Lawrence Hanson: 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: AntiochWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Antioch Mayor (4-year Term)Age: 53Family: Single, Both parents still alive, 6 brothers and sisters, 13 nieces and nephews.Occupation: Manager Bj's Fashions For Men, Downtown Antioch for the past 37 years/Education: High school graduated from Antioch Community High In 1978,went on to College of Lake county took Accounting and Basic Business Courses over several years.Civic involvement: Two term past president of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce: Antioch Lions Club Member for 20 years. Charter member of CAN (Community Action Now), a downtown development corporation for the revitalization of downtown Antioch; chairman of the Downtown Retail Association. Recent member of the Antioch Rotary Club.Elected offices held: Served the people of Antioch as a Village Trustee for 14 years and currently Mayor of AntiochHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NeverCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Fiscal responsibility. We need to keep reducing costs through sound budgeting, reduction of staff and restructuring of contracts while ensuring first class delivery of services. For example, we have recently restructured our insurance package, saving very substantial sums in our liability hazard and Work Comp.totaling over a Million Dollars over the past two years. Balancing the budget while providing the level of service that the residents deserve takes experience, tact and skill. Generating new revenue without burdening the taxpayer is a key to future stability.Key Issue 2 Public safety. Providing top level services without increasing the cost to the taxpayer is trickier than ever. We need to continue innovating and implementing improvements. Examples of what we've done include the restructuring of the police department to provide more police officers on the street and expanding the neighborhood watch while reducing overall costs. We closed our dispatch center and joined CENCOM, which will save the Village millions over the next several years. Working with the First Fire District, we found a way to man Fire Station Two, which greatly increases the coverage in the eastern area of Antioch, but without the cost of full time firefighters.Key Issue 3 Updating the Village's infrastructure, equipment and other capital systems to attract new opportunities and serve existing needs. We must carefully invest in upgrades to keep our quality of life and property values high. I recently spearheaded the development of a formal strategic plan to quantify, address and prioritize the physical assets of the village. We need to always think of the future while respecting our heritage and the needs of current citizensQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I strive to develop the best teams to tackle problems. I work with people on our boards and in our staff to come up with innovative solutions to 21st Century problems. I work hard to use every persons' talents and give them the respect and tools they need to excel. In my view, true leadership listens and empowers, respectfully and with humility. As promised 4 years ago, I delivered on all campaign pledges and exceeded beyond expectations.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.We are not a home-rule community and do not have the power to impose sales taxes beyond what is set by the State of Illinois. I see no reason that this should be changed. Government needs to live within its means. The Village of Antioch current budget represents over 30% sales tax revenue. So to increase revenues I encourage marketing the community to help increase traffic for shopping in Antioch for their goods and services to ultimately increase sales tax revenue, ie Auto, food, general merchandise,services.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.Getting our police department restructured so that we got more police officers out onto the street made a big difference in preventing gang infiltration into Antioch. We have improved neighborhood watch programs also, but continuing to integrate policing into the fabric of our community is the key to keeping our citizens safe.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?We have trimmed the budget significantly. We've reduced staff by 1/3 over the last 4 years. We've cut our liability and work comp insurance costs dramatically by focusing on safety. We must continue showing restraint in borrowing to keep debt service at a minimum. With the staff reductions, however, we are near the limit of what can be done from a personnel perspective. As such, we need to look into more public-private partnerships and intergovermental cooperation initiatives. We should, however, continue to invest in more modern equipment as this increases efficiency in terms of delivering services, and provides greater safety to our staff. We also need to keep investing in our roads, bridges and public buildings as they are the things each of us encounters and deals with every day of the year.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?We need to think about sustainable, local or public space for recreation, education and food production. This could help our economy by keeping dollars local. It can provide jobs for our young people and attract more tourism. As a starting point, the community garden is a huge success and that concept could be expanded to promote healthy living and economic development, particularly since Antioch is blessed with such an abundance of natural resources.