Morris G. Bartlett: 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: BensenvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bensenville Village boardAge: 64Family: Married to Nancy L Bartlett for 40 years,4 children: Lesley (38); Derick (35) and twins - Erica Andrea (32) 3 Grandchildren: Ryan (18), Samatha (13) and Charles (2)Occupation: Managing Partner at COLLECTION EXCELLENCE LLC 1100 N Ellis Street, 2nd Floor Bensenville, Il. 60106 Pho: 630-422-1972 Previous 37 years in banking and financeEducation: Elmhurst College/business and financeCivic involvement: Bensenville Lodge #1159 AFAM/Past Worshipful Master 2010Medinah Shriners/MemberMedinah Car Club/Parade DirectorDuPage Shrine Club/Member/Past President 2009Illinos Camaro Club/MemberSummer Knights Car Club/MemberNorthern Illinois Chevelle Club/MemberUnited State Marine 1966-1969Wounded Heroes Foundation/MemberElected offices held: Currently: Village Trustee of Bensenville 2009-2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Working as a Village Trustee to improve the lives of the residents, business owners and the village.Key Issue 2 It has been a high priority and remains a high priority, that we keep the Village on a solid financial footing. It is our duty to safeguard the taxpayers money. I am vigilant about budget discipline and controlled spending. We have made great strides the last two years, but the economic realities demand that we continue a conservative/watchful eye on the approach to the Village finances.Key Issue 3 Government can't operate in the dark. We must continue to provide transparent government for the citizens of Bensenville, with the ability to express concerns at the Board Meeting and ability to speak to village employees about issues of concern. We have made more services and information available on-line. I want to see us make the best use of technology to keep all our citizens informed and also to simply our processes. Continue to make sure we make all our decisions in the most open and transparent form.Questions Answers Now that the village has settled with the city of Chicago over expansion of O'Hare Airport, what more can leaders do to facilitate its comeback from all the adversity the O'Hare fight entailed?We now need to capitalize on the benefits our proximity to the airport, which it offers now and in the future. If we take proper advantage and position ourselves as an international business destination, we will grow our tax base. This will help us provide high quality services to our residents and business owners and also lower the property tax burden on homeowners.Is the $11 million that will be used to improve the industrial park the best use of borrowed funds? What should be a priority?This is an excellent investment in our future. Our business park has higher vacancies than those in our neighboring communities, in large part due to crumbling infrastructure. The revitalization of this area and attracting new investment and therefore, tax revenue, will pay long term dividends to our residents and taxing bodies.How do you propose keeping Bensenville a viable residential community with all the industrial growth and expansion of O'Hare airport happening near the village?We as a village govenmnet have to monitor and maintain a vision of where and what growth should happen. An increase in business and industry will actually serve to help us create even more attractive residential neighborhoods and allow us to offer more services to residents at lower costs.Once the $64 million project begins to fix the bottleneck of Irving Park and York roads and the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks, what is the best way to alleviate the effect construction will have on local businesses?There are some inherent construction effects that will be short lived negatives. We have to work with the effected businesses to mitigate these effects. In the long term, this will be of great benefit to these businesses, to residents, the Village and the region.Bensenville teamed up with Wood Dale and Elmhurst to create Liberty Fest last year for Fourth of July. What else could the village do to maintain the quality of life in this tough economy while also cutting costs?We need to expand our partnerships so that we can continue to share resources and reduce costs. Governments need to follow business models in increasing productivity, eliminating duplication of services and adding efficiencies. I support these efforts and will work to increase these levels of cooperation.