Pat Horcher: 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://not yetOffice sought: Wheeling Village President (4-year Term)Age: 49Family: Married Wife is Stacey this year will be 20 years 2 children oldest is Asher my daughter a sr. at B.G High School. Second is Patrick he is a sophmore.Occupation: Florist and I manage the family greenhouses on McHenry Rd across from Walmart.Education: Graduated from Wheeling High School 1981. Attended Harper Jr. College until 1994 taking an assortment of courses for business such as accounting, plant disease and pest control, Landscape design. And courses just to learn like philosophies, law, and artCivic involvement: Member of Cook County Farm Bureau Board of Directors since about 1995. Member of the Chamber of commerce since about the same time.Elected offices held: Village of Wheeling Trustee 1995 through 2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Getting the Village finances in order.Key Issue 2 Providing some stability and clear direction for the staff so the Board and residents may be better served.Key Issue 3 I'll be very happy if I can get the budget drama under control and staff doing their jobs without undo anxiety about board politics.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?Economic Development attracts businesses, guides them through the approval process, and works to keep them here while inspectors "interpret" code and the board plays "Sim city" with real people. Wheeling should keep encouraging business to come to town. We should find and offer businesses all the tax benefits we can but also offer benefits for business to business activities in town and maybe some recognition for outstanding businesses. More carrot, less stick.Do you agree with how the village has spent its TIF dollars? How would you spend them going forward?There has been too much emphasis on residential development with T.I.F $. Retail and commercial properties pay the bills. Wheeling needs to increase our commercial and industrial presence in the suburbs.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?Our businesses pay our bills. Police and firemen must be paid, without a strong economic base public safety will suffer. The Village has a citizens patrol and citizens police academy where residents can learn to contribute to their community. There are neighborhood watch programs, D.A.R.E. programs, and school safety officers. We have an outstanding police and fire department. Inspite of all these programs we still have gangs, drugs and violence and abuses. I think there will always be some level of the unsavory elements of/in life, but Wheeling is not headed into any sort of criminal or cultural oblivion. Alot of people are still happy to invest here and call Wheeling home.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.Sales tax in Wheeling is high. Something should be done about it. Unfortunately only 2% of the 9% non-food sales tax comes to Wheeling. I'm not sure of the food sales tax breakdown, and I know restaurants are taxed higher than non-food. If Wheeling elimated our non-food sales tax that would make us competitive with Lake county but we would receive nothing. I don't know the solution to the problem but the County will have to be a part of it.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 concerns change with the seasons. Spring and Summer are gang recruitment season. Storms still knock down power lines around town that can take days to restore. We have areas in town that flood regularly. None of these are secrets. All of these have either programs or projects being undertaken, or proceedures established to address them as they come along. I'm sure I don't know what all the problems are but I will also not get in the way of solving them. I look forward to being Wheelings lead servant.