Q&A with Dist. 6 candidates
Three people are seeking two seats representing District 6 of the DuPage County Board, which serves all or parts of Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Bartlett, Wayne, West Chicago, Winfield and Warrenville. The candidates are Pamela Fenner, Robert Larsen and James Zay. The Daily Herald asked candidates questions about their views on local issues. Following are their responses. Some have been edited to meet the requested maximum of 150 words.
Q. Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is that? What will be your main priority in office?
Fenner. As a parent, small business owner and long-time civic leader, I know the challenges we face balancing work and family. I want to represent my community in Wheaton as a County Board Member because I want to work for what's important by addressing issues that positively impact our quality of life.
My priority will remain the same as it has been during my tenure as an elected and appointed official, which is serving my constituents. Their issues will be my issues. While we face many challenges in the County, it is critical we work to keep taxes at reasonable levels while providing our residents with a safe environment in which to raise our children. Public Safety funding, while balancing the County's budget, has to be a priority.
Larsen. Over 8 years ago my wife and I moved from Cook County to DuPage County. I saw firsthand the differences between the two counties. While Cook County and Chicago have much to offer, it was obvious from the beginning that DuPage County government and services are far superior to those in Cook County. My No. 1 priority is to ensure that the DuPage County Board continues to uphold the values that made this county great: low taxes, law and order, top-notch public services and infrastructure. This requires sound fiscal discipline. The budget must be balanced, now and for the future, without overburdening the taxpayers. We need to prioritize our expenses, put together a five-year plan, and avoid the need for future tax increases.
Zay. It has been an honor and privilege to serve the people of District 6 on the DuPage County Board. For the past eight years I have strived to provide the 6th District with strong, independent representation. The trust they have placed in me is a great honor and I look forward to being their voices on the important issues facing our families and communities.
Having grown up in DuPage County and having a young family, the future of our county motivates me to do my best to continue to keep DuPage County the great place it is to raise a family and work. Public Safety is one of the main issues I have always made a priority when serving on the DuPage County Board. Safe streets and low crime is a cornerstone of the county and we have to do everything possible to keep this our main priority. We need to secure a dedicated source of revenue so we can fund our sheriff and states attorney's office to the levels they need to reduce crime and get criminals behind bars quickly.
Q. If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of important initiatives you've led. If you are not an incumbent, tell us what contributions you would make.
Fenner. I am proud of my work as an elected trustee of the Carol Stream Village Board since 1993, as a member of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Legislative Committee, as a founding board member of the Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce, and as vice-chairman of the DuPage Housing Authority. In these roles, I have had the ability to take complex issues, build consensus, and effect positive change in our community. If elected, I will take these consensus building skills to the county board, listen to and learn from fellow board members and elected officials who represent different constituencies, life experiences, and viewpoints and work for what best serves the families of our county.
Larsen. As a new member of the board I would seek to bridge the divide that seems to have caused rifts between various factions on the board. I would push for a five-year budget plan, and try to keep the board focused on prioritizing core services over pet projects. I would push to review and overhaul the health plan for county employees, pushing for Health Savings Accounts that can save money for the county while allowing employees greater control over their health and financial future. I would push for a major overhaul of the county pension system to avoid the looming pension disaster that faces so many municipalities.
Zay. Over my eight years on the board, I have worked on many issues from small local problems to countywide issues so it is hard to narrow them down. With all of the attention on the county's finances over the last several months, I have been working hard to have the county find additional revenue sources. In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, I called for the county to look at a tax on cigarettes. I have also been the chairman of the county's storm water committee and we have established a comprehensive flood prevention program that has helped alleviate flooding in our neighborhoods. I worked very hard with the City of West Chicago to stop the placement of a second waste transfer station in our area. We have made major road improvements to the District (County Farm Road by building a underpass which helps Emergency Vehicles reach Central DuPage Hospital.) Worked with Carol Stream to get safe drinking water to unincorporated residents when contaminated wells were found. Worked on ethics and purchasing reforms to make DuPage County one of the toughest in Illinois. But the most important issues that the papers or most people don't hear about are the small local ones that we get every day from residents, like help with zoning problems, animal control issues, flooding or lowering speed limits or making no turns lanes when car accidents were adding up.
Q. What is the primary function of the county board?
Fenner. The county board's primary function is to establish the various budgets of the county funds and adopt ordinances and rules pertaining to the management and business of the county departments.
Larsen. The DuPage County Board oversees the purse strings of the county. It sets the budget for the State's Attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department, the county court system, and other major county functions. I believe the board should focus on these law and order functions, as well as its responsibilities for the infrastructure of DuPage County, first and foremost. While the board should, through budgeting and regulation, do what it can to further the welfare of the citizens of DuPage County, it should remember that is does that best by focusing on its core mission.
Zay. One of the major roles of county government is public safety. The sheriff, states attorney, judicial system and the county jail. Over 80 percent of the county's Budget goes to fund these areas. But we have other responsibilities such as storm water, public works, animal control, health and human services, the convalescent center, county roads, public transit, environmental issues. The county also collects the property taxes for all of the other taxing governments. The recorder deals with all property transactions. The clerk deals with birth certificates, marriage licenses. Homeland Security works with all governments to coordinate all plans for the county. We are the government for the unincorporated residents and deal with zoning and development issues for them.
So when you ask what a primary role is, you can have many answers, because residents who need help in many areas, want you to make their problem your primary function for that day. Most people don't realize what the county does until it affects them in there everyday life.
Q. The county is considering enacting a fee for storm water services. If you support this, explain why. If you don't support this, explain why not?
Fenner. While additional funding will be required to comply with the upcoming EPA requirements for storm water, I cannot support the proposal, as I have seen it. The EPA requirements will affect individual municipalities as well as the County. Will the County be providing all storm water regulation compliance throughout the County or will municipalities also have to come up with compliance procedures, causing municipalities to also levy a tax? The tax on schools and other government buildings will cause a larger impact on property owners on their real estate tax bill. The tax on non-profits, such as churches, again hits the pockets of our residents. Additional discussion and negotiation with municipal leaders needs to take place before any action takes place.
Larsen. DuPage County received a very large grant from the state through the water commission to both build and maintain storm water control services. While the County built a first rate system, which has successfully controlled flooding in DuPage, the board unfortunately chose to use later funds in part to plug other gaps in the budget, thereby ignoring much needed upkeep of the system. Now the system needs maintenance to avoid it failing, and the storm water fee would ask property owners, many of whom may receive little or no benefit from the maintenance since they do not live in flood-prone areas, to bear the cost of past fund mismanagement. This is unfair. It would also burden schools and churches, which are not currently exempted. I do not support this fee.
Zay. The storm water utility is a major initiative started by the storm water committee, which I am the chairman of. (The committee is composed of 6 county board members, and 6 municipal representatives.) Increased demand on storm water services is a result of various issues, both internal to the county as well as increasing legal requirements from state and federal agencies. An increase in impervious surfaces' has increased both the volume of storm water runoff and the pollutants that are carried by it during a typical storm. Aging infrastructure and stream deterioration increase the potential for flooding and present public safety issues. Pollution in storm water runoff decreases water quality and increases public health concerns. Additionally, there are new state and federal legal requirements pending as the Clean Water Act goes into its next phase of permitting in 2008.
The benefits of creating a storm water user fee are many.
Q. There has been some discussion of cutting the salary of DuPage County Board members. They now earn $48,620 annually. Should this pay be reduced or not? Should board members continue to get mileage reimbursement, pensions, committee chairmanship stipends and health benefits, or not? Please explain your positions.
Fenner. During my career as a public official, I have received little or no salary for my services. I truly enjoy public service and would be willing to see a pay/benefit reduction and/or freeze. However, other elected members have come to depend on the salary and benefits to support their families and they need to be involved in deciding what the best solution is for the county.
Larsen. Board member salaries should be cut, though not necessarily dramatically. In considering this issue, we must balance the desire to draw the best people into government service with fundamental fairness. Allowing salary increases for part-time board members while full time county employees lose their jobs and means of support is not good policy. It sends the wrong message. At a minimum, the current pay escalation should be frozen as a sign of good will from the board to the county's employees. Traveling to board functions is part of the job as well. I would terminate mileage reimbursements. I would also eliminate pensions for these part-time jobs, and stipends for committee chairs. I would, however, leave in place the health program to allow board members with health issues to focus on the business of the county, rather than their health needs.
Zay. I believe that the salaries should be capped at its current levels. You need good dedicated people who want to serve the people of the county. We don't want to continue the trend of the higher offices were only the rich and elite can run for office. We want a good cross section of people serving on the board. They bring expertise from different areas and life experiences. The practice of mileage should be stopped along with the stipends for chairmanships. health benefits I would continue, since they pay for there coverage and they also pay into the pension programs. In the past I have not taken my raises, and my stipends, returning the money to the County.
Q. Should the county government have home rule? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Fenner. As a Carol Stream Trustee, my experience with home rule has been positive. Carol Stream is a home rule community; we have a balanced budget; a one-year operating budget reserve fund; and we do not levy a property tax.
Home rule authority can be used to facilitate the sale of local bonds and to reduce the overall cost of debt to local taxpayers; to promote local industrial development efforts; regulate cable TV, video games, day-care centers, massage parlors, nude dancing, and condominiums; attack local environmental problems, juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, and landlord/tenant problems; and strengthen local zoning and subdivision regulations.
The voters need to have confidence in elected officials to use home rule with discretion. Elected officials need to make the argument that home rule will be used appropriately and the way to do that is through referendum. Voters can also vote out officials that abuse home rule.
Larsen. DuPage County should have home rule. We are a county of nearly one million people. We should be able to self-regulate. I am a federalist. By that I mean that I believe in pushing government power down to the lowest level, to be more responsive to the people. Power in DuPage better serves the interests of DuPage citizens than does power held in Springfield. However, home rule should only be achieved through referendum approved by the voters. If the Board has not earned the trust of the voters to exercise home rule it should not receive that power. And if the county is granted home rule, we need strong fiscal conservatives on the board to prevent home rule from being used simply as a means to raise taxes and fees.
Zay. I was never a big fan of home rule, but with the current situation in Springfield I am in favor of it. Home rule is an issue of local self determination. The county has gone to Springfield for help on revenue issues, only to have the politicians from the City of Chicago and Southern Illinois tell us what is important and what we need in DuPage County. Home rule is not only about taxing, but has a major affect on zoning in the county. Do you ever wonder why all of those massage parlors, strip clubs, tattoo parlors and adult businesses are in unincorporated areas? That's because the county lacks zoning enforcement to stop these kinds of business.
A city or town with more than 25,000 people is automatically a home rule community. DuPage has over 900,000 people, and we have no ability to govern ourselves on many issues.
Q. How should the county fund its operations in the future? What do you think of increasing the county sales tax to fund operations? What do you think of creating a county vehicle sticker tax to fund operations?
Larsen. The county must engage in longer term planning to avoid dependence on "new revenue sources" (i.e. new taxes and fees) to balance the budget. Proper planning will prevent future budget gaps, as will better focus on the county's core mission. I opposed the vehicle sticker fee, which was really just a tax. If taxes are to be raised, the voters should honestly know what they are getting. I believe the current budget can be balanced without the need for a new sales tax. However, I support having a referendum so the voters can decide how much government, and taxes, they want. The referendum should be conducted honestly, with no threat of "vote for this tax or you'll get a different one." If the voters say no, the budget must be balanced with the funds available.
Zay. Revenue is a big issue at the County. Government can't be all things for all people. But rising costs just like everyone else is dealing with in there family budgets are taking its toll at the County. We need to find other revenue sources to take the pressure off of property taxes. Many governments say, well I only raised my share of your property taxes by $25, well when you have so many local governments taxing, that adds up. I have pushed for the cigarette tax since 2004; we need to look at more user fees for government. If you use a specific service, you pay for it. If we do not look for property tax relief, we are going to drive many families and seniors from their homes.
Our public safety areas, the sheriff, states attorney, and court system take 80 percent of the county's budget.