Terry Weppler: 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: LibertyvilleWebsite: http://NoneOffice sought: Libertyville Mayor (4-year Term)Age: 61Family: Three children, Shannon, Sean, JonathanOccupation: AttorneyEducation: Libertyville High School - 1969 College of Lake County - 1971 - Associate of Arts Western Illinois University - 1973 - Bachelor of Applied Science John Marshall Law School - 1991 - Juris DoctorateCivic involvement: Numerous. If you would like resume please provide me with e-mail address.Elected offices held: Village Trustee 1979-1986 Village President 2009 to presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Insuring that the funds approved by the residents from the road referendum are used efficiently to provide the best roadwork for the residents.Key Issue 2 Insuring that Village and taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently. Bringing new businesses into town.Key Issue 3 Maintaining Village services in today's economy.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I am running unopposed so this question is moot.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.While Libertyville generates a high level of local sales tax, there can always be more since the sales tax revenue decreases costs to our residents from other taxing sources.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.I believe residents are happy with the safety and operation of the police department in the Village. I am not aware of any major public safety concern of residents.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?I think that we have trimmed excess spending from the budget over the years and that the Village operates efficiently at this time. Notwithstanding that fact, we have hired an independent consultant to look at the report prepared by our staff to determine if there are other cost savings measures that could be taken to better serve our residents and save money.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I believe that I have been open about my ideas over the past four years and have made them public as they have come up so I am not aware of any "new ideas" that no one is talking about yet. I do plan to do a survey for all of our commission and committee members to determine how they believe we are working at the commission level and whether or not there are things that we should change or other areas we can improve on. No government is perfect and there are always ways we can oeprate more efficiently. Talking to the people who serve on the commissions and committees is one way of finding out how we can better serve our residents. I am also working on (as I have for some time) giving our staff more authority to act on issues to shorten the time it takes for businesses and residents to get things done in the Village.