Thomas Price: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Thomas Price

City: West Dundee

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 58

Occupation: Civil Engineer

Education: BS and MS in civil engineering from UW Madison

Civic involvement: Village Board, Volunteer various community events (Heritagefest, Dickens in Dundee, etc.)

Previous elected offices held: West Dundee Village Board.

Incumbent? Yes, First elected 2007

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your community and how do you intend to address them?

1. Maintenance of our public infrastructure: In the face of mounting pressure to reduce taxes, it is essential that we continue to maintain our systems and invest in technology to improve efficiency.

2. Investment in our downtown: The downtown is the heart of our community and one of the features that attracts people to West Dundee. The recent investments have paid off in terms of attracting new businesses and completing renovations to our picturesque downtown buildings.

3. Controlling costs: The village has been working with our neighboring communities to consolidate fire and police services to reduce duplication while maintaining the high level of service that our residents expect and deserve.

4. Maintain responsiveness to our residents and businesses: I believe in taking a cautious approach to new and exciting trends. After careful consideration, the Village approved beekeeping and chicken keeping within our community. After early concerns during deliberation, these activities have been well received and allowed the community to support the local food movement. We are currently taking a cautious approach with respect to Airbnb. Based on resident concerns, we are currently testing the waters by limiting them to the downtown.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I don't know that I am the best candidate for the position but I do believe I bring a unique set of skills and perspectives to the Board. As a civil and water resources engineer, I have a good technical understanding of what is necessary to maintain our public infrastructure and a good understanding of the development process from the developer's perspective. As a small-business owner, I understand the impact of local rules, regulations, and support systems on attracting business to the community. I also understand that it is essential that we maintain our infrastructure and continue to invest in our downtown to attract and retain residents and businesses in our wonderful community. I have focused my professional career on environmental protection and sustainable design and will continue to interject that perspective into Village decisions and operations.

Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing actions and decisions with your village board or city council.

Reasoned decision-making followed by cautious and informed action. I have no aspirations for higher office and don't believe in backroom deal-making. Instead I believe in transparency in our deliberative process so that interested residents can observe the reasoning behind the Board's decisions. I also believe in listening to all sides of an issue and argument and doing research to fully understand the issue. I believe that sometimes we need to make the hard decisions that may not be immediately popular. The moderate income Union School apartments project saved the historic Union School building at the east end of Kane Street and provided needed housing for lower income seniors. Although initially unpopular, I supported this project that has been a great asset to the community.

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 people want?

Due to constant vigilance, the Village's budget is in very good condition. We have constantly right-sized our staffing levels to ensure the right level of support and avoided layoffs during lean times by avoiding overstaffing in prosperous times. We have also been cognizant of the need to diversify our revenue base. This has kept our budgets in the black and kept our taxes relatively low even when revenues from the mall declined. Although our taxes went up somewhat in previous years, the increases were modest and our residents continue to enjoy one of the lowest costs of residency of the surrounding communities when all costs and fees are considered.

What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

As sitting trustee, I would not be doing my job if I were keeping good ideas to myself. These are not necessarily new ideas but I would like to continue with the work in downtown and, particularly, along the River, south of Main Street. I want to work on additional features to accommodate canoes and kayaks. I also want to continue our efforts toward consolidation of services with our neighboring communities to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Finally I want to assist the mall and surrounding area to plan for the long-range future of this area.