Alex Samoila: 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: Lake ZurichWebsite: www.alexsamoila.comTwitter: @alex4LZFacebook: www.facebook.com/vote4visionOffice sought: Lake Zurich Mayor Age: 36Family: Ashley Samoila - WifeOccupation: Financial ServicesEducation: Finance International Business - Penn State UniversityEconomics - University of Manchester London School of EconomicsCivic involvement: Rotary International Special OlympicsFour Diamond FoundationRonald McDonald HousePAWSPaw PlacementJDRFHabitat for HumanityElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What is your vision for downtown redevelopment?Elected officials must represent the people; therefore we need to create a shared vision with the residents of Lake Zurich. Based on my conversations and surveys throughout our community, I am happy to see that the overwhelming majority of our residents share in my vision to create more community gathering places downtown in the form of small business retail shops and family friendly restaurants.There is a healthy amount of foot traffic on and around downtown Lake Zurich due to the proximity of our high school and our beautiful lake that attracts so many people. Unfortunately, we have a lack of retail establishments where we can gather socially in our downtown area. This lack of retail variety forces residents to migrate to other communities, driving economic opportunity away from Lake Zurich. My vision is to create a downtown area that would steer business back to our streets, allow residents to invest their time/money in our retail businesses, and utilize that economic stimulus into making Lake Zurich the best place to live. Also, I believe it is important to ask our residents what retail establishments would be most meaningful to them. Having a vision is only the beginning. After we establish our vision, there needs to be a comprehensive plan with actionable steps so that success can be measured and accountability can be held. The time for excuses is over and now begins an era of action which I would be honored to lead.What are your views on adding apartments or other multifamily housing to Lake Zurich?We live in a beautiful community, filled with amazing neighbors, and top notch schools. Everyone should be as lucky as I am and share in this special community regardless of their desire or ability to own a home. We also need to be mindful that like any other city, we are limited in the amount of land that we have available for development and environmental preservation. We need to be good stewards of how we treat this valuable and limited resource and ensure that when making development decisions we are executing upon informed market research. As Village President, I would welcome development ideas for residential establishments as long as we are creating supply to meet the current demand of our current and future residents. It is imperative that we maintain the delicate balance between supply and demand while providing our residents with many different housing options to address the needs of our diverse community.What kind of development would your prefer for the Hackney's property at Old Rand and Rand roads? How would you work to achieve the vision?Hackney's' is on private property and I do not believe government should be involved in the sale or development of private property. However, government's job is to create and enforce zoning codes. These codes are in place to protect our residents and our environment while cultivating an atmosphere that attracts developers. As I am currently not privy to all of the specs, engineering plans, and environmental studies for that site, it would be irresponsible to comment on what I think would be best, but as stated in my previous response, I would welcome development ideas so long as they are accompanied by detailed research and have a positive impact on our community as a whole. As Village President, I plan to work with private landowners to understand how our zoning codes are a barrier to development, and where we are unable to bend, help them understand why and the impact to our community. I believe that we need to bring in an expert with experience and existing relationships to market and develop our community and I would encourage that expert to leverage their relationships and facilitate the introductions necessary to assist residents looking to sell private property to developers.Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board or city council.I believe the most effective leadership style is situational leadership. I don't believe every situation can be successfully handled with the same approach. Flexibility and understanding of people and scenarios are vital to success. I am naturally a very positive person. I believe enthusiasm excites and passion persuades. I want to inspire my team to have a desire to produce effective results that better the community. It is a leader's job to inspire people to work together in the service of something greater than themselves.I believe in a leadership style that is inclusive and empowering. People need to know that their opinions are valued and listened to. Some of the best ideas come out of collaboration and debate. I have always empowered my team to come to the table with ideas and action regardless of their tenure or title. Lastly, I am results driven. My process is very simple. Create a hypothesis, develop a plan with actionable steps, execute on that plan, evaluate your success and failure, adjust the plan, and start the process over until you have achieved the vision. Nothing happens without a plan!What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I believe an informed involved community makes for a stronger community. I recently conducted a survey involving 500 Lake Zurich residents, and 97% of participants indicated that they were not properly informed on village issues. Based on this research, there appears to be a communication gap that exists between the Village and its residents. My idea would be to create a communication platform allowing for two-way communication between the Village and its residents. I would work to ensure the platform serves our multi-generation community providing a variety of mediums (i.e. social media, town hall forums, mailings, board meetings, etc.). We need to do a better job of meeting people where they are at and understand that not everyone has the ability or desire to communicate the same way. We need to make it easy for people to understand what is happening in our community and being proposed to our village, as well as, having a user-friendly stage for residents to add their voice to the discussion.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We have a tremendous opportunity to create a culture that retains current businesses, cultivates an environment where they can thrive, and that entices companies and small business owners to choose Lake Zurich as their future home. I would partner with our chamber of commerce to take a proactive approach to achieving this vision. I would also like to see forums created where business owners can meet and talk through their successes, opportunities, and how they can improve the bottom line and value propositions. I believe the Village President has a unique opportunity to serve as an ambassador to our business owners helping their dreams become a reality for Lake Zurich. My dream is for Lake Zurich to become the business owner's partner of choice, and together we will thrive. Further information and video clips of these topics plus a few more will be available on my website www.alexsamoila.com shortly.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Elon Musk - He thinks beyond boundaries and I admire his dedication to making his vision a reality regardless of the current obstacles.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Work hard, respect and love all people, and be a blessing to someone each day.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Nothing - Who I am today is the sum of my successes, failures, and most of all the people I have loved.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History - I have been inspired countless times by the world's greatest leaders to lead with an open mind and compassionate heart.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Everyone you meet whether it's for 5 minutes or 50 years touches your life. Those touches added up is who you are today. Respect Everyone