Patsy Smith: Candidate Profile

Back to Campton Hills Village president

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: Campton HillsWebsite: (not established yet - will provide later)Office sought: Campton Hills Village president Age: 48Family: Three grown children - Brandon (30) Laura (27) and son-in-law Rob, and Taylor (24)Occupation: Village President/ Office Manager TTS Systems, Inc.Education: BS Business Administrator with an emphasis in Finance and Real Estate from Colorado State UniversityCivic involvement: *Village President - Village of Campton Hills *Liquor Commissioner - VOCH *Finance Committee Member - VOCH *Member, Kane-Elgin HOME Commission *Kane Co. Board Liaison, Northwest Water Planning Alliance Member, Metro West COG *Member, Kane/Kendall Council of Mayors Transportation Policy Committee Member *Member, Metropolitan Mayor's Caucus *Past President of "Preserve Campton", a Not-For-Profit Corp. working to overcome Elgin's zoning decision to bring mass housing into Campton Township. *Past Chairman of the "Incorporation Committee" which led to the creation of the Village of Campton Hills. *G.A.I.N. Investment Club Member *Choir Member First Baptist Church of Geneva *Homeward Glen HOA PresidentElected offices held: Village President- Village of Campton HillsQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I believe I am the best candidate for the job of Village President because I have eight years of experience as the only Village President of Campton Hills, in addition to serving for seven years as the Administrator. The hands-on education I have received is priceless. I have learned much about the laws governing non home-rule municipalities; I have a good working relationship with our neighboring municipalities and their Mayors, and our State Legislators. I believe I have proven I'm a natural leader and have followed through on the promise to be fiscally responsible and continue to be committed to living within our means. I also believe I have shown that I'm a hard worker and preserve when times are difficult. I am hopeful the residents know that I try to do what is best for the Village and that I have good reasons for the actions I take, regardless of what those opposed say. I believe the public would say that I have always been approachable and am willing to discuss any issue openly and honestly, which is often needed in my position. As the Village continues to grow and develop as an entity, many of our policies and procedures will be better defined which should lessen the need for the day-to-day involvement of the Village President.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 that people want?Our budget is good. The Village has a 6-month General Fund Reserve in addition to reserves for various capital projects and the Police Pension Fund. The Board hired two additional full-time Police Officers last September, which will increase the police pension liability significantly. I believe that it is imperative that the Village fully fund the Police Pension Fund as soon as possible to avoid the issues many other Illinois municipalities have experienced. I also believe that if the portion of the income tax shared through the State Local Government Distributive Fund is decreased, the residents should participate in determining how to rebalance the budget to address any reduction in revenue. I don't believe the Village Board should be making decisions to find alternative revenue sources to fill the void, unless there is clear indication from the people that is what they want. The incorporators of the Village created this Village to give people a voice and a vote and it is important that our Administrator and Village Board are committed to doing just that, by seeking input from them as to the level of services they desire and how services should be funded.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Clearly, legal expenditures should not be where they are. The Trustees hired a second "legislative" lawyer to advise them, whose opinion sometimes differs from our Village Attorney. Through January, the Village has received invoices of approximately $20,000 that was not budgeted for this legal expense in FY15. In my opinion, this decision was a total waste of the Village's money, has caused a further divide in the Village Board, and resulted in the need to go to court to settle these issues. As stated in my Veto Memorandum of this expenditure, I am not yet convinced the Village can even legally pay a legislative attorney for their services according to state statute. I also don't believe going to court to resolve these differences is the fiscally responsible thing to do and one of the reasons I am running for office again and encouraging voters to elect three new qualified Trustees. The budget does not give enough money towards economic development. The name "Campton Hills" needs to be branded and commercial vacancies need to be better advertised. Many new businesses have come to Campton Hills in the last year and that needs to continue so the Village has a solid sales tax base, which helps keep the pressure of taxation low.Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board or city council.I am a proven leader and am task-oriented. When people choose to work together, my leadership style is successful because we are all working together to solve a problem or improve a situation. Unfortunately, after the last election resulting in a new Board Member, and the hiring of our first Administrator a year ago, hidden motives and politics entered into the picture. No leadership style will be effective if a majority of the Board is making decisions for political or personal motives and not doing what is best for the Village as a whole. For six years, our three different Village Boards worked together well. It is important that all Village leaders commit to work together, but when Trustees who have taken the Oath of Office to uphold the laws of the Village and State, no longer do so, you will not produce effective actions which results in conflict. If enough voters write-in the names of three new, well-qualified Trustee candidates (Steven D Galloway for the February 24, 2015 primary election; Mike Turgeon and Don Sheluga for the April 7, 2015 election), as well as Stephany Impson for Village Clerk, you will have a majority of Board Members who will make good decisions based on an honest, open discussion of the pros and cons of the issues before they vote. These candidates are committed to making this Village the best it can be while continuing to be fiscally responsible.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I am in the process of trying to bring Bob Kay of the United States Geologic Survey, who was commissioned by Campton Township more than 10 years ago to write a computer program to predict the impact of development on our aquifers, together with the Kane County Water Resource Department who commissioned the Illinois Geologic Survey for a water study of our aquifers, Pete Wallers of the Northwest Water Planning Alliance, of which I am a member through Metro West Council of Government, and the Village Water Resource Committee together to share information and work cooperatively to find ways to protect our local water supply and water quality. Because the Village of Campton Hills is reliant on groundwater alone, it is imperative the Village makes good development decisions and continues to work to assure storm water runoff is properly returned to the aquifers. Municipalities reliant on groundwater need new laws allowing the reuse of gray water for purposes such as lawn watering. We need to preserve our potable water and find more efficient ways to conserve this most important natural resource.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Being fiscally conservative, living within our means and continuing to operate without the need of a municipal property tax is an important issue to me. Fully funding the Police Pension Fund is also important. Even though we may have the best funded Police Pension Fund in the State, we still need to work towards it being fully funded. The leaders of Campton Hills made a commitment in 2007 to live within their means and one way to do that is not to repeat the errors made by other municipalities by not fully funding this liability. There is currently an unfunded liability of between $309,412 and $436,533. Some of the unfunded liability was budgeted to be funded during the calendar year, but any shortfall should be addressed during the FY16 budgeting process. It is imperative the Village Board considers this liability and addresses it in a fiscally conservative manner.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Governor Rauner, though not yet proven, didn't need the headache of being Governor, yet he was willing to serve and try to solve Illinois' problems.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?"Find a way, or make one." I was taught that I am capable of accomplishing almost anything with God's grace, hard work, determination and perseverance.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Balancing my time better.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I enjoyed all classes related to business. Everyday I use the lessons I learned in my high school and college business related courses, especially typing!If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."