Arlington Hts. budget large part of debate
Arlington Heights trustee candidate Michael Sidor criticized village spending at a debate on Tuesday while another candidate Tom Glasgow painted himself as a candidate who is as close as possible to being an incumbent without actually having served on the village board.
The chamber sponsored forum at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights. The forum featured incumbent trustees Norm Breyer, Bert Rosenberg and Joe Farwell and along with challengers Glasgow, Sidor, Keith Moens and Tabitha Long. Barbara "Glennie" Browne was not at Tuesday's forum.
"I have the respect of every sitting trustee and the mayor," said Glasgow. "Every trustees has said to me, 'You have my support.'"
Glasgow was the only candidate besides the incumbents to attend the village's first budget hearing on Monday according to a show of hands.
While Sidor didn't attend the budget hearing, he did have some questions about village spending. Specifically, he wanted to know how trustees planned to pay for nine new firefighters they approved hiring in 2007.
The 2009-10 levy includes an additional $300,000 that will help pay for the firefighters. A federal grant paid for 80 percent of the firefighters' salaries in the first year, but the grant drops by 20 percent each year until the fifth year, when the village will pay for the entire $1.1 million cost of the salaries.
"I filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see how the board was planning on paying for those firefighters," Sidor said. "According to the grant, there should have been a plan."
Breyer was on the board when it unanimously voted to hire the firefighters. He stood by his vote on Tuesday.
"The purpose of village government is to provide essential services and police and fire are essential services," Breyer said.
Sidor also questioned $60,000 budgeted for the Discover Arlington marketing campaign. Farwell said the village sets aside funds for marketing in several departments, which is something village officials should sit down and discuss.
"Everyone needs to sit down and talk including the chamber," he said.
Moens said the village's reliance on the real estate tax is hurting the budget. Moens would also favor dipping into the village's reserve account to cut taxes.
"We have to get money in people's hands," he said. "Today is the rainy day."
Tabitha Long is the owner of Island Girl Salvage, an architectural salvage firm in Elk Grove Village. Her concern with the budget has to do with personnel.
"There are a lot of things in that budget I'd take out, for example, there are a lot of people in the planning department and I don't know what they all do," Long said. "They need to be worried about bringing small businesses to downtown Arlington Heights and not going to trade shows looking for big-box retail."
When the topic of slot machines at Arlington Park came up, most candidates agreed that decision would probably fall to state leaders and not local officials. Bert Rosenberg was the only candidate to fully support slot machines at the track.
"If Arlington Park got slots, they would do a great job," Rosenberg said. "They would police their own situation."
The League of Women Voters will host a daylong candidates' debate at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Arlington Heights village hall. Candidates running for Arlington Heights trustee and mayor, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board, Arlington Heights Park District, Arlington Heights Memorial Library board and Wheeling Township were all invited.