Duane (Rick) Dudek: 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: CaryWebsite: visit us on facebook @PositivelyCaryTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: @PositivelyCaryOffice sought: Cary Village Board Age: 61Family: Jannet-WifeDavid-SonDiana-DaughterOccupation: Manager of a Commercial Banking TeamEducation: Bachelors Degree-DePaul UniversityMasters Degree-DePaul UniversityCivic involvement: Village Trustee/Cary 2007-PresentVillage Trustee/Mundelein 1994-1999Past President-Kiwanis Club-Libertyville, IllinoisElected offices held: Village Trustee-Cary, Illinois from 2007-PresentVillage Trustee-Mundelein, Illinois 1994-1999Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Ten years ago, I pledged to the residents that I would always act impartial, and not be tied to any special interest groups. While I recognize certain of my decisions over this length of time may have been unpopular with some, I have held to my word to do what is best for our entire Community, even when some may disagree with me. Further, I have utilized my business and finance background to the benefit of our residents, by continuously bringing solutions to our Board that address the oftentimes challenging financial decisions we must make. To sum it up, my experience, combined with my work ethic to understand issues and act accordingly, puts me in a unique position of being a very well qualified person for this position.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.Illinois funds its' educational systems on the backs of the homeowners, and until that is changed, property taxes will always be an issue, as they are for me as well. The Village of Cary is a business that provides municipal services and life safety as its' primary responsibilities to our residents, and it does so on only about 5% of a residents total tax bill. So as it relates to what Cary provides our homeowners, I'd say we do quite a bit with really very little. As a steward of the funds paid by our taxpayers, I will continue looking for ways to control costs, broaden our sources of income, and continue providing more with less whenever possible.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?I have had the experience of working with 3 Police Chiefs and one interim Chief since beginning my service to Cary in 2007, and I feel we are now in the best position we've been in for the last 10 years or more as far as our Police Department leadership is concerned. Chief Finlon is very experienced, his Team clearly respects him, and the department mimics our motto of doing more with less. However, we cannot continue to ask our life safety employees to put up with inferior facilities, and for nearly all of my ten years on the Board, I've championed the need to stop pouring taxpayer monies into a building that has significant structural issues, is not set up for todays technology, and has other operational challenges that someday may result in issues that could have been prevented. The Village needs a new Public Safety Building, for our current facility is not worth investing into any longer. As for the Fire Protection District, as a separate entity, I am not fully aware of their needs, though I can say that thru our municipal partnering efforts, which resulted in the creation of SEECOM a number of years ago, Cary residents should feel very safe that whether it be Police or Fire protection they need, our command control team is there to act with speed and accuracy when it comes to ANY life safety issue.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?In all seriousness, further trimming would likely result in a cutback of services, or the stoppage of expenditures on items of daily need by the residents of the Village. As you might expect, people are our biggest costs, and since I've served on the Board, our headcount is down by nearly 40%, primarily from attrition and outsourcing certain services, so the area most typically looked to for controlling costs, is really already operating at levels that are basically at the minimum acceptable to safely operate the Village properly. We have done a fantastic job of partnering with other municipalities to purchase supplies such as road salt, and we are constantly reviewing other areas where we can save taxpayer money thru better utilization of resources or cooperative ventures. The question about providing more funding to areas in need is very relevant, for we are considering capital projects such as Downtown Streetscape improvements that will enhance the look and feel of our Central Business District. While these types of investments are needed, we must balance them against our budget as a whole, and be assured that no other area becomes short-changed because we moved forward with an alternative expenditure elsewhere. This is probably the Boards most important challenge as we continue evaluating how best to utilize our limited financial resources.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?One is too easy, here are several:* Hire an individual who will market Cary to specific property type users. Where we want to place retail, let's identify possible users and go after them aggressively. Same with areas of Town that are ripe for manufacturing. We need to go to them, for waiting for them isn't getting it done.* For all of Cary's strengths, we have no central area of open space that we can hold seasonal celebrations at, and our residents deserve an investment in an area within the Downtown where we can spend time enjoying our Farmers Markets, Fall and Winter seasonal events, and simply a place to walk, enjoy meeting neighbors or friends, which will be identifiable by all.* A redevelopment of the Maplewood School site that benefits both the School District as well as our Community as a whole. It is exceptionally unique that a tract of land as big as Maplewood comes up for sale within a Downtown District, and as leaders, our Board needs to work with District 26 to prepare a plan that assures such an area is properly and effectively developed. It may never happen again, and getting it right the first time is a responsibility I take very, very seriously.* Finally, some type of river front development must begin to be planned for. Housing with a nearby marina could change the identity of our Town, not to mention bring in additional revenues to help our challenged revenue sources.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Cary is a wonderful place to live, and I am proud to have served as an elected official here for ten years. I do not feel my job is done, however, for there is opportunities at each of our borders, as well as our Downtown core, to do more. I pledge to continue working to bring quality retail, recreational, and service businesses to Cary, and properly plan for those large tracts of land that still stand underutilized. I also hope that our Board can become more focused on issues that need attention, and begin to set aside emotion that has hurt the levels of respect that some have for one another. There remains much to do, and I'm eager to continue working for ALL our residents!Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla Motors). This man pushes the envelope where others have lagged. He is a visionary.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?My parents instilled in me a hard work ethic, that nothing you get in life should be taken for granted.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have liked to have been a full time public servant.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My MBA is in Finance, and how money moves throughout our system and impacts everything we do or touch fascinates me to this day!If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?In life, enjoy every minute of the good days, and learn to not repeat the challenging days too often!