East Dundee candidates say transparency is vital

Dissatisfaction with the current board's style of governance - particularly the handling of resident concerns - prompted challengers in races for East Dundee village president and village trustee to seek election on April 7, candidates said.

The two mayoral candidates and four of the five village trustee candidates discussed their visions for the community and for the village board at a Carpentersville-Dundee Area League of Women Voters forum Tuesday at village hall.

Among the visions for the village board were open and transparent government, as well as a board that considers resident issues.

"We need to get back to basics," said Jerald Bartels, a village president candidate who held the position from 2005 to 2007. "The board works for the residents, the residents don't work for the board. The services to residents have been reduced while the services to the village representatives have been increasing."

Incumbent Village President Dan O'Leary said the current village board has worked together effectively for the good of the village. O'Leary said the board developed the subcommittee process, which brings diverse groups of people together.

"The subcommittee process has worked out well," O'Leary said. "We have gotten things done in the last two years and certainly things have happened in the last four years. I look forward to continuing that progress."

Though candidates for trustee acknowledged that the board had worked to improve the village's water quality and infrastructure, many said the board's dismissive attitude toward residents compelled them to seek an elected position.

"There are deteriorating businesses, a deteriorating infrastructure and a deteriorating community," said Kathy Kalish, a trustee candidate who began regularly attending board meetings after a storm in August 2007 caused her home to flood. "You have to stop the deterioration of the sense of community to affect the other two."

Challengers Patrick Clarke and Lael Miller both added negative experiences with the board also factored into their decision to run.

Meanwhile, Paul Van Ostenbridge said he has watched the village fall back into the same habits that first prompted him to seek an appointment to the board in 2002.

"Like most residents, I didn't care because it didn't affect me," Van Ostenbridge said. "Then something happened that did affect me and there was a lack of care, a lack of courtesy offered to me. I see some of the same things happening now."

The lone incumbent trustee candidate, Rob Gorman, was unable to attend due to a business commitment. Fellow board member Jeff Lynam read an opening statement at the forum, but did not answer audience questions.