Colleen Saccotelli: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: Mount ProspectWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Mount Prospect Village Board Age: 33Family: husband, two childrenOccupation: Candidate did not respond.Education: M.A. International Affairs from American University and B.A. Political Science DePaul UniversityCivic involvement: Room Parent, St. Raymond De Penafort Mom's Plus Group Leader.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Mount Prospect is a wonderful place to live and raise a family and I believe I can serve Mount Prospect well. I have been involved in government and public service and I worked in public administration at the local, state, and federal levels. I have worked with Boards, and I have experience with many roles of government such as: freedom of information request preparation and response, preparing budgets and practicing fiscal prudence, and drafting and processing bid documents and RFPs. I know the personal fulfillment of working in the public sector. It is rewarding to help citizens and to have a positive influence on their lives. I also am aware of the challenges of working in the public sector. Dedication, leadership and foresight are needed to ensure that our community thrives for years to come. These are qualities which I possess. I also have two government related degrees: a Political Science B.A. from DePaul University and International Affairs M.A. from American University. I believe my background will make me an effective trustee. It is time to move Mount Prospect forward. I believe in and am invested in the Village's future. I bring fresh ideas and a new perspective. The voices of young families are underrepresented on the Board. I want to represent all citizens, especially young families who are the future of Mount Prospect and want to see it continue to grow and prosper.The settlement between Mount Prospect and Ye Olde Town Inn remains a hot-button topic. What is your opinion of the settlement, the years of disputes and what lessons, if any, have been learned.I feel the Village government could have been more forth right with the facts and details that they are allowed to disclose. The settlement itself is available under FOIA. I believe that the Village government should have put the settlement document, with any necessary redactions under FOIA, on the Village website so that it could be easily accessed by all residents. The document would give residents direct access to the facts. Further, it would have been helpful if a summary of the disclosable facts were put in the village newsletter and available on the Village website. I believe that providing this information will enable the community to be able to move forward from this issue. One takeaway should be that The Village should always strive to maintain open lines of communication with the residents and businesses so we do not have speculation of the facts when contentious issues arise.Talk about the current performance of downtown Mount Prospect and Randhurst Village, and which retail district you consider the priority (and why). How can each one be improved, and how can the village help them along?I believe that downtown Mount Prospect should be the priority for economic development efforts. The downtown is the core of the town and is in full view of train commuters. There are underdeveloped properties and vacant commercial spaces. These areas are ripe for new businesses. Residents want to be able to walk to restaurants and enjoy the downtown areas with friends and family. This area must be further developed to capitalize on pedestrian traffic and potential train commuter traffic which will bring revenue to the village. Randhurst Village is doing well but there are some vacant storefronts too. Once there is a new owner of the property hopefully they will be able to market Randhurst Village and obtain new stores and restaurants to fill those empty commercial spaces. Overall, we need to market Mount Prospect and show potential businesses all we have to offer. Village government can aid economic development by creating a welcoming working relationship with potential business owners. Further, village staff can be helpful through the entire process of getting the new business established in the village. The Village should reach out to business owners that have not been successful to determine what the major factors around their need to close. This is similar to exit interviews with employees when they leave. This creates an evaluation process that gives insight into the services and programs that could help future businesses succeed.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The Village cut a number of personnel throughout village government in 2011. The Police and Fire departments were among those with staffing cuts. I believe the public safety cuts should be reevaluated to determine if they are still in the best interest of the citizens of Mount Prospect or if any of the positions should be reinstated. Water is a large cost for the Village and is an increasing cost for residents. The Village must start looking at alternative water sources for when our contract is up with the City of Chicago in 2022. The City of Chicago has been increasing our water fees. The Village has not passed on all of the increase to residents. That money is coming from other Village funds and if the City of Chicago keeps raising our rates eventually the residents will have to replace the funds. The village could save thousands of dollars on postage and mailing supplies if it would allow residents and businesses the ability to opt out of paper water bills and choose electronic billing instead.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I want to make Village government more user friendly. I believe that the Village can be better at communicating with its citizens and local businesses. Many citizens do not have the time to attend or watch meetings at home nor do they have the ability to scroll through meeting minutes online. I suggest that there is a weekly digest email that is sent out to citizens. The digest would contain a synopsis of the week's open meetings with links to the Village website to see full meeting minutes or video of the meetings. The Village has said that it will be revamping its website this year. Village officials should solicit citizens and local business owners' opinions as to what they would like to see featured more prominently on the website. The website also needs to be inviting to potential residents and potential new businesses. I would like to see Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request process streamlined. Currently you can email your request in to the Village. However, we can save a step by having an online form containing all the pertinent information needed to fill the request. These forms can standardize the requests for staff and help them to expedite FOIA request fulfillment. The online form would then be emailed directly to the FOIA officer.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I want to help Mount Prospect move forward by helping to promote our Village. We have the Village's Centennial in a few years. We need to work toward marketing the Village now to potential residents and businesses and start to get the vacant store fronts downtown filled so that we will attract dinners and visitors to the Village to participate in Centennial events and patronize our local businesses. I believe a technology commission needs to be established to evaluate Village practices and to move toward digitizing more Village services. The Village can save money and increase its efficiency through digitalization. This commission would leverage the experience and expertise of technologically innovative citizens who want to give back to their community.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer at Facebook and author of "Lean In."What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?My parents taught us to be hard workers, to study hard in school, give our all in everything we do and to never give up.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Although life doesn't always go as planned I am thankful for my family, friends and who I am today. No do-overs.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I enjoyed foreign policy, it fostered my passion for government and public service as well as my understanding of other cultures and perspectives.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I would tell them to follow their heart because there is nothing they can't accomplish if they put their mind to it.