Franco Coladipietro: 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: BloomingdaleWebsite: http://www.votefranco.comOffice sought: Bloomingdale Village President (4-year Term)Age: 44Family: Married; Amy, wife. Two children; Alyssa JoeyOccupation: Attorney; Partner, Law Firm of Amari LocalloEducation: B.S. Finance, Northern Illinois University, 1990 J.D. The John Marshall Law School, 1993 Admitted to practice law in Illinois and New YorkCivic involvement: Board Member, Bloomingdale Chamber of Commerce, current Previously served on the Boards of the Glen Oaks Hospital Foundation and DuPage Area Community Project.Elected offices held: Illinois State Representative, 2007-2012Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Promote economic development in the Village and foster an improved partnership with our business community.Key Issue 2 Develop an immediate and long term action plan for re-development in the Village with a focus on Stratford Square, Old Town, and the Lake Street corridor.Key Issue 3 Provide residents with more opportunities to provide feedback through greater access and improve inter-governmental relationships to share costs and provide services at lower costs. The answers to all three campaign issues share a common theme to increase the business tax base in our village so that we can limit or even reduce the property tax burden to all of our residents, especially those seniors on fixed incomes. A strong business base will keep village services at a high level while reducing the village's dependence on property taxes.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Bloomingdale's rapid growth phase is over and we are entering a new era that requires a new approach. I have the energy and a balanced array of business, community and legislative connections to steer our village forward effectively. I am invested heavily in the community; I am proudly raising my family here, I built my law firm here, and I represented Bloomingdale in Springfield. I left a promising legislative career to more closely connect to my family and my community. I understand the frustrations of businesses, the changing nature of real estate, the strength of charitable organizations and the politics of DuPage County and Springfield. It takes a partnership with all these segments of our community to move the village forward. I work well with people and am serious and committed to transitioning Bloomingdale into a competitive new era. We need new vision and new energy to make sure Bloomingdale remains a great place to live and work.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.The main issue relative to sales taxes in the Village is the need to spur economic development and increase the level of sales tax revenue through growth of new businesses in our community. Business development and business growth is something that requires an active vision and implementation plan. Similar to the efforts of the county with their "Choose DuPage" program, my intent is to reallocate resources and manpower to make this a Village priority.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.Issues related to providing a safe environment for our children, including our schools, park districts and libraries. Related to those concerns are social media issues and the prevention of bullying. The availability of information through the internet and increased use of smart phones at an earlier age present ongoing issues relative to the safety of our children and potential for misuse. These issues are truly ones where a community acting together through education programs and communication can serve to maintain a safe environment for our children.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?I would look to reallocate manpower and budget resources to focus on business development in our community. For example, the job descriptions of several higher level positions would include the responsibility of active solicitation on the part of the Village for new businesses to locate in many of the vacant storefronts. Additionally, we will devote manpower and current resources to formally adopt an aggressive grant writing effort to take advantage of resources that are available, outside of our tax base, to fund programs and initiatives in our community. The open space land recently acquired by the Village would be a potential beneficiary of this attention to grant writing.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I will establish the Bloomingdale Mayor's Advisory Council. The Council will be comprised of representatives from our Homeowner's Associations, business community, social service providers and intergovernmental partners. The Council will meet to discuss current Village initiatives and to solicit feedback regarding how to improve our community. This participation and input from the members of the Council will serve to strengthen our community.