Scott R. Nickles: 2021 candidate for Round Lake Beach mayor

2 candidates for 1 seat

Bio

Town: Round Lake Beach

Age: 52

Occupation: Retired Police Officer

Civic involvement: Current village president. As a police officer, it was always my belief that my sole function is to help people. Since moving to the village to start a family with my beautiful wife, I have been involved from day one volunteering for the community and the village. I've worked on neighborhood revitalization and beautification projects with my neighbors, helped organize annual Summer picnics to bring people together to meet their neighbors. I've volunteered for service committees at the village, including, serving on the Planning Committee for Beach Fest, was Director and Vice-President of the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center Foundation, and also served as a Commissioner for the incredible Round Lake Area Park District. My latest position before Mayor was that of Trustee, which is where I learned just how much good I can do for the community.

Q&A

Q: How do you view your role in confronting the pandemic: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents - even ones with whom you disagree - or defer to state and federal authorities?

A: A municipality is the closest level of Government to the public. Therefore it bears the primary responsibility of communication, making sure its residents are aware of the pandemic risks, as well as how residents can get tested and get access to the vaccine. As Mayor, I have helped coordinate testing sites on village owned property to give access to free testing to our residents. I am also working with county representatives to get information out to the public on how they can register for vaccination through the County's AllVax program. Getting reliable and accurate information to the public is one of the greatest things we can do, coupled with advocating for residents with the responsible County, State and Federal Governments. From a fiscal side, us at the village are responsible for doing our part to make sure we can provide safe and reliable access to Village services, while remaining fiscally responsible in uncertain financial times.

Q: Did your town continue to adequately serve its constituents during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.

A: Round Lake Beach never shut down. We maintained 100% access to services to the residents while adapting immediately to address health concerns for employees and residents. We immediately provided adequate levels of PPE availability to employees, cordoned off sections of the municipal building and created work pods to separate staff while cross training village employees to be able to cover multiple functions in the case of a situation where an employee may fall ill. Village services run twenty four/seven, and downtime is not an option. By keeping a diligent hand on our finances, we were able to quickly align our expenses with federal COVID dollars to make certain the crisis did not negatively affect our bottom line for the taxpayers.

Q: In light of our experiences with COVID-19, what safeguards/guidelines should you put in place to address any future public health crises?

A: Our actions to adapt to COVID worked quite well for the village. Keeping the modifications we put in place would be wise, so it does not have to be re-engineered for future issues. Our modifications not only work well to defend against pandemic issues, they will also be quite conducive for working during more "normal" times.

Q: What cuts can local government make to reduce the burden of the pandemic on taxpayers?

A: The village's conservative budgeting practice and strong financial reserves allowed us to shift seamlessly without having to make any cuts or reductions in services. The village operates very light and tight. Diligently accounting for increased expenses as they related to COVID, allowed for us to get the maximum benefit from Funds provided by the Cares Act. By having a strong mix of commercial enterprise in the village, like Walmart, Meijer and Home Depot, which residents relied on for necessities, we were able to count on strong revenues to keep operations hearty. Residents may be surprised when they hear a unit of Government say that it runs light and tight when they look at their tax bill. In reality, the village accounts for only a small percentage of that tax bill, typically around 4-5%. The average homeowner in Round Lake Beach pays only about $200-300 per year in Property Taxes to the Village, while funding the entire operations of the village, including the police department.

Q: What do you see as the most important infrastructure project you must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what infrastructure project can be put on the back burner?

A: The village's capital infrastructure plan has not been impacted by the pandemic. The Village's capital plan calls for the rating of village street conditions on an annual basis and capital funds expended on those streets in worst condition. The Village participates in the Federal Highway Grant Program and has been successful in obtaining millions of dollars to assist in the reconstruction/maintaining of designated primary streets within the community. Most recent examples are the reconstruction of Orchard Lane and Hook Drive with the Federal Funds paying for over 60% of the costs. The Village also has obtained Community Development Block Grant Funds, with Hawthorne Lane improvements being partially funded with CDBG Funds. More recently the village has instituted a natural resources capital reinvestment plan. The program is being implemented with the Park District and has included wetland maintenance and Lakefront Shoreline restoration. The village has also posted community informational guides to assist those residents that live near natural areas.

Q: Do you agree or disagree with the stance your board/council has taken on permitting recreational marijuana sales in the community? What would you change about that stance, if you could?

A: I took the stance that as a pro business community, that the state of Illinois made the decision to legalize Marijuana that it would not be right for us to deny a business to open as long as it fits in to zoning requirements. As a village though, I do believe we should monitor this closely and if we see increased societal costs, such as accidents, DUI's or other criminal activities, this would be reason for revaluation of the standards.

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

A: Economic development is something every community wants and I feel like we are making great strides, even just recently. The one thing I truly want to accomplish is a town center, with businesses, Dining, entertainment, residents, and parking all combined together. We will never have the downtown historical storefront area but we can work toward a newer upgraded version that our families and their families can get together to be part of one community.

Q: What makes you the best candidate for the job?

A: I love our community and the diversity it holds, I want to see it continue to grow in the right direction and reach its full potential and I believe we have a great group to make it happen. My skills from my career in law enforcement have made me a great observer, listener and great mediator, I work well with teams and am willing to take the pressure. I also fear how partisan politics has pitted friends against friends, family against family and neighbors against neighbors. Partisan politics does more to divide communities than it ever does to lift them up. Local politics should always be non partisan. I am proud to be part of a team that never gets into partisan politics on the local front, and works together for the best common interests to service every resident, not just cater to a partisan base of voters.

Q: What is the primary reason you're running for office? What is the most important issue?:

A: As I mentioned above, I have a deep love and passion for our community. My strategic and organizational skills, along with my strong community building approach, and noon partisan affiliation puts me in the exact right position to be able to bring our community closer together, and build more appreciation for the diversity of our community. I believe our entire team is made up of a very diverse group of people who share a common vision of making Round Lake Beach a premium, while affordable, place to live, work and raise our families.