the most positive impact for the greatest number of County residents at a cost-efficient price receive greater priority. Projects that receive grant funding, donations or are cooperatively funded with other entities, such as Federal, State or other local governments, to help lower Forest Preserve costs can also receive favorable priority because of this. I'm a big supporter of this partnership/cooperative funding approach as a way for the Forest Preserve to achieve greater results with less budget. Two specific projects I've enthusiastically supported will create new/enhanced trail access to Rollins Savanna Preserve (which is located in my Forest Preserve District) from Third Lake and Gurnee respectively. These projects follow the cooperative funding approach mentioned above as Third Lake and Gurnee are both contributing to their completion.What is your position on government consolidation? Are there areas of government in Lake County that strike you as prime candidates for such consideration?I believe all levels of government need to be as innovative and cost-effective as possible in the delivery of the services they are responsible for. This has been a fundamental driver of my 15 years as a local elected official. Government consolidation can be a significant contributor to this mission. And I fully support it. However, local government consolidation requires enabling legislation from the Illinois State government to be possible in most cases. During my time on the County Board, I have supported and helped drive our efforts to study and act upon potential consolidation opportunities. This includes opportunities vis-Ã#130;ˆ-vis Township government, specialized local districts, County offices and functions, 911 Dispatch and others. The County Board adopted a Consolidation Action Plan for 2018 focused on County Board appointed units of government that takes advantage of recently enacted enabling legislation from the State. We are also working with municipalities in the County to move forward on 911 service consolidation, which could save $10 million annually. County offices subject to County authority exclusively are the Recorder of Deeds and the Coroner. The Commission on Government Reform Accountability the County Board created in 2017 started the research/investigation process into consolidation potential of these offices. I fully support the work we've started here.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe a critical ongoing issue facing Lake County is its overall economic viability and competitiveness both within Illinois and outside of it, especially given our shared border with the state of Wisconsin. The county needs to be as creative as possible to encourage the development of a thriving local economy in what has been a very tough environment. Sound government fiscal management, maximizing public-private partnership opportunities, improving public infrastructure and services, and maintaining a business friendly economic environment are some of the policies/practices that are crucial to success. We are making good progress. Business and economic development has been steadily increasing. For example, - the unemployment rate for Lake County when I first joined the Board was almost 7%. Now it is a little over 4%. And Lake County was chosen as the new headquarters location for Caterpillar Corporation after an excellent joint public/private business recruiting effort. This Ãâ#128;™winÃâ#128;œ showed the efficacy of our business development strategy and overall approach.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.My father, - for the way he handles himself and example he sets with family, friends and in his business life.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?To always be empathetic and respectful of other people, and strive to do the right thing by them.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have gotten involved in community and public service earlier. I really enjoy it.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Social Studies. It has helped me greatly in understanding and appreciating our culture and country.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?To always be empathetic and respectful of other people, and strive to do the right thing by them.