Ronald A. Lau: 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: Village of North AuroraWebsite: https://sites.google.com/site/ronaldalaufortrustee/Office sought: North Aurora Village boardAge: 40Family: I'm a husband and father of two. My wife Lisa and I have been married since 1995. My daughter Sabrina was born in 1997, and my son Alexander was born in 2003.Occupation: Manager, Process EngineeringEducation: BS in Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1993MS in Engineering Science, Purdue University, 2001Civic involvement: Cub Scout Den LeaderElected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The Village of North Aurora must be business friendly to maintain our tax base. Preventing a retailer such as Walmart from locating in our village because they are non-union is unwise. The people of North Aurora can vote with their wallets when it comes to which businesses they feel deserve their support. Such a business in North Aurora would have provided jobs for our teenagers and Senior Citizens that did not require car drives to other towns. The direct and indirect tax revenue would have been welcome. The millions of dollars of tax income would have given the Board the opportunity to rebate taxes to citizens, and provide extra police protection that Walmart was willing to pay for.All of the things we as a community choose to provide through the local government rely on the taxes collected from both our residents and businesses. Schools, roads, utilities, services, police, fire protection and snow removal all have to be paid for. Revenue from businesses in North Aurora must be a part of our our tax base to keep the burden on individuals as low as possible. The anti-business attitude demonstrated in the Walmart situation has serious consequences. Recently, East Alton lost a company and 1000 jobs to Mississippi. According to a company news release, Mississippi provided ""significant incentives"" to entice the manufacturer to expand production near a current Olin plant. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration is soon to launch an ad campaign encouraging businesses in IL to relocate to the Garden State. This follows a personal appeal in the form of letters to 553 IL based companies from the Lt. Gov Kim Guadagno. ""Maintaining a good business climate has never been more important. Thanks to the Internet, the collapse of communism around the world, and advances in shipping and logistics, capital and labor are much more mobile than in the past. Businesses must bid for customers and workers not only from local competitors but from businesses in other communities, in other states, and even in other countries. Small changes in taxes, regulations, and other cost-drivers can lead to businesses losing customers and possibly failing or relocating"" - Joseph L. BastWe each have to make decisions that we feel will provide the greatest benefit to ourselves, our families, and those we love. The decisions that the Democrat leadership in IL have made will push these decisions toward other towns and other states. I don't want to move away from the Village of North Aurora. I love our village and the Fox River Valley. This is my home, where I want to raise my family, and where I want to work. I will do what I can to ensure that the Village of North Aurora remains a vibrant community that's view of the future is one of promise and opportunity.Key Issue 2 The recent increase in the IL state income tax, as well as the corporate tax will affect the Village of North Aurora negatively. Everyone in the village that earns a paycheck now has 2% less income. This at a time when wages have been mostly flat. Every business in our village now has an additional burden placed upon it, and an incentive to relocate out of IL to neighboring states.The Village of North Aurora Board of Trustees should not be adding to this burden on families and businesses. To this end, new spending by the village must be restricted. The uncertain business climate in IL created by the state tax increases makes long term investments of tax dollars an unacceptable risk. Discretionary spending should be limited to projects with less than a two year return on investment.The village should also be petitioning the State Government, through the County Government and our local IL State politicians to lower the tax burden on IL families.Tax money does not belong to the government that collects it. It is lent to the government by the people that earn it, and the government has the responsibility of spending it, or not spending it, wisely. Budgets are not supposed to be a tally of all the things the politicians want to buy.Key Issue 3 The Fox River and the river bank are a gift from God that must be protected. The contribution they make to the quality of life in North Aurora is profound. I am opposed to development of the riverbank for any purpose other than recreation. I am opposed to the removal of any dam on the Fox River. I am in full support of increased access to the Fox River and Bike Trails. This includes safe pedestrian and bicycle crossings on Route 25 and 31.Questions Answers Is it time for the village to hire a village administrator again, or is the setup with President Dale Berman working fine? Explain. What are the advantages and disadvantages?The village should be reducing spending not increasing it. The recent IL 67% tax increase on income will affect everyone in the Village of North Aurora, and add uncertainty to the business climate all of IL. Adding a village administrator salary to the budget is not wise given current economic conditions.Should the village proceed with remodeling the old police station into expanded space for village administration? Explain.The expanded space for village administration is needed. However, given the current economic uncertainty created by the recent increase in IL taxes, the village should not be spending any tax payer funds on discretionary spending such as remodeling the old police station. It is troubling that the board did not include this expense in the budgeting of the new police station. I'm sure a few square feet of new police station (or firing range) could have been sacrificed and the money saved used to remodel the old station for administrative purposes. The village board has been able to operate with the space it has, and can do so for a few more years. If the board decides to go through with the renovation, what could help is to contact labor unions who have training programs that might offer the possibility of getting some segments of the project done for the cost of the materials only. In any case, such renovations should be limited.It#146;s been said spiffing up downtown is nearly impossible because many property owners don#146;t seem to care about participating because their rentals make money as they are. What would you do, if anything?If the property owners are making money as they are, then there is no pressing need for 'spiffing up' downtown other than a desire for aesthetics. The business and property owners are fully capable of deciding for themselves what aesthetic improvements will create a sufficient return on investment.The way to improve the appearance of downtown is to create a business environment that will attract new businesses. The village is currently pursing this philosophy by promoting the development of the The Rt. 31 'TIF District' which includes properties with frontage on Rt. 31/Lincoln Highway, bounded roughly by Oak Street on the North, the Fox River Trail on the east, Sullivan Road on the south and the Burlington Northern Railroad on the west.The village also currently has a 'Revolving Loan Fund' specifically for such improvements, but this program must be monitored and it should be self financing from an initial seeding.What does this question suggest be done? Use Eminent Domain to seize property that doesn't meet the architectural standards of the 7 board members? The town of Wheaton has done some things in the name of 'spiffing up' their downtown. One of which was to condemn and seize an empty building. This building was privately owned and was paying property taxes. The lot is still empty and the property is no longer generating property tax revenue. The town board of Weaton has also placed a non-binding referendum on the ballot to find out whether or not the public supports their push for public funding of the Wheaton Grand Theater, in disregard of reports on its un-sustainability. As candidate for Wheaton City Councilman At-Large Jeanne Ives notes: ""It is not a question of the public supporting the theater as much as a question of the TAXPAYERS supporting the theater through the tax system. The public could have supported it anytime in the last 10 years by simply writing a check to the Grand Theater Corporation (GTC) or fundraising with them. But, not only has the public not supported this as individuals, even banks would not issue revenue bonds without a guaranteed backstop (taxpayer) funding if the revenue was not there - and that was after the banks' review of the very optimistic Johnson Consulting Report."" We should not make these same mistakes. Tax money is for protection, infrastructure, and delivery of city services. If elected, I will use this principal when voting on the use of taxpayer money.Why should or shouldn't people be allowed to keep a limited amount of hen chickens in their backyards?They should not be allowed because chicken coops would only lead to conflict between neighbors. What happens when a chicken gets eaten by a coyote or fox? Will the town or county be called out to protect people's chickens from predators? Who will pay for that? What happens when a coyote, attracted by the chickens, starts killing people's dogs? Will the village get sued for its part in attracting such predators to people's backyards? Chickens only lay eggs for 3 years. What happens to the chickens after that? Farmers eat them after this period. Are we going to let people butcher their chickens in their backyard?I would not risk getting egg on our faces and would vote no to this idea.We have wonderful rural neighborhoods to the west of us. Surely people who want to raise chickens can form a co-op and raise as many chickens as they want without creating a nuisance for their neighbors.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one else is talking about?A ""No Insurance"" ordinance similar to the one recently passed in Dallas Texas would protect our citizens from uninsured drivers. This ordinance would state that if you are pulled over by law enforcement and not able to provide proof of insurance, your car will be towed right away. To retrieve your car after being impounded, you must require proof of insurance to have your car released. Not only must you provide proof of insurance to have your car released, you have to pay for the cost of the tow, possibly a fine, and be charged a daily rate for every day your car is in the lot. The ""No Insurance"" ordinance has made it easy for Dallas to remove uninsured cars from the roads. Shortly after ""No insurance"" ordinance was passed, the Dallas impound lots began to fill up quickly and were full after nine days. The city is also planning on auctioning off un-claimed cars on Ebay. http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/drivers-without-insurance-will.html