Stephen E. Flint: 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: LombardWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lombard Elementary D44Age: 53Family: Married to Diana for 30 years. Son, Chadwick, 3rd year at Eastern Illinois University Daughter, Elizabeth, Freshman at Glenbard EastOccupation: Licensed Architect, Owner of an architectural firm - Flint Architects LLCEducation: Bachelor of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago, 1984Associates of Applied Science in Architectural Technology, Southern Illinois University, 1977Civic involvement: Lombard Plan Commission Member since 1989, Vice ChairVillage of Lombard Board of Appeals Committee MemberLombard Rotary Club Member, Past President, Paul Harris FellowMember of Lombard Chamber of Commerce, Past President 2000 and 20012000 Lombard Man of the YearLombard SD 44 Kathy Benard Friend Award, 2001Elected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Financial and Budget Issues. Making sure the dollars are spent efficiently.Key Issue 2 Facility Building Management. Making sure the buildings are used efficiently and maintained.Key Issue 3 Representing the tax payers. Making sure there is two-way communication between Lombard SD 44 and the parents tax payers.Questions Answers How satisfied are you that your district is preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?Lombard SD 44 continues to make great strides in making sure all children are educated. Continue to evaluate children that are having a difficult time learning early on. The earlier children are evaluated, the quicker they can get support such as one on one. Also, continue keeping teacher student ratios at manageable size so students continue to learn.What budget issues will the district have to confront? What measures do you support to address them? If cuts are needed, be specific about programs and expenses that should be reduced or eliminated. Do you support any tax increases for local schools?Lombard SD 44 needs to continue working within there budget. In these economic times, I do not support a tax increase until all cost cutting measures are evaluated and implemented. The tax cap also allows the school district to only raises the tax rate at a small percentage. Expenses need to be closely monitored.Is experience as a teacher or support from a union valuable because it suggests educational insights or detrimental because it creates pro-teacher bias? Please clarify whether you have such experience or would accept union support.Teacher or union experience would be valuable to any process. The facts need to be presented for any issue. The issue will then need to be addressed on a case by case. As a business owner, I bring negotiation experience to the table.As contract talks come up with various employee groups, what posture should the board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?The board should take a posture of keeping cost at a minimum. You need to look at the financial status of the district short term and long term. On the other side, if you want to keep good quality teachers, there needs to be some concessions. There has to be two-way communication. I would support a small increase in pay or benefits.If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?No, I would not. We need to keep salaries in check. There is a pension in place for when the superintendent or administrator retires. That just puts a burden on the pension system. I believe the law has changed to keep this from happening.