H. Thomas O'Hale: 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: NapervilleWebsite: www.OHaleforNaperville.comOffice sought: Naperville City Council Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Married to Mary Denise Cahill, Naperville attorney. Daughter Kelly, a Bradley graduate, lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with husband Thomas Pettersson and daughters Leah and Hannah.Son Shawn,a graduate of Northwestern and lives in New Jersey with wife Karen and sons Connor and Aiden. Carolyn, a graduate of the U of I lives in San Diego with husband Jesse Maga, a Navy pilot. John, a graduate of NIU. lives and works in Naperville. Married to Mary Denise Cahill, Naperville attorney for 33 years. Father of Kelly, Shawn, Carolyn and John grandfather of Leah and Hannah Pettersson and Conor and Aiden O'Hale.Occupation: Retired High School PrincipalEducation: Northern Illinois University, B.S.,History and Economics. Masters Science, Educational Administration. Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration.Civic involvement: Officer of the West Street Greenspace Preservation Coalition.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I believe I am the best candidate because I want to set a new direction for the city. In the most recent budget workshop the city manager stated the Naperville is built out, the future hold limited growth through new building and that we must now turn to maintenance of our City's housing and businesses. We cannot afford to court deficits through increased spending. We must balance our budget, freeze property taxes and pay down our debt. I am the candidate who understands what we must do and I will have the courage to do it. In 25 years as a high school principal, I was responsible for operating my school, which was an alternative school, funded by grants, on a tight budge. I had to account for my expenditures and run my school as a stand alone operation. In twenty-five years, I never exceeded my budget.What is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales and property taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.The Naperville's sales tax is currently lower than that of the other major cities in Illinois. While I am reluctant to advocate increased taxes, I would cautiously explore that possibility if budget tightening did not produce enough revenue. I favor freezing property taxes.Early projections for the fiscal year 2016 budget showed a $12 million deficit. What can the city do to avoid future budget deficits? Where can the city save money or make cuts?At the Naperville Budget Workshop held in early February, staff presented a cornucopia of requests for increases to fund new or expanded projects from each department. It is my opinion that approximately 70% of the projects for which funds were requested could be denied by the Council with no effect upon the services currently provided to the citizens and without endangering the populace. So if elected I would require that all requests for new projects or services by department heads be accompanied by a statement as to which services or projects were going to be pared back to make room in the budget for the new item. As for budget cuts, I would begin by conducting public hearings to see what the tax payers think are the priorities for city services and spending. Then, armed with information as to what the voters value most in services, the City Council can decide where cuts can be made with the least burden to the tax payers. Since the cost of employees is a major portion of the budget, I, personally would scrutinize the numbers of employees, employee wages and overtime as areas to trim.What additional regulations, if any, should the city council impose on bars and liquor license holders to help keep the downtown night life safe? What do you think of the restrictions recently created, such as relating to late-night entry, shot sales, beer sizes, drink specials and security training?Micromanaging such items such as the size of beers and time shot sales will be marginally effective. Better training not only of security personnel, but also of servers is an important part of running an orderly bar. Bar owners should be held accountable for the behavior of patrons who are over-served in that suspenion and revocation of licenses should be exercised when appropriate. Lastly, the key to acceptable behavior by bar patrons exiting a bar is strict enforcement of existing laws regarding public behavior, such as disorderly conduct.What should the city council's role be in bringing businesses to town? Should businesses be allowed to bring in proposals under code names, such as "Project Panda"? What do you think of the decision to approve the SKF development at Warrenville and Freedom roads before informing the public of what the development would be?It is the role of the City Council to bring business to Naperville. Prosperous business owners provide a necessary tax base and jobs for the well-being of the whole community. Reasonable and moderate incentives may be necessary. However all actions of the City Council must be transparent and code names are contrary to that transparency.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The primary issue that must be dealt with is deficit spending. As a candidate, I will focus on balancing the budget, and providing the necessary services expected by the community.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Governor Scott Walker has inspired me to embrace his philosophy that a balanced budget and good government services are not mutually exclusive.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I learned that you must take responsibility for your decisions and the consequences that follow.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Given this winter's weather, I would have moved to a warmer climate.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History has always been my favorite subject because it has allowed me to learn from the successes and mistakes of past leaders.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Spend less, save more and invest wisely.