Dean Argiris: 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: WheelingWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Wheeling Village President (4-year Term)Age: 53Family: Wife Marian married 31 years Son Sam 25 Daughter Alexandra 22Occupation: Mortgage Broker Forum Mortgage Bancorp in Chicago Funeral Industry work for John G Adinamis Funeral Services in Des Plaines.Education: 1980 Graduate Worsham Mortuary Science Degree Oakton Community College 1977 Graduate Maine East High School Park Ridge,IllCivic involvement: Board of Director Chicago Executive Airport 2010 to Present Board of Director Red Center 911 FIRE Dispatch 2009 to Present Member Wheeling Historical Society Board of Director Wheeling/Prospect Hts Chamber of Commerce 2006-2008Elected offices held: 2001-Present Village of Wheeling Trustee 1997-2001 Village of Wheeling Plan Commissioner ( Chairman 1999-2001. ****Acting Village of Wheeling President September 2008 thur May 2009...Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Economic development. We all benefit from a local economy that's strong and vibrant. The village has effective tools to help make this happen, and it should be aggressive about using them.Key Issue 2 Leadership. The Village President's job is to make sure that the board and staff are working together as a team. It's also important to reach out to other taxing bodies and look for opportunities to cooperate for the benefit of the whole community. Example possibly working with the Park District for a new facility programs for the growing Senior population...Key Issue 3 Transparency. The village should work hard to communicate with its residents businesses and explain how it sets policies and makes decisions.Questions Answers What should be the relationship between the village and businesses? Should the village encourage busineses to move to town and if so how? What types of support should the village give new or existing businesses?Promoting economic development is one of the village's main responsibilities. When new businesses come to town or current businesses grow, they create new revenue for the Village, which reduces our residents' share of the tax burden. They also create new jobs and make Wheeling an even better place to live and do business. The village should use all the tools it has, such as TIF funds, 6B tax incentives, facade improvement grants, etc. It should also work with the state and the county to create appropriate help and incentives for current and future Wheeling businesses.Do you agree with how the village has spent its TIF dollars? How would you spend them going forward?The village has been effective in using TIF financing, and the record proves that. Supporting developments like the Westin, Prairie Park,Fresh Farms, Millbrook, Astor Place, International Aviation, One Milwaukee Place to name a few of many projects has been a good investment for the village, and has helped the other taxing bodies too, by increasing property values and attracting more development to town. TIF funds should be used in the future to create development in critical areas, such as the Wickes and Kmart sites and the area around the airport. TIF funds have been very helpful with putting in infrastructure in many blighted areas within the districts and help improve our streetscape image throughout many of the districts as well...What are other issues facing Wheeling? Does Wheeling put too much emphasis on economic development and not enough on issues such as public safety? How would you rate quality of life for Wheeling residents?Putting public safety and other core services up against economic development is a false choice. The village can and should do both at the same time. In fact economic development means we're able to provide even more excellent service to our residents by creating new revenues that benefit the village, the schools, the park district, the library, etc. This is by far the best thing the village can do to increase the already excellent quality of life of its residents.Given the delicate balance between the need for revenue and over-taxing local businesses, what is your opinion of Wheeling's present level of local sales taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.History shows that Wheeling's tax rates have been very reasonable. The share of a Wheeling tax bill that goes to the village is actually pretty small (approx.10 percent), but we've worked hard to keep the burden we put on taxpayers to a minimum. We tightened our belts and levied a zero-percent increase in the two worst years of the recession, and it was painful but it was the right thing to do. Our goal now and in the future should be to diversify our sources of revenue to help our community grow without asking property owners to sacrifice more than their fair share.What are the village's biggest public safety concerns? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.The biggest concern is maintaining our public safety core services. Our police officers, firefighters Public Works Departments do a tremendous job of protecting the welfare of our residents, and it's important for the village to provide them with the equipment and training they need to do their jobs.