Mayoral candidates differ on Round Lake Heights budget surplus

In choosing the man they want to be mayor of Round Lake Heights for the next four years, village residents will be answering the $2 million question.

In contrast to the rash of municipal fiscal woes in these troubled times, the village has a $2 million savings account that Jeffrey Kissinger and Terrence Lumpkins see differently.

Lumpkins, seeking his fifth term at the village helm, believes the prudent approach is to leave the money in the bank and save it for a rainy day.

Kissinger, the challenger making his first run for elected office, says the clouds have already gathered and it is time to spend the cash on infrastructure improvements.

Both acknowledge persistent flooding near village hall at Pontiac Court and Tomahawk Trail needs to be addressed, but disagree as to what is the best way and how much can be done.

Kissinger said money from the surplus should be applied to projects to stop the flooding, such as deepening the retention pond in the area and regrading the land, to provide more efficient dispersal of the water.

Lumpkins said he prefers to apply for grants from the state and federal governments to continuing buying houses in the flood area and install a lift station to move the water.

"We have been very aggressive in our pursuit of grant money for that area," Lumpkins said. "We built the retention pond in 1995 and bought two houses effected by the flooding and we want to continue to apply grant money to that area."

Kissinger said he also wants the village to use the budget surplus for road improvements, starting with the paving of Lotus Drive and Black Cherry Lane.

Both are major access routes to the village, Kissinger said, and have been deteriorating for years.

"The current mayor and (village) board have chosen to ignore this problem for too long," Kissinger said. "We need to create a road repair and repaving schedule and work toward that schedule."

Lumpkins responds that the village is limited in what it can do with either road because both lie outside village limits, but he is willing to work with neighboring governments on long-term solutions.

While Lumpkins favors the current policy of having residents call the police dispatch center for permission to park their cars on village streets, Kissinger said he wants to allow limited parking on streets wide enough for parked cars without the phone call requirement.

Kissinger said he also wants to improve communication between the village government and its residents.

He advocates more frequent polling to determine the needs of residents, encourage more citizen participation in government and do away with the 3-minute limit on public comment at village board meetings.

Lumpkins says village government is open, and if people were not happy with what was happening in the village they would be speaking out.

The 3-minute limit on public comment, Lumpkins said, is used in most of the government bodies in the county and is designed to keep comments focused on issues and away from political speechmaking.