Race for 65th District seat in Illinois House features Rivard, Ugaste

The race for state representative in the 65th District in the general election is between Democrat Ricky Rivard and incumbent Republican Dan Ugaste.

Rivard, 45, of St. Charles, said in talking to voters, concerns include affordability, property taxes and protecting democracy.

“In regards to affordability, it’s everything from childcare to groceries, which are more expensive than they were a few years ago, and it’s really straining people, especially $5 gas,” he said.

The property tax issue includes “folks feeling that the property taxes are too high.”

“We’re looking for solutions to make sure that we can fund the schools from Springfield and take the burden off the local working-class families,” he said.

Protecting democracy is a concern “following things people are seeing in Washington and people fear it is creeping into local politics, be it state or local municipalities,” he said.

If elected, Rivard said he wants to focus on improving representation for the district, acquiring more resources through things such as grants and helping local municipalities by making sure mandates from Springfield are funded.

“I want to bring actual representation to the district, a seat at the table for everybody in the community,” he said. “I’ll be at the table. I’ll be at negotiations and I won’t be grandstanding or introducing bills after session is over. I’ll be at the table talking to the stakeholders, the community and legislators.”

Rivard said he wants to bring resources back to the district, “which is something we’ve been lacking.”

“In comparison to neighboring districts – I’m talking about grants and funding for local projects like that,” he said. “I want to make sure the stakeholders and legislators have someone they can reach out to who will help with the funding mechanisms.”

Rivard said he also wants to help local municipalities with some of the funding for “unfunded mandates that will take the strain off local folks in terms of their utility bills and local taxes.”

“I want to make sure that what is mandated to the county or township is funded from Springfield,” he said.

Ugaste, 62, of Geneva, said he has served eight years as state representative in the 65th District and that voters are talking about taxes, affordability and education.

“People are talking about taxes. Property taxes are at the top of the list. They’re too high. People don’t mind paying for good services but they don’t want to overpay, which I believe they are,” he said.

Affordability, Ugaste said, comes down to “the prices of everything being so high and people are looking to see what we can do to make life more affordable.”

“People factor taxes into that too. If we could lower taxes, life would be more affordable,” he said.

Education centers on people in the district “who don’t believe statewide we are delivering the quality of education we could and they are also wondering why the costs, given the amount we’re spending.”

“Also, people believe that Illinois is capable of delivering better quality education statewide,” he said.

If reelected, Ugaste said the issues from voters “are at the top of my list,” as well as economic growth, ethics in regards to recall elections and budget transparency.

“We need to develop a better business climate in Illinois,” he said.

Regarding ethics, Ugaste said, “We have huge ethical problems here in Illinois which have been highlighted again.”

“Allowing voters to recall their elected officials would go a long way in making elected officials behave more ethically,” he said.

The budget can be more transparent by passing a law that “says the budget has to be filed within so many days of being passed and make sure the public has enough time to review any budget that is going into effect.”

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.