John G. Tolomei: 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: Lake ZurichWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lake Zurich Village boardAge: 57Family: Married, two children, five grandchildren, 10 siblings, parents deceasedOccupation: Chief Legal Officer/Chief Patent CounselEducation: Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering IIT, Master of Science Civil Engineering IIT, Juris Doctor Kent College of LawCivic involvement: 2005 - Present - Member of Foglia YMCA Board of Trustees1992 - 1995 - Friends of Breezewald1995 - 2005 - Lake Zurich Downtown Revitalization Committee1989 - 2001 - President Oakwood Beach ClubElected offices held: 1995 - 2005 Trustee Village of Lake Zurich2005 - 2009 Mayor Village of Lake ZurichHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Improving the fiscal stability of the Village of Lake Zurich while avoiding tax increases to the Village residents by competing more effectively with neighboring municipalities for retention of existing retail and attraction of new retail.Key Issue 2 Getting downtown revitalization moving forward. Closely tied to fiscal stability is getting financial benefit from the downtown area and the ecnomic help it will provide to let Lake Zurich thrive as a municipality. Getting the downtown to be a destination will take the Village a long way to improving its overall economic situation. Having an integrated plan that provides a downtown with all of the elements it needs for success is essential. Most of the current Board members rejected any practical approach to help the ESG group move forward with its comprehensive plans shown at www.destinationlakezurich.com. The Board took action against this plan in the abscence of having any stated alternative plans or other developers showing interest in the downtown.Key Issue 3 Increasing the availability of park and recreation opportunities. Doing easy things such as connecting walking routes with open space and parks where available in the Village. As a YMCA Board Member I am aware of the Village of Lake Zurich and the Foglia YMCA seeking work together to expand recreatioanl opportunities, an effort I fully support and endorse. In particular we would benefit by such cooperation if it could make more activities and facilities avaialble to the youth of our community. Finally, improvement in Village financing would allow us to improve the overall condition and the amenities of our park areas.Questions Answers The village has made several program and job cuts, and even considered selling Paulus Park to help shore up finances. What ideas do you have to balance the budget?The Village needs to move forward as quickly as possible to make the Downtown area a destination and therefore improve the overall economic climate of the Village. The Village could also benefit by using reasonable incentives like other nearby villages do to attract businesses to retail and industrial park site within Lake Zurich.What do you think the village must do to stabilize the downtown redevelopment plan and move it to completion?The village needs to have a viable comprehensive plan and then it needs to provide any interested party in pursuing such plans with the help and visible support that successful projects need. The Village needs to maximize the leverage it can get from the lake location with retail that provides interest and appeal to both visitors and new residents.Should the size, scope and focus of the downtown plan be adjusted? What should that vision be?We have a great vision. You can still see the best vision for Lake Zurich on destinationlakezurich.com. Lake Zurich needs to go ahead with a plan for the downtown that matches the size and scale of surrounding development. The destinationlakezurich.com plan does the best job of keeping Lake Zurich right sized with respect to its proximity to Chicago and its population.What role can the village board play in helping fill vacant storefronts in the community?Lake Zurich can provide different benefits depending on the particular area. Kildeer has long supported incentives for retailers. It will take financial incentives to atract businesses and developers. People seeking to open a business also need to know the Lake Zurich is a good place to do development projects or to remodel a business. Rightly or wrongly there is a perception among many developers and business owners that Lake Zurich is a difficult place to do business. If it is a matter of perception, the Village needs to communicate better; if there is more than perception at issues, we need to make sure our building codes and practices meet their objectives in a developer friendly manner.Are you in favor of spending the money needed to bring Lake Michigan water to Lake Zurich? Why or why not?No. We have invested millions of dollars to have our wells supply healty and safe water to our residents. There is no basis to believe that the wells cannot supply our needs indefinitely. Lake Michigan water supply is no more secure since it is susceptible to having resource limitations and in addition can become subject to much broader regulation and politics than a local water source. The Village has good water and needs to focus on other economic issues right now.