Charles Schneider: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: NapervilleWebsite: http://www.CharlieForNaperville.comOffice sought: Naperville City councilAge: 49Family: Married 30 years to my wife, Charlotte and have a daughter, Christine, 23. I have spent most of my married life residing near 75th Street and Naper Boulevard in Naperville.Occupation: Local business owner and venture capital investor, assisting local technology-based start-up companies.Education: I don't have a conventional college education, and I don#146;t look back with any regrets.I have always been a #147;hands-on#148; person,learning by doing rather than sitting through lectures.Although I enjoy teaching college. I don't plan on getting a degree.Civic involvement: • Term Limits Referendum Districting Referendum (November 2010 ballot) #8211; One of ten residents, working collectively, obtaining petition signatures to get these referendum question on the ballot, so residents could have their voice heard. • Naperville Voter Education League, Founding Member #8211; Resigned prior to running for Naperville City Council to avoid potential conflict of interest.• The Meadows Homeowners Association, President• DuPage County Election Commission, Election Pollwatcher• Concerned Citizens for Naperville, former member• Toastmasters, member former officer #8211; Public speaking and personal developmentElected offices held: • Lisle Township Republican Organization, Secretary• Lisle Township Republican Committeeman, Precinct 67Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Ensure the City Council acts in the best interest of the people, not themselves.No matter who you are, it#146;s important that you be heard#133;. and listen I did! I was on the board of the Naperville Voter Education League (NVEL), where ten people just like you and I worked tirelessly on the term limits and district representation referendum ballot questions getting thousands of your signatures so that we, the people, could be heard and vote on the issue. I#146;m proud and humbled that I made a difference. NVEL members, myself included, sat down with each City Council member and the Mayor, individually, and presented them with both the term limit and districting questions and asked them to put it on the ballot, as they could have easily done with the stroke of their pen, so people could have their wishes carried-out, whatever they might be be. Instead, they sent us walking door-to-door! Why? What is wrong with giving the voters the opportunity to choose?Initially, I was not looking forward to spending days knocking on doors to educate voters and obtain signatures. As it turned-out, it was a wonderful experience. I learned, as a whole, how disconnected the City Council is with the wishes of its residents and businesses. I took notes on what you shared with me, and I will take them to City Council if so elected.What I heard most often from the voters was that they want to be empowered to recall (formally remove from office) those serving on the Naperville City Council/Mayor that are not serving in the people#146;s best interest. That makes sense to me too. In the private sector, if you were falling below your employer#146;s expectations, you would expect to be fired. Should our City Councilmen or Mayor be treated any differently? I#146;d love to see this on the ballot for referendum!As a public servant, it will be my honor to serve you, not the other way around. With your help, I will raise the bar and change your expectations of how elected officials should act, putting you first, before self. (Yes, I know that sounds like a sales pitch if you ever heard one, but it#146;s truly from my heart.) Should you have any doubt, get to know me, or speak with someone that does.P.S. I would not make them walk for signatures! Good grief! Key Issue 2 I will work to keep current businesses in Naperville, while inviting new business to claim Naperville as their home. Bringing new businesses to Naperville will equate to more local jobs, which will equate to a healthier Naperville economy.Naperville is competing with other municipalities for businesses and our City has the ability to be one up on our competitors. Pounding our chest saying that #147;we are Naperville#148; is old school, and just doesn#146;t cut it.The City of Naperville must:1. Allow our business a local tax incentive for an agreed upon term. (Sales/property/SECA tax)2. Reduce the start-up costs and the time it takes to open our business in Naperville by cutting down on the seeming endless red tape and hoops that we have to jump through.Key Issue 3 Curb wasteful spending by improving the procurement process,• Our City purchases millions of dollars of goods and services each year. The City must assure that we get the best value for our money.• Thanks to my trusted friend, State Representative Michael Connelly, who championed #147;reverse online bidding auctions#148; with the State of Illinois, he continues to save Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars every month. I would like to put this program in place for Naperville. The process is similar to Ebay, but in reverse. Mike has offered me his assistance to get this process running, at no cost to the taxpayers. Additionally, he will be counseling me in ways to make local government more transparent and accountable to the taxpayers. Questions Answers The city has slashed dozens of jobs in the last year in an attempt to balance the budget. Do you see more of this in the future?From a CEO#146;s perspective, it is important that I continually evaluate and closely monitor the entire picture before I react to anything, including #147;slashing jobs#148;. I#146;m a humble guy and admit that sometimes I can#146;t see the forest through the trees, because I#146;m too close to the situation. That#146;s when we will contract an outside firm or individual to conduct an audit of every detail of our business for the unbiased facts. It has proven to be money will spent, (Return on Investment) not only for the long term financially, but for our clients as well. Why can#146;t the City do this? Let#146;s not continue with the knee jerk reaction we are currently witnessing. Let#146;s discover the facts and get educated. Only then, will we be able to act intelligently on the best ways to balance the budget.Based on your experience as council member or mayor, are there any programs that you already know you would seek to eliminate if you were to be elected mayor?I#146;ll be a freshman on the Naperville City Council; as such I am unable to address this question.What are your thoughts/concerns regarding the city creating a shuttle bus service to help seniors and others commute to and from the downtown and other popular locations?I#146;m all in favor of helping our seniors, and for that matter all of our citizens. Let#146;s sit down and have an adult conversation to determine our needs from our wants, and who should bear the financial burden. As taxpayers we have so much on our back as it is. Naperville has been built on community spirit. Could citizens and/or businesses provide a free will offering for this?The city recently purchased the site of the DuPage Children's Museum on the city's north side. Do you support leaving the museum in place or freeing up the potentially valuable real estate at the city's northern border for economic development?I like the museum, but I do not care to own it. If I made this purchase, while on City Council I would expect to be fired, hence #147;public recall#148; that I addressed earlier. We have been told what a bargain this was. Not! The City is not in the property management or financial lending business. What were they thinking? If this was in fact such a smoking good deal, why don#146;t we turn a profit? Let#146;s list the property on the open real estate market, and sell it. Problem solved! Any takers???What can be learned from the furor over the city giving police officers 3 percent raises then enacting layoffs? How should the city deal with its unions? Should it agree to raises when it knows layoffs will be a result?Be honest and truthful to yourself and others.This is very straight forward. Nothing you don#146;t already know. Most of us have been practicing it since we were little.Tell me, how is it that we can afford to bail-out a museum for $3 million, but we can not afford to pay for the people that keep us safe!