John Matuszak: 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: Mount ProspectWebsite: http://www.matuszakfortrustee.orgOffice sought: Mount Prospect Village Board (4-year Terms)Age: 50Family: Married, three childrenOccupation: Attorney for the U.S. NavyEducation: B.S. - Western Illinois University J.D. - DePaul University College of LawCivic involvement: Youth Sports Coach Boy Scout Leader Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor Member of the Mount Prospect LionsElected offices held: Trustee, Village of Mount ProspectHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Maintain fiscal responsibility of the budget and avoid high taxes. The families and residents of Mount Prospect are at their limits as to what they can afford in taxes. Keeping our taxes as low as possible is accomplished through efficient delivery of government services and establishing priorities for the village.Key Issue 2 Maintain a good quality of life for our residents. People move into the Village of Mount Prospect seeking a high quality life style. Our community offers great schools, easy transportation options and a dynamic business environment. Village government must do its part to maintain that quality of life.Key Issue 3 Determine best methods to attract and maintain businesses in Mount Prospect, and new lines of businesses such as internet based businesses. Developing and maintaining our business community has to be a priority. We are in a very competitive economic region and that requires a strong commitment from village government to determine approaches to attract new and maintain existing businesses.Questions Answers What's working at Village of Randhurst? What worries you about the Village of Randhurst? Talk about the rate of occupancy, the mix of businesses and the customer traffic. What can the village do to improve those things?The Village of Randhurst is working extremely well. It has a very high occupancy rate and great customer volume. Village government has and should continue to support this privately held development. The customer traffic appears by all counts to be meeting expectations. I have waited several times for a table at a restaurant due to high customer volume. We have and will continue to "partner" with the owners and managers at Randhurst to achieve economic success for these retail establishments.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.Our community's sales tax is comparable to other sales taxes in the region. All taxing bodies should seek means to lower taxes when possible, however, as the question recognizes government requires revenue to provide services like fire, police and public works. The key is to determine what government services are necessary, develop efficient means of delivering those services and then collect only the necessary revenue to pay for those services.Has the village's flooding issues been adequately addressed? Explain.The flooding issue is a region issue since flood waters do not adhere to municipal boundaries. The village's sewer system is the fist leg of a long journey to disperse of rain waters. The village has recognized that some of its sewers are inadequate and require upgrades. We have done an extensive engineering study to find the weak links in the system, developed a comprehensive plan to correct those issues, funded the repair of the system and will begin work on those issues shortly. While this will not solve all flooding during a major storm event, it will provide protection of homes during normal rain events. I am committed to improving our sewer system but I also recognize our funding limitations.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.Like any other municipality in the area, we have challenges with drugs, burglaries and street gangs. These are addressed through a good dialogue between the police department, the village manager and the village board. As a trustee, I review requests for resources by the police department and assure that those resources are being utilized efficiently. Additionally, we need to maintain a partnership with the schools, neighboring municipalities and others to assure potential crime issues are addressed as early as possible. This year we re-established our crime prevention division and added one officer to the force. The crime prevention officer is an effective tool to strengthening ties between the police department and the community.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?In Mount Prospect the budget is reviewed at least twice a year and more often if required. Mount Prospect has always been a fiscally disciplined community. Finding fat in the budget to trim is tough since the budget is lean to begin with. In 2010 substantial cuts were made to personnel - about 35 positions were eliminated. The impact of these cuts on services needs to be reviewed periodically to determine if staffing levels for any area needs to be adjusted. As a trustee, I regularly inform staff that if additional resources are necessary, they should approach the village board with those requests so we can deliver good quality services to our residents. When the police department requested one more officer, that request was supported. As of this date, it appears that the various departments have adequate resources.