Scott Richmond: 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: South ElginWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: South Elgin Village Board Age: 46Family: Wife - Sandy Daughter - Ariana 17 Son - Alexander 14Occupation: LawyerEducation: BA - Accounting Michigan State University JD - IIT Chicago Kent College of LawCivic involvement: Village Trustee South Elgin 2005-2013, 2014-present Chairman, Board of Directors - Food for Greater Elgin 2011-Present Board of Directors - Advocate Sherman Hospital 2014-Present Board of Directors - St. Charles Bank Trust Company 2007-Present Board of Managers - Kane County Bar Association 2009-Present Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Brett Armin Sarcoma Foundation 2008-PresentElected offices held: Village Trustee - South ElginQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I served on the South Elgin Economic Development Council for 5 years, and after doing so, I have served as a Village Trustee for almost 10 years. Living and working in South Elgin, my wife and I have raised two children in this community and have experienced its growth and participated in Village sponsored activities for many years. I have coached baseball in the South Elgin Little League for almost 10 years as well. This has exposed me to many issues that affect everyday life in South Elgin and I bring that experience to the Board as a Trustee. Through my professional experience as a lawyer I have extensive experience in zoning and development as well as contract law. The Board considers these types of matters often and I am able to bring my professional experience to making decisions on the Board. I also have a great deal of experience in fiscal responsibility through the budgeting process for the Village as well as for multiple other organizations I serve on. I consider myself fiscally conservative and will continue to apply that philosophy while serving the Village of South Elgin 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 level of local sales tax is just right. As a non-home rule community South Elgin is limited in the amount of sales tax the Village can assess. State law limits local sales tax that the Village can collect and so the Village is not in a position to change the amount of sales tax amounts. However, prior sales tax sharing agreements with businesses such as Target will shortly be expiring and will allow the Village to recognize higher sales tax revenue. The property tax level is appropriate as well. The Village finance department analyzes the tax levy each year, and the Board approves a levy commensurate with the monetary needs of the Village for the coming year. Again, due to statutory caps on the amount of increases to the levy available each year, the Village is limited in what it can assess. The budget, therefore, must be conformed to the real estate taxes available via the annual levy. The levy itself is based on the annual assessed value of properties provided by Kane County and this translates into how much the Village will collect via property taxes. The combination of the anticipated sales tax revenue and property tax assessment translates into the operating budget for the coming year.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?In South Elgin we are fortunate to have a strong, efficient police force as well as an experienced and well trained fire department. While there is always a desire for more police officers, those working for the department are hard working and protect the Village well. Both the South Elgin PD and the South Elgin Countryside Fire Protection District strive to constantly improve their response times and preparedness through new technology. The departments are well prepared for the next decade, particularly with planned upgrades to communication systems. That being said, the fire department facility next to Village Hall is antiquated and needs to be upgraded. The Village should be working with the Fire Protection District to help solve that issue in the future. In addition, if it becomes possible to get the police department more space to operate in, it would be beneficial to the officers. I have no public safety concerns with the South Elgin Police Department or the South Elgin Countryside Fire Protection District. Their commitment to protecting the safety of our citizens is unparalleled.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?This is a difficult question to answer because of the diligence of the Village Administrator and Department Heads in formulating the budget to present to the Village Board for review and adoption. The budget in South Elgin is always presented as a deficit budget, but typically ends up balanced or under budget. Every year the Village Administrator and Department Heads spend a great deal of time analyzing needs and wants, determining expenses for both and fitting those within the budget revenues allocated to their departments. Since 2005 when I joined the Village Board, the Board has not had to trim expenses to the budget or move allocations to other departments. The expertise lies within those running their departments, the Director of Finance and the Village Administrator. It is my position that as a Trustee it is my responsibility to review and analyze the proposed budget as a whole and listen to each Department Head present the budget at appropriate budget meetings, but not to micro-manage the budget. As long as there are sufficient revenues to support the necessary expenditures and maintain an adequate operating fund balance the budget will be approved. Fortunately the Department Heads know that the Village has limited revenue and therefore expenditures must be tightly controlled. The Village budget remains conservative and yet allows us to maintain all necessary services to our citizens.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I have been pushing for the Village Staff and Board to be more environmentally conscious in terms of our Board materials, presentations and documents in general. It is my opinion that the Board, Plan Commission and Village Staff should move to electronic Board packets and presentations. This will save thousands of pages of copies each month and likely tens of thousands each year by investing in Village owned iPads or other tablets or even laptop computers. I have been using a personal iPad to access Board reports for several years without any issues and this would eventually save the Village a great deal on copying costs and paper and, in addition, make the Village more environmentally conscious.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?It is important to me to see the Village continue to grow. The Village must continue to find ways to provide services to its residents and improve aging infrastructure. Throughout the Village, streets need resurfacing and the Village must constantly strive to maximize its roadway improvement dollars to resurface and repair as many roads as possible. In addition, improving our public works facilities is vital. The current facilities are insufficient to meet the needs of the Village. Employees in the Public Works department do an incredible job of "making it work" with the facilities we have, but with responsible planning the Village can improve and enhance our public works department facilities in the coming years.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Warren Buffet. While his investment philosophy made his wealth, he gives billions to charity and teaches people how to engage in philanthropy regardless of income.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Always work hard in whatever you do.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I do not believe in do-overs. Life has twists and turns and when something does not go your way you need to adapt and persevere.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. It helps to have perspective on how the past has helped mold our current society. Learning from the past can improve our future.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I tell my children to respect everyone and treat everyone like you want them to treat you.