Paul Hoefert: 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: 59Family: Spouse: Linda Son: Alex Son: AndrewOccupation: Personal Financial Service Senior Manager / Group ExecutiveEducation: DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, KELLSTADT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, Chicago, Illinois, M.B.A. MIAMI UNIVERSITY, Oxford, Ohio, B.S., Finance CONTINENTAL ILLINOIS NATIONAL BANK, Commercial Credit Training ProgramCivic involvement: MOUNT PROSPECT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Board of Directors, Board Member BOY SCOUT TROOP 23, MOUNT PROSPECT, Assistant Scoutmaster DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, DRIEHAUS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, Advisory Board RECENT: CHICAGOLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Board of Directors, Board MemberElected offices held: VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT, Village Board, Elected Village Trustee, 1991 to Current SOLID WASTE AGENCY OF NORTHERN COOK COUNTY, Board of Directors, Board Member, 1991 to Current SOLID WASTE AGENCY OF NORTHERN COOK COUNTY, Executive Board, Board Member, 2012 to CurrentQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Having served as a Village Trustee in Mount Prospect for a number of years, I bring depth of experience, continuity, and dedication to the position. I also have an extremely firm understanding of the issues, I am active in the community and in touch with what the people of Mount Prospect want for our Village. I am a fiscal conservative who supports keeping taxes and fees as low as possible while providing high quality Village services. My voting record, over my years on the Village Board, shows that I have been consistently reflective of the citizen's needs and wants. While I am flexible and open to change, my record shows that I have also adhered to my basic platform positions during my entire tenure on the Village Board. When people vote for me, they know that they will be electing someone who will watch their hard-earned tax dollars and will work to keep Mount Prospect a vital community with strong property values. I am highly interested in keeping Mount Prospect moving forward. Serving the people of Mount Prospect as a Village Trustee has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I serve for two reasons .... for "love' of our community and to keep Mount Prospect a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Finally, I am a non-partisan, independent candidate with no ties to any political party, organization, or individual and I answer to no one except the Citizens of Mount Prospect.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.As a sitting Board member, I am subject to the "gag order" within the settlement agreement. Should a Village official now speak, it could be considered a violation of the settlement agreement and a "contempt of court" charge could be imposed with the potential for a serious penalty. While I might like to personally comment on the court case and the circumstances and actions leading up to the lawsuit, the settlement agreement does explicitly prohibit both parties from speaking. However,in general, I will say that equitable and timely code enforcement needs to be applied at all times no matter what the circumstances or situation especially when it comes to public safety. Years ago, all of the Busse Avenue "Small Triangle" buildings were considered to be the Village's "informal" historic district. Given their age and their historic significance, the Village Administration, at that time, felt they should work with the owners of these buildings to encourage the owners to bring about necessary building code and life safety improvements "over time". When certain public safety improvements were not made and deemed to be immediately necessary, it made enforcement more difficult. Recall that I was vehemently opposed to the two 7 story towers, 1970's mall-like style, highly taxpayer-supported Heimbaugh Development proposal in 2007 and spoke against that development at every turn. I was, however, in favor of the initially proposed "Entertainment District" development which needed limited financial support from the Village and envisioned Tod Curtis' Ye Old Town Inn as an anchor business.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?Randhurst Village continues its renaissance and is gaining momentum each day. The redevelopment from an outdated mall-type retail shopping center to a contemporary "lifestyle" retail venue is breathing new life into this key retail jewel. The Village should work with IDOT to improve accessibility from Rand Road to Randhurst Village such as establishing a cutoff road from Rand which could feed into Randhurst Village. The MP Downtown is primarily populated by owner operated, small businesses. Our Downtown provides an excellent environment for "creative independents", entrepreneurs who require smaller, less expensive spaces in which operate their businesses. With today's improving economy, projects like Founder's Row and The Brownstones are being completed. New buildings are soon to break ground like Mount Prospect Station. There is a high level of interest in other development sites around the downtown like the former Sakura building site and Parenti building site. The Village is now moving forward with an environmental survey of the Central Plaza property with the goal to expedite demolition. With the YOTI settlement complete, now is the time to put the Village-owned parcels in the "Small Triangle" up for sale and get these properties back on the tax rolls. I believe the time is right for our Community Development Department to actively promote the downtown area with developers. However, I believe future downtown redevelopment should occur on a market driven,private basis in accordance with our overall Downtown plan and with appropriate oversight from the Village relative to our codes.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The current 2015 budget which was recently approved is a highly responsible, extremely lean budget, with minimal increases to any of the departmental budgets. The 2015 budget will be an excellent tactical tool for balancing the financial needs and requirements of the Village during the coming year. I am very comfortable with the budget as it was approved. Cutting the budget would mean elimination of some aspect of our basic Village services (police, fire, public works) or deferring necessary improvements to Village infrastructure. I retain the prerogative to vote "for" or "against" actual expenditures as they come before the Board for approval during the year. As a "spending watchdog", I am always looking for opportunities to reduce actual spending as the year moves forward. On a broad scale, if we were able to find and allocate additional dollars, it would in support of police, fire and public works life safety positions which were cut during the recession. In addition, as our population ages, Human Services will likely require greater funding to help our "at risk" citizens. As a final note, 2015 was a year when we could have provided "revenue gathering relief" to the taxpayers of Mount Prospect and as such, during the recent budget process, I proposed and spoke in support of a significantly reduced tax levy increase of 1% which did not find approval. However, because I raised discussion on this issue, the actual increase to the tax levy was reduced to 2.48% from the originally proposed 4.42%.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I believe that the Village must continually work to protect our fragile, residential neighborhoods from inappropriate commercial intrusions as well as improving safety in our neighborhoods. Toward this end, I was one of the main architects of the Second Housekeeping Ordinance, which mandated restoration of single family homes that had been illegally converted to multi-family housing, the Commercial Vehicle Ordinance, that made it illegal for large commercial vehicles to be kept in residential neighborhoods, and the Home Occupation Ordinance, which eliminated obtrusive commercial activities from residential areas. I also strongly supported the Stop Sign and Speed Limit Review Program. These programs brought consistency to the placement of all stop signs and consistency to speed limits depending on the type of street throughout all of our neighborhoods. As a result, auto accidents on our neighborhood streets were literally reduced by 49%, clearly improving safety. I have also supported the ongoing Flood Control Program as this important program has helped to control flooding in our neighborhoods and reduce disruption and property damage for our citizens. Neighborhoods are delicate. The balance can shift one way or another very easily. Protecting our neighborhoods is key to maintaining a strong, safe, and highly valued total community.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT MOUNT PROSPECT ISSUES - > "Maintaining a diversified tax and fee base" which is less impacted by economic downturns and less reliant on property taxes to run the Village is key. This position helps all of our citizens, especially our seniors, stay in their homes. > "Promoting a Strong Business Community and Vital Economic Development Environment" is key to the overall well-being of MP. > "Maintaining our Strong and Conservative Financial Position (AA+ Bond Rating)": We must stay vigilant to safeguarding our strong financial position. A conservative financial stance gives the Village far greater ability to adjust to a changing economy. > "Promoting Strong and Growing Property Values": We must keep MP attractive and desirable to new potential residents. > "Supporting Strong Life Safety Services and Emergency Preparedness": You don't need it until you need it and then it is critical. > "Improving Traffic Flows on Major Thoroughfares": Moving traffic efficiently and reducing frustration is key. > "Eliminating Vacancies in the Kensington Business Center": Expansion of zoning designations and use of 6B incentives are crucial. > "Encouraging Redevelopment of the DiMucci Property at the SW corner of Golf and 83" > "Preserving an Open and Honest Government Process" > "Greater Emphasis on Diverse Citizen Involvement" These are just a few of the key issues and initiatives I believe we need to focus on in the coming few years.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Mark Kirk because of his personal struggle to overcome a serious stroke and then continue to serve the peopleWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?To really listen to people and learn from themIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend even more time with my familyWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Performance arts as it gave me the confidence to speak to a large audience about what I believeIf you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always, always be honest and trustworthy