Sean Michels: 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: Sugar GroveWebsite: http://www.michelsforsugargrove.comOffice sought: Sugar Grove President (4-year Term)Age: 49Family: Married to Valerie for 26 years, 4 Children: Abby, Nicholas, Madelyn, and SophieOccupation: Project Manager for McCue Builders, Inc.Education: MBA from Aurora University BS in Finance and Economics from Illinois State University AS from Waubonsee Community College Kaneland High School GraduateCivic involvement: Sugar Grove Park District Coach Metro West Council of GovernmentElected offices held: Village President 1999 to Present Village Trustee 1997 to 1999 Sugar Grove Park District Trustee 1995 to 1997Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The number one issue is to continue to work to reduce the real estate taxes that Sugar Grove residents pay. I word it this way because real estate taxes go to more entities than just the Village of Sugar Grove. It is my goal to bring in additional businesses that pay property taxes that will reduce the taxes that residents pay to all of the different taxing bodies. We have been successful over the past four years in having various retail and commercial businesses open in the Village. These businesses are a beginning to diversifying our tax base, but more is needed. The Village has invested into the necessary infrastructure to accommodate new commercial development. We now need the economy to pick up so that businesses will consider locating in Sugar Grove. Another significant contribution to this goal will be completing the interchange at I88 and Rt. 47 where commercial development is planned.Key Issue 2 A second issue is to get an Impact Fee Agreement signed with the Kaneland School District. Developers realize that good school districts sell homes. Without a good school district, potential home buyers will look elsewhere to purchase a home. There are towns in the area that are charging impact fees greater than what is proposed by the Kaneland School District, and those towns continue to sell homes. Sugar Grove needs to enter into the same agreement that the other towns in the District have approved. This will ensure that new development pays for itself.Key Issue 3 Another significant issue that faces the Village is completing the developments where the developers have gone bankrupt. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers and most of the issues need to be settled in court, which makes the process longer. The Village has been willing to work with the Bond companies or Banks to get necessary improvements done so that their obligations are completed and the law suits can be dropped. The problem is that some of the groups feel it is cheaper to go to court than it is to make the improvements. We realize that the residents of the subdivisions are caught in the middle, but the Village is also caught in a predicament. If the Village makes the improvements, this relieves the Bank from paying the Village back, but if improvements are not made soon, significantly more money will need to be spent because the road base will fail and need to be completely replaced. We continue to meet with any potential developer that offers to come in and take over these projects, understanding that it is better to get work done than make the lawyers rich.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I am the best candidate for Village President because of my vision for the future of the Village. I work hard every day to make Sugar Grove a better place to live, work, and raise a family. I consistently work with the Village Board and staff to set goals that keep moving the Village forward. I realize that the decisions that are made today will have a long lasting effect on the Village into the future. Further, we have set high development standards to make sure that Sugar Grove is a premier community and that there are logical transitions between land uses. We have set smart growth standards to allow for cluster developments to save the rural landscape that so many have moved to Sugar Grove to enjoy. Under my tenure as Village President, the village board and I have worked hard to plan for the Village's future. We have a Land Use Plan that describes where we envision commercial, retail and residential development. We have a comprehensive infrastructure and transportation plan that identifies where our current infrastructure is, as well as, where the infrastructure needs to be extended. I believe it is important to plan for the future, so when development comes to the Village, we can react quickly to a development request.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.In general, I believe all taxes can be lowered, but at this time, I feel that our sales tax rate is at an acceptable level. The nice thing about a sales tax, is that anyone that shops in town pays the tax. We figure that over half of the sales tax is generated from people that live outside of the Village. We are fortunate in that we continue to see an increase in our sales tax as we open new businesses along Rt. 47 and in the Waubonsee Corporate Center. This allows for additional revenue that the Village can spend on our roads or other important improvements to the Village.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.The biggest public concern in the Village at this time, unfortunately, would be a shooting at either the elementary school or middle school, or at Waubonsee Community College. This concern is because of the recent shootings in other states, not because there have been any threats at any of the schools. Sugar Grove has worked with the Kaneland School District and the College, by training our officers for an event such as this. The Police Department has increased its patrols of school properties and the officers often have lunch at the middle school as well. The officers having lunch at the school serves two purposes. First, as a Community Policing Initiative, we want the students to feel comfortable interacting with our officers. The second purpose is so that our officers know the layout of the school building in case they were ever called to an emergency. While Waubonsee has its own police force, if an emergency would occur, Sugar Grove officers would be the first to respond as back-up. The two departments have trained together in rapid response training at the Department of Homeland Security facility in Chicago. This has given each department the knowledge of how to respond to this type of an emergency and how to work together. For other emergencies, the Village in cooperation with the Sugar Grove Fire Department and the Kane County Department of Emergency Management have worked on emergency response plans to address a variety of disasters. Myself, and other board members have had National Incident Management (NIMS) training to understand how municipalities should respond to get federal disaster assistance.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 light of these economic times, I believe the Village has reduced expenses to the point that if further cuts were made, services to the residents would also need to be reduced. The Village reduced its staff by 20% when the recession first started through layoffs and attrition. This reduction allowed the Village to save considerable money that we have been able to spend on maintaining our roadways. Sugar Grove has about 4 employees per 1,000 residents while an average town of Sugar Grove's size has about 6.6 employees per 1,000 residents. To ensure that our police officers are safe, we maintain at least 2 officers per shift to provide back-up if necessary. Since the time the Village reduced the staff, not one trustee has proposed that further staffing cuts should be made. An area that has suffered with a tighter budget is the road and infrastructure budget. The Village has been able to leverage the dollars that we have spent on our roads by taking advantage of federal and state grants that have become available. When the economy was strong, the Village was able to build a reserve that can now be used as matching dollars to the grant dollars that become available. This has allowed the Village to spend only $400,000 of its own funds on projects that cost in excess of $1,500,000. Sugar Grove will be using grant money in 2014 on Dugan Road, spending only $500,000 for a project that will cost $1,000,000.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?The one good idea that will make Sugar Grove a better place that no one is talking about is running Fiber Optic cable to every house and business in Sugar Grove. One of the biggest complaints that we receive at the Village is about our cable service. The Village staff and I have initiated talks with a company that can run fiber optics to every home in the village using our village infrastructure. If this would happen, the residents would then be able to choose from a variety of cable operators that best fits the homeowner's needs.