Judy Abruscato: 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: http://www.electjudy.comOffice sought: Wheeling Village President (4-year Term)Age: 78Family: Married 52 years (Mario), 2 children (Valerie 51, Tony 48), 2 grandchildren (Nicholas 17, Jackson 12).Occupation: Bank Manager, Assistant Vice PresidentEducation: Candidate did not respond.Civic involvement: Wheeling Rotary Club, Wheeling Chamber of Commerce, Wheeling Garden Club, Wheeling Historical Society, Wheeling Senior Center Foundation.Elected offices held: Wheeling Village Trustee 1987-2009, Wheeling Village President 2009- CurrentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continued development and enhancement of available properties, such as the Dundee Road Corridor. New businesses and mixed-use developments will help stabilize our tax base and provide an even greater quality of life for our residents.Key Issue 2 Development of a new Fire House on McHenry Road to service the residents and business on the west side of town.Key Issue 3 Improved fiscal management and better planning of Village finances and the decisions associated with the long term operational management of the Village.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?The Village should be a resource and planning partner to local businesses, both new and existing. The Village staff needs to work to create new business opportunities within the Village and actively solicit new businesses that will best meet the needs of the residents. The VIllage has current programs in place such as the tax-increment-financing (TIF) districts, facade rebate programming and the comprehensive land use plan. These existing tools need to be further enhanced to actively promote and solicit new businesses to Wheeling. The retention of existing businesses and the solicitation of new businesses will not only provide the needed services to residents but generate new tax revenues as well.Do you agree with how the village has spent its TIF dollars? How would you spend them going forward?Yes I would agree with how the TIF dollars have been spent. Going forward I would like to see TIF dollars being used in the development of additional mixed use projects.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?The Village is facing several issues pertaining to fiscal solvency and the balance of services provided. The attraction of new businesses to Wheeling is essential to help maintain current tax revenues and assist in offsetting the decreases in property tax revenues derived through the foreclosure of properties as part of the national housing crisis. Further the decisions made by the existing board of trustees of the Village pertaining to the tax levy rates in prior years has caused the VIllage to be faced with issues related to decreasing services or increasing taxes. The Village has an exemplary public safety record and has been able to maintain a higher quality of life for its residents. Like most things in life balance is the key and continual reassessments should be made to evaluate both economic development and public safety.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.The 1% sales tax level in Wheeling is comparable to other home-rule municipalities. The sales tax levels received could better impacted if Wheeling was more successful in attracting new retail business that currently require residents to shop outside the Village.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 west side of the VIllage is currently underserved by fire protection. And the police department is being faced with new gang-related activities from both local members and those traveling in from outside the VIllage. The Village needs to be proactive in its approach to public safety and having an additional west-side fire station will allow for greater coverage and quicker response to those in need. The time to react is not after a tragedy, but to address the current and future needs of this area. The police are doing an excellent job in addressing the changing criminal activities within the VIllage, but additional training and perhaps additional officers may be required to maintain the current safety levels achieved to date.