Christopher Borawski: 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: Long GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Long Grove Village Board (4-year Terms)Age: 50Family: Married to Laurie 21 years 3 Children, Clint, Curtis and Charles Long Grove Resident for 21 yearsOccupation: Director of Sales, Electronics IndustryEducation: Bachelor of Science Degree Electrical Engineering University of Illinois Chicago High School Gurden S Hubbard High, ChicagoCivic involvement: Buffalo Grove Recreation Associatio (BGRA) Volunteer Baseball Manager Long Grove Historical Society MemberElected offices held: Currently Long Grove Park District Board Member, 4 year term conlcudes in May Trustee Village of Long Grove, 4 year term Appointed Positions Held: Chairman Long Grove Plan Commission - 2 years Board Member Long Grove Plan Commission - 4 years Secretary Long Grove Plan Commission - 2 years Board Member Zoning Board of Appeals - 1 - yearHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoneCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Revitalize and reenergize Downtown Long Grove's historic business district. 6 years ago when I left the Village Board, the Village was financially sound and the target was to revitalize downtown Long Grove with a Streetscape project. You can see that currently the board is financially struggling and the downtown area has further deteriorated. The Village board and leadership needs to focus its energy on filling the vacancies in the downtown area with quality business and focus on street scape improvement that will once again restore the downtown area to a vibrant area that will attract both residents and visitors. One that we can be proud of.Key Issue 2 Maintain the Village of Long Grove no taxation policy. Although residents pay high taxes, they may not realize that the Village does not levy its own property tax on residents. Although the village is currently considering changing this policy with a new road improvement tax, I am running for Trustee to preserve the no tax policy and to keep the direction set forth in the Village Comprehensive Plan. I think the residents are taxed enough in Long Grove already, and the Village Board needs to do a better job of managing the money it already receives from housing start impact fees and sales taxes that are generated thru the businesses already in the Village.Key Issue 3 Traffic Issues. Improve the relationship between the Village and IDOT and Lake County, so that we can have better flow thru the Village during rush hours. Most traffic signals and roads are controlled by these other agencies. Village needs to work closely with them in order to improve the rush hour flow of traffic through our Village. The next Village Board should also focus its energy on deterring the future expansion of the Proposed 53 Expansion Tollway into Lake County that would divide our Village into two. Current Board has supported this expansion and we need to continue to voice our opposition to protect our property values from further decline, and also to preserve our quality of life.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Experience. I have served the Village in many volunteer and elected roles in the past. When I was last on the Village Board, the board was fiscally sound (with 2 years of reserves). The current Village board is struggling financially, has been irresponsible with funds, has failed to rebuild downtown Long Grove as promised, and continues to be irresponsible in its decisions. I will be a conservative voice on the board that will protect the Village limited funds, work on rebuilding downtown, keeping the no tax policy and preserving the fundamentals of the Village's Comprehensive Plan. Unique Viewpoint. Most of the current board and candidates all reside on the south end of the Village. I live on the north end of the Village and would take action on behalf of all residents of Long Grove. But I would also have the view and represent residents north of Route 22 who face different traffic challenges, road conditions, and service needs. We need board members from all areas of the Village to have good representation and generate ideas that represent all the Village.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.Village of Long Grove does not have full taxing authority as it is limited by the Home Rule laws. The current board however has chosen to give away some of the limited tax revenue we get to developers/businesses in the form of tax rebates as incentive for them to come to Long Grove. I think this practice needs to stop as the per capita income of Long Grove residents is high and should be incentive enough for good quality business to come to Long Grove. If we stop giving money away we should have enough operating income to run the Village properly as we have in the past.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.Long Grove is a safe place to life. Relationship with Lake County Sheriff has been working well over the years. Since the Village can not fund its own police force, obviously a tight relationship with Lake County sheriff continues to be most efficient way to provide police services. Traffic is big concern for me and the neighbors. Long Grove is a long narrow village and has very few north/south and east/west roads. Rush hour in the Village needs improved traffic flow.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?Village of Long Grove Revenues are very limited compared to other neighboring Villages. Efficiency in all its operations are important. When revenue tightens the Village Board needs to be prudent and align its staff expenditures with available funding.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?The Village Board should strengthen its relationship and cooperation with the many great volunteer organizations in the Village. The Village board should embrace the volunteers and utilize their energy. We have many great groups that should be working more closely together to improve the village. Village should take a leadership role, host and facilitate cooperation with all the groups in the Village.