Mary M. Papantos: 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: WheelingWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wheeling Village boardAge: 56Family: Divorced, two childrenOccupation: Candidate did not respond.Education: Bachelor of Science in Biology, Creighton University, 1976Master of Business Administration, Roosevelt University, 1984Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Reduction in spending by the Village. Working towards a balanced Village budget without increasing the tax burden on citizens.I don't believe the Village should be in the real estate business. Buying the Wickes property and Collins Fireplace building in this economy was not, in my opinion, a financially prudent decision. Control of what is built in these areas can be done with zoning laws, municipalities don't need to buy properties to control future building.Key Issue 2 Reduction in the amount of new building until vacant buildings within the Village are occupied. I don't think Wheeling will benefit from another partially occupied strip mall. Areas along Dundee Road need to be cleaned up and vacant buildings need to be occupied before construction of new strip malls is allowed.Key Issue 3 Reconsideration of how TIF funds are used. Currently the Northeast TIF has backed only two projects, the Westin and Prairie Park condominiums. The funds generated by properties developed with TIF funding should be used for development of other properties, not put back into the same properties. Listening to what residents want. Providing transperency to taxpayers regarding Village business. An agenda packet is provided online via the Village website, but it is incomplete.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I grew up in Wheeling and have lived here all my life. I chose to make Wheeling my home for myself and my children. I think Wheeling is a great place to live and if elected I will work to keep it that way for future generations and try to find ways to make it even better. Some things that I would like to see are more family entertainment areas (movie theaters, bowling alleys, bike paths away from traffic, community theater groups, etc.)I think I can provide some different ideas for making the town an even better place to live than it already is. I am willing to work with all other Trustees and different taxing bodies to realize these goals.Given the delicate balance between the need for revenue and over-taxing local businesses, what is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.Wheeling is right on the border of Lake County (a small portion of Wheeling is in Lake County), so the sales tax and the Restaurant Eating Tax, when coupled with high Cook County Taxes can drive consumers north into Lake County. If consumers choose to spend in Lake County, revenue decreases for Wheeling businesses and sales tax and retaurant eating tax revenues for the Village also decrease. Therefore, I believe local sales taxes are too high.Talking with your friends and neighbors, what seems to be their biggest public safety concern? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.While collecting signatures for the petition to appear on the ballot, no one expressed public safety concerns. I think it is good that Wheeling residents feel safe and secure in their town.Friends and neighbors have expressed concern with the number of vacant homes and businesses within Village limits and what happems inside these structures. Neighbors of vacant properties should be encouraged to contact Wheeling police whenever they notice anything out of the ordinary at any vacant building.In these tight economic times, municipal budgets have to be prioritized. Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The current Wheeling budget provides for over $200,000.00 for seasonal help. While I am sure seasonal help work hard, I would like that amount, at the very least, cut in half. Most of the seasonal help provide late spring/early summer help in planting flowers to help beautify Village owned parks and property. Instead of hiring seasonal help for the entire summer, the time could be reduced. I would rather see a reduction in seasonal help than a reduction in fulltime staff.Early retirement incentives have additional costs beyond the program cost. The incentive amount is included in salary when computing retirement benfits for IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund). IMRF must be fully funded, early retirement incentives cost the Village a substantial amount. I would eliminate early retirement incentives.Sick leave buy back. The total budgeted is $58,535.00. Unpopular, I know, but I would change the guidelines and cut this amount in half. Once again, this can be used to pad pensions in IMRF. Longevity payments. Long ago, in a time when the economy was strong, and people could demand high salaries, a thing called longevity payments, loyalty rewards, years of service awards, etc. came to be. The theory was that good employees could go to other companies and get more money or a better job. To keep these employees, who in many cases had expertise and knowledge that was not available anywhere else, private companies came up with incentive programs to keep these employees. In the current economic environment, when people can't find a job, the longevity payments the Village is paying out seem out of line. The 2011 budget includes $86,500 for longevity payments. I would eliminate longevity payments unless required by a union contract. If required by contract, that should be renegotiated when the contract comes up for renewal.Areas that are underfunded:The Senior Center in Wheeling is outdated and too small to service the Seniors in Wheeling. Seniors have been promised a new building for years, but nothing happens. The new Village Hall and Public Works buildings are quite large, I would like to see if space could be allocated to Seniors in one of these buildings.I would like to see work done to alleviate traffic on Dundee, specifically, some sort of underpass or overpass around the railroad tracks. While the cost would probably be extremely high, I feel staff should be directed to investigate the availability of federal funds and grants. Improving traffic flow along Dundee would benefit residents and businesses. What#146;s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to see regular (at least quarterly) town hall meetings where residents can ask questions, provide ideas for the community and receive feedback. The current Village board meetings provide a time for citizen concerns and comments but no interaction with the Board of Trustees occurs, no follow up to questions raised is publicly provided.