Jonathan Mumford: 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: Fox LakeWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Fox Lake Village Board Age: 42Family: Wife- Lisa Daughter- Savannah Step-Daughter- Bailey Step-Son-CristianOccupation: Firefighter/ParamedicEducation: Candidate did not respond.Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Fox Lake Village Trustee 2009-2013Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?As a person in a single income household of 5, I am very familiar with the financial constraints that are put on the people of this community through increased fees and taxes. I feel I would represent equally the people of Fox Lake.What is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales and property taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.I feel the current property and sales taxes are in line with other comparable communities. With the decline in property values and the rise of the unemployment rate, any tax increase puts pressure on most.Rate the efficiency of your town's police and fire coverage. Are the departments well prepared for the next decade? What, if anything, should be changed? Do you have specific public safety concerns?Fox Lake is fortunate to have a top notch Police department that unfortunatly is kept quite busy. The Police Depatment has excellent public education and vehicle replacement programs. Intelligent informed financial decisions will guarantee a prosperous future. The Village of Fox Lake contracts with the Fox Lake Fire Protection District for fire protection and ambulance service within the Village limits. What this means is the Fire Department is run by two separate taxing bodies which is not very efficiant. The Fire Department is currently opperating with less manpower and aging equipment that is in dire need of replacement. I feel that the Fire Protection District is underfunded both through their own tax structure and also through the amount the Village of Fox Lake pays for fire protection services. The fire service is ever evolving and unfortunately Fox Lake is behind the times and not at all prepared for the next ten years. The Village needs to get out of the fire protection business all together and hand over control to the Fox Lake Fire Protection District. A reduction in Village taxes and/or fees and an implementation of a Fire District tax would be a cost of ZERO to the people of Fox Lake and allow the fire department to grow, ultimately providing a better quality of service.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?1) A year ago the Village raised the sewer and water bill significantly, this increase in fees among other things is to pay for a new 3.1 Million dollar water tower 1/2 mile away from Volo's water tower at Home Depot on Rt. 12 and around 400' from the Village limits. I question this logic as Fox Lake has been connected to Volo's water tower for 10+ years and never utilized this connection even though there have been several significant damaging water pressure problems in the Holiday Park neighborhood. 2) Fox Lake runs a 911 dispatch center for not only the Fox Lake Police but also the Lake Villa Police Department, Lindenhurst Police Department, the Fox Lake Fire Protection District, the Lake Villa Fire Protection District, and the Grayslake Fire Protection District. The dispatch center currently costs $1,022,886 per year to run, the Village takes in slightly less than $300,000 total from the above mentioned departments. This means that it cost Fox Lake around $700,000 per year to dispatch our own police where Lake Villa budgeted $45,000 and Lindenhurst budgeted $22,600 for dispatch for the same amount of time. Lake Villa and Lindenhurst do have smaller police departments each with a budget roughly 1/2 of the $4,000,000 per year Fox Lake Police budget. The Village of Fox Lake should take a closer look at fees for service and make them more proportionate.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to further expand the piers and boater amenities at the Lakefront Park.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Agressive property code enforcement.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Scott WalkerWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Can't lives on won't street.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?No regrets, the past is the past and the future is not written yet.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Geometry makes many projects easier.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Learn from, do not repeat mistakes.