James (Jim) Dietz: 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: Round LakeWebsite: www.JimforRoundLake.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Round Lake Mayor Age: 66Family: Four children, Donna, Jerry, Chris and Bob, five grandchildrenOccupation: Professional Land SurveyorEducation: Associate of Applied ScienceCivil TechnologyCivic involvement: Board of Directors for the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor FoundationMcHenry Moose Lodge #691 Former member Lake County Contractors AssociationFormer Round Lake Area Girls Softball coachElected offices held: Village of Round Lake Village President May 2009 to 2013.Municipal Representative Board Member of Lake County Storm water ManagementPresident Northeast Chapter of Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association.Leadership positions held:Village of Round Lake Planning and Zoning Board 1987-1994, Chairman 1989-1994.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?My prior experience as Village President and as a Professional Land Surveyor, having worked for Engineering firms for 16 years, I understand infrastructure planning and development from both community and developer sides. I believe in educating all parties on the issues to make sound informed decisions that are equitable for the community, the residents and businesses or developers. During my first term I learned even more about the village infrastructure needs and worked to improve maintenance practices and improvements to save money.How would you describe the condition of your community's budget, and what are the most important specific actions the town should take to assure providing the level of services that people want?The budget is stable for now. The most important actions needed are updating the Capital Improvement and Infrastructure Expansion Plans (Water, Sewers and Roads). Create goals to fund projects that will keep up with maintenance of failing pavements and other infrastructure, while planning and implementing improvements to support our redevelopment and future village expansions.The issue of Villages Consolidating will likely be on a future Ballot. The village should be reviewing the potential impacts of consolidation. How would this affect our Residents and the future of our Village Development? Would it be beneficial or could it be detrimental to the community?Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?I believe in a zero line item budget where annually each department and the Trustees look at every item to see what the current needs will be not what we spent the prior year, to justify the amount proposed for each line item for the current budget year. We always lack sufficient funds to keep up with pavement maintenance needs. We do need to keep up with infrastructure maintenance so repair costs do not accelerate in the future. It is always a fine line to balance the needs and the funding.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.Leadership through Vision, Proud of the Past while Planning for our Future.Lead by example.Reaching out to various State, County, Regional, Township and Local Community Agencies to partner on projects to benefit the village and the partnering entities.In the past I reached out to Lake County Department of Transportation working on the realigning of Cedar Lake Road through our downtown that would work for the benefit of the Village and the County.Guided our Village Engineers through a design process for reconstruction of Hart Road that ultimately not only reconstructed Hart Road, it also provided pavement improvements on Sunset Drive and created a "Public Flood Control Project" to benefit our future Downtown Redevelopment.I am not afraid to speak up when needed to State and County entities when I see a problem that needs to be addressed that could create future maintenance problems for the village.Paying attention to small details can have a big impact on the village image.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?While some efforts have been made in the past to engage our local businesses it is difficult to get a large group of our peers together for a meeting. Business owners want to know what the Village is doing/going to do for their benefit.I have said in the past we need to enlist the help of our local Round Lake Business Entrepreneurs with their experience in running large corporations and financial institutions to help teach us how to attract new commercial growth. We have to be proactive not reactive, even in times where there appears not to be any activity.We need to continue to work to create a Sense of Community throughout the village. The Home Town Fest was a start to involve the entire village in community functions. Additional avenues to unite our Round Lake Subdivisions need to be explored by the Village.Crime free Housing initiatives should be explored again. This can benefit Landlords and the Community.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The village approved a revised Comprehensive Plan for the Community.The Plan includes realignment of Cedar Lake Road through downtown and relocating the train station. These are things I proposed seven years ago. I want to follow through on the implementation of these improvements. The Hart Road reconstruction including the Public Flood Control Project was part of the groundwork to facilitate the downtown redevelopment plan. After a three year lapse the village is again working with LCDOT on the planning of Cedar Lake Road. Once the Phase I Engineering for Cedar Lake Road is complete potential developers will know what the solid plan for the area transportation routes will be.A new Train Station can be the catalyst for redevelopment. With a plan in place the village will now be eligible to qualify for planning grants from the Regional Transportation Authority, looking at Transit Orientated Development that has been talked about for about twelve years.The village needs to provide accurate zoning information on commercially zoned properties to encourage businesses to invest in our community.We need to have a plan for the needed infrastructure (Water, Sewers and Roads) to facilitate the redevelopment. We need to be prepared to provide information to our future development partners on what the village can do to help make projects successful for the developers and the community's benefit.We need to work on developing community parks on land that was donated to the village for that purpose.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, took on a job he knew would be difficult and didn't really want, because he could make a difference.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Be honest and don't be afraid to work hard and help others.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Spend more time with my father before he died (We lost him when I was 27).What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Various Civil Technology classes. Sanitation systems, Highway Design Drafting, Structural Design Detailing. Job Career Helping my Community.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Take time to smell the roses!The world will wait for you.