Jeffrey Meyer: 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: ElginWebsite: www.electjeffmeyer.comOffice sought: Elgin Community College School Board Age: 33Family: My wife Courtney and I have been married since May 2012 and we welcomed our first child, Zachary, in October 2013.Occupation: AttorneyEducation: B.A. - Political Science, NIU - 2003. J.D., Cum Laude, NIU - 2007.Civic involvement: Board Member - Hamilton Wings Board Member - Elgin OCTAVE Chairman - Elgin Township Republican Central Committee Member - Kane County Bar Association Member - Illinois State Bar Association Volunteer Attorney - CASA DeKalb CountyElected offices held: Precinct Committeeman Elgin Township Precinct 29 and Elgin Township Republican Central Committee Chairman.Questions Answers With enrollment up at my many community colleges, it can be challenging to keep pace as far as available classroom/lab space, the number of qualified teachers and available course work options. How would you manage that?I firmly believe that the future of higher education instruction is in online and remote learning. All higher education institutions, Elgin Community College included, must move away from brick-and-mortar classroom facilities and focus on further integration of technology into delivering instruction to students. Not every course can be taught online and not every student learns well in that manner. However, growing demand and enrollment at community colleges is most economically addressed by increasing online course availability. Elgin Community College has issued $178 million in new general obligation bonds since 2009, nearly quadrupling its bonded debt burden compared to FY 2005. These funds have been used for capital improvements. In light of this recent massive capital investment, I do not foresee any circumstance where the ECC Board should ask its District's taxpayers to issue more bonds and fund yet more capital improvements. I am skeptical of any plan to increase the ranks of full-time, tenure track faculty and am inclined to encourage recruitment of additional part-time instructors and to investigate whether existing faculty can increase their course loads to meet the demand for additional courses. This approach is especially important if ECC is to do its part to combat an ever growing unfunded public pension liability.Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?I am not employed by or retired from a school district. No member of my family is employed by Elgin Community College.Is a tax rate increase needed and, if so, how do you justify it?No tax levy increase is needed. Elgin Community College has has continually increased its property tax levy in recent years by the maximum amount permitted under applicable tax caps. During this time, other area taxing districts, including Kane County and the City of Elgin, have been able to maintain a flat levy or actually decrease their levy. ECC should follow the lead and example set by these taxing districts and deliver property tax relief to taxpayers that have seen a drastic spike in the property tax rate they are paying to ECC at a time when assessed valuations (property values) have not yet recovered from the Great Recession.Community colleges provide many services to a diverse population. Is there a service your college should be providing that it is not, or reaching a segment of the population that it is not?Non-traditional student populations are often the most under-served and most difficult to provide higher education services to. Single parents, adults looking to go back and start or complete a college education, and working adults looking to gain new skills to change jobs or careers, among other non-traditional students, all have one thing in common: It is difficult to attend courses offered only in a building on a campus 1/2 hour away or only at a given time during the day or evening. Elgin Community College must continue to expand e-learning opportunities to better serve these students.What do you think of President Obama's proposal for offering two years of free community college education?As economist, Milton Friedman, famously said, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." Nothing about the President's proposal is "free". Elgin Community College has three primary sources of revenue: property taxes (54%), tuition and fees (31%), and state funding (12%). The President's plan, if no Federal funding component is attached, will be nothing more than an unfunded mandate that will shift the funding obligation for ECC to property tax payers or the State of Illinois. Since Illinois' fiscal situation is likely to result in eroding appropriations to community colleges, this really means that the President's plan will result in cuts to courses, programs and services, and significant property tax increases. Another possible outcome of the President's proposal, should it become policy, would be a shift in tuition to "fees". This has already been seen in Illinois with the Truth in Tuition law and eroding state funding to Illinois' public universities where liabilities formerly funded by general revenue appropriations or tuition are now paid for by student-paid "fees". In sum, the President's plan is more flash than substance, and where there is substance, property tax payers are left carrying the financial burden. It should also be noted that Elgin Community College has several wonderful tuition scholarships in place for students graduating in the top 10% of their high school class. These students are deserving of tuition waivers or assistance, and these scholarships provide an incentive to work hard and succeed that are woefully lacking in the President's plan.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The problems causing fiscal insolvency in Springfield and holding Illinois' economy back while the rest of the nation emerges from recession were not created in a vacuum. Municipal government in Illinois owns a great deal of responsibility for our crippling property tax burdens and bloated unfunded pension liabilities. Elgin Community College must do its part to reign in property taxes and fight growing unfunded pension liabilities. To those ends, the ECC Board should commit to maintaining a flat property tax levy in the next fiscal year. The Board must also commit to vote against contracts that will increase unfunded public pension and healthcare liabilities, even if it means being forced to arbitration. The taxpayers in Dist. 509 have no more to give, and fiscal discipline starts at home. Finally, the ECC Board must work with its peers across Illinois to lobby for comprehensive pension reform. I believe as much today as during my recent campaign for State House that new hires should be enrolled in a defined contribution retirement plan, instead of a defined benefit retirement plan. Existing employees should have an opportunity to convert from a defined contribution plan in which they are currently enrolled to a defined contribution plan.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Chancellor Angela MerkelWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Growing up, I learned that when adversity finds you, you will find out who your true friends are. Cherish them once you find out.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I've always regretted not serving in the military. I regret having never made that sacrifice for my community and nation. Serving would be my do-over.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. Those who do not study history and learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Learning past failures helped me avoid those mistakes.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Do not be intimidated. Believe in yourself. Trust in your family, friends and God's love. Keep challenging yourself and aim high.