Susan George: 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: Campton HillsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Campton Hills Village Board Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Watershed Program Manager, The Conservation Foundation; Swimming Instructor, Cadence Fitness/HealthEducation: Bachelors in Business Marketing/AdvertisingCivic involvement: Campton Hills Village Trustee Joint Environmental Resources Committee (Village of Campton Hills/Campton Township) - former Chairman, current member Christ Community Church - meals ministry Sierra Club - Smart Growth ChairmanElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I am a representative of the residents. I am true to pursuing the needs and desires of the community. I have a proven record as a public servant over the past seven years for the Village of Campton Hills. I have upheld the financial interests of building and maintaining a village without property taxes, executing a balanced budget annually and controlling government expansion. I have protected the semi-rural character of the village by initiating the Joint Environmental Resource Management Committee of Campton Hills and Campton Township six years ago. I also initiated the development of the Green Infrastructure Report aiding village decision making regarding protecting our natural resources. This report also lead us to obtaining additional grants to complete our Comprehensive Plan. Shortly thereafter I secured a grant to conduct a preliminary overview of the village subdivision and zoning code through the same environmental committee. This was the impetus of the extensive review the Plan Commission is currently undertaking with additional grand funding. I have also extensively researched and co-authored the Responsible Lighting Ordinance (Dark Sky) based upon citizen referendum approval. As Trustee I am not just attending meetings and making decisions I am taking action to make a difference in the lives of our residents.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 local sales tax is a great benefit to our residents and visitors who shop in Campton Hills. We have one of the lowest sales tax rates in the area. Our businesses are recovering from the recession and new ones are selecting Campton as a community to initiate their business. The other great news is we have no property taxes in Campton Hills. We run a minimalist government and the slate of candidates with whom I am running intend on keeping it so. It's a win win.Rate the efficiency of your town's police and fire coverage. Are the departments well prepared for the next decade? What, if anything, should be changed? Do you have specific public safety concerns?Campton Hills Police has an outstanding record. Chief, Dan Hoffman is continually working to improve the training, equipment, service and communication of our officers and he has been outstanding working within his budget. We are looking to make certain the pensions for our police are appropriately maintained but like all communities in the state of Illinois this is an area that needs constant monitoring and professional solutions to maintain the current level of service our residents expect while watching our village budget. Additionally, over the past year our new Village Administrator, Jennifer Johnson along with Trustee, Laura Andersen has done an outstanding job working to secure a $30K Cities of Service grant to train residents as Emergency Preparedness volunteer responders and to obtain a tornado siren. The fire coverage does not fall within the Villages responsibilities. However, we routinely partner with several fire departments serving our residents in community outreach through our National Night Out, pancake breakfast, Safety Fair and by taking an active role in listening to our residents fire safety needs.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?We have an extremely tight budget. We are very fiscally conservative. However, there are always improvements to be made. I will be embarking on doing so within the month as we begin our budget analysis and adoption this spring. It is my goal to lessen our need for legal counsel due to the 2014 hire of our current Village Administrator, tighter control on excessive spending such as hiring of a court reporter for village board meetings by the current President and analysis of petty cash and contracts. Additional funding will need to be discussed to further analyze water resource protection and education, emergency preparedness training and education as well as possible marketing promotion support for our community businesses.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?Resident education in several areas such as methods to protect our water resources, detention pond maintenance, energy saving tools and community volunteerism to get more done with less. Small changes like this can have a lasting impact. As a village leader and a professional in conservation at a non-profit foundation for the past seven years I have the experience to guide our village.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The primary issue at hand in this election is being able to get work done as a Village Board member by either working with a Village President who maintains a my way or the highway approach instilling a stifling environment or having a leader who is willing to listen to the community, act upon the best interests of the community and maintaining the original purpose by which the Village of Campton Hills was founded. The former leadership fosters low productivity, no growth of ideas, high staff turnover, poor partnerships and community reputation. The latter leadership fosters empowering people and ideas, a professional atmosphere, strong partnerships and a quality community reputation. The latter environment is critical to the residents of the Village.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Candidate did not respond.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Truth prevails.