Shahzad Kazi: 2025 candidate for South Barrington village board

Bio

Office sought: South Barrington village board (Vote for 3)

City: South Barrington

Age: 65

Occupation: Banker

Previous offices held: South Barrington Planning Commission

What is the most serious issue your community will face in the coming years and how should the village board respond to it?

Shrinking population. The village board needs to focus on the demographic’s needs and determine what will attract and retain people in South Barrington. Our comprehensive plan needs to take this into account and we need to designate land development with the right focus in mind.

How would you describe the state of your community's finances? What should be the top priorities for spending during the next few years? Are there areas of spending that need to be curtailed?

The village has adequate finances for its needs, but needs to make sure that new projects will generate adequate taxes.

What do you see as the most important infrastructure project the community must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what project(s) can be put on the back burner?

Most of the village’s expenses relate to maintenance of roads, drainage and trees. There are no major infrastructure projects that are in flight. However, we need to give more focus to safety and security of the residents and beef up the police force and provide them with additional training.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach an agreement and manage local government? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions with your village board.

Policy needs to be driven by strategy and that in turn needs to take into account the current conditions and wishes of the community.

Having worked in setting policy for large commercial institutions, my style is to get inputs from all stakeholders and then come up with a strategy to address current ad future needs. The strategy then needs to be presented to the stakeholders to get their buy in. Policy formulation comes after the strategy has been agreed upon.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I listen to the community that I represent rather than serve the interests of special interest groups. In addition, with degrees in engineering, business and law and global corporate experience, I am able to see the big picture while taking into account communities’ wishes.

What’s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

We should start thinking of allocating land for the construction of live, work, play areas as we do not have a downtown. This is an alternative to a vibrant downtown where people can find entertainment close to home.