Lake County board hopefuls cite cost cutting as issue
After 15 years, a change is in store for residents in the far southwestern part of Lake County, as longtime county board member Stevenson Mountsier opts not to run for re-election.
With the exit of Mountsier, three Republican hopefuls tout varying degrees of government experience in hopes of becoming the party’s choice in the March 20 primary election for District 17 county board member and forest preserve commissioner.
In the hunt are: Nick Sauer, 29, of Lake Barrington, elected in 2009 as a member of the Barrington Unit District 220 school board and partner in a family owned business that distributes kitchen cabinets; Dan Quick, 57, a retired former village administrator and police chief in his hometown of Wauconda, as well as a former local school and park board member; and, Mary Schorr, 48, of Wauconda, a controller/construction manager for an excavating business, as well as an accountant and real estate broker, who has served as a Wauconda Township trustee since 2009.
Although the 2012 county budget is $17 million less than the 2009 budget, cost cutting is at or near the top of the to-do list of all the Republican hopefuls.
Quick cites his extensive experience in public administration and in public office and a desire to continue being involved in the community.
While the county has done a “pretty good job” of reducing the budget the past two years, Quick says he wants to be part of future cost saving measures and efficiencies with the goal of reducing the tax rate and maintaining the AAA bond rating.
How the county provides services should be examined, and anything outside the core mission outlined in the county’s strategic plan “is open for discussion,” he added.
Sauer said he became interested in politics at an early age and grew up knowing public service was important. He said District 220 has trimmed $6 million from its budget during his tenure, and continuous analysis of staffing and possible budget cuts is also needed at the county.
“I think there are some sacred cows in that budget and it needs to be combed through,” Sauer said. “We need to have balanced budgets but we need to make some cuts.”
Streamlining personnel, responsibilities and programs at the Lake County Health Department potentially could produce substantial savings, he said. Consolidating the offices of recorder of deeds and county clerk is another possibility, he added.
Schorr said she became involved in local issues in the mid-1990s when she successfully fought a proposal for a contractor’s yard near her home and in 2009 called for voters to have a say in a Wauconda Unit District 118 cash bond issue.
She said Wauconda Township reduced its most recent tax levy by 27 percent. Citing an extensive financial background, Schorr said she would approach the county budget as operating a business rather than a government entity.
“I just think we can do better with the taxpayers’ money,” she said.
No Democrat is on the primary ballot but the party can field a candidate in the November general election.
District 17 includes Barrington Hills, Fox River Grove, Island Lake, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Port Barrington, Tower Lakes, most of Wauconda and a small part of Hawthorn Woods.