Karen Darch: 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: BarringtonWebsite: KarenDarch.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Barrington Village President Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Husband-Douglas Darch6 childrenOccupation: Candidate did not respond.Education: BA College of William and MaryJD University of North Carolina School of LawCivic involvement: St. Anne's Parish, Boy Scout merit badge counselor, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Development Council, Healthier Barrington Coalition, Illinois Municipal League President, Commisioner, Illinois Bicentennial CommissionElected offices held: Barrington Village Trustee 1995-2005 Village President since 2005Northwest Municipal Conference President, BACOG Chair, Metro Mayors Caucus Chair, Illinois Municipal League PresidentOrganizations-non govBarrington Junior Women's Club-President, St. Anne PTO President,Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?My experience raising my family in the village, participating in many community organizations over the years and my service on the Village Board give me the desire, background and knowledge to best fill the position of Village President.We have great momentum in Barrington as we continue our work on downtown redevelopment-with 10 new restaurants opening in the recent past, welcoming 49 new businesses to the Village in 2016 and as a new residential project downtown breaks ground. Our activities and events continue to expand. With the community -minded, thoughtful, diverse and skilled Village Trustees whom I have encouraged to serve on the Village Board, we will continue to build on this momentum to achieve a shared community vision.Several important infrastructure projects are underway:a main sewer line and water line replacements, intersection improvements at Route 14 and Hart Road and at Dundee Road and Grove Avenue, a new entrance with traffic signal at the commuter lot and the Route 14/CN grade separation. As the person on the proverbial ground running with these"â#128;œmany of which took/are taking years for planning and funding-I am best positioned to see them through to completion.In my roles as a regional and statewide leader-currently President of the state municipal association, the Illinois Municipal League"â#128;ťI am best positioned to influence decisions that affect our village.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?Barrington is in a strong financial position and management of our budget and finances resulted in our bond rating being increased to the highest level possible for a non-home rule community of our size and having that pristine rating reconfirmed in 2016.The plan we have been working to redevelop our downtown has been aimed at not only increasing activity, and restaurant, retail and residential options for our residents and others, but also to enhance our property tax base and increase sales tax revenue. These revenues are critical components of a village budget which supports excellent service levels for our residents. Our efforts have been successful as our sales tax revenue has increased by more than 24% since 2011 and 49 new businesses have opened throughout the Village in 2016. Retail occupancy rates have improved to 90% and the office occupancy rate to 82%.We will continue to complete the downtown redevelopment plan as well as encourage new businesses in other parts of town. Our support for our major sales tax generators"â#128;ťcar dealerships-located throughout the community will continue.We will also continue to control the expense side of the budget. Our budget has been reduced by over 12% since 2009 and successfully separating our fire department has limited our long-term liabilities while improving emergency service response times for our residents.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The Village budget has been reduced by over 12% since 2009. One area where we would like to see further reduction is in the amount that the Village must contribute each year to the public safety pension funds. These costs have increased at an annual average rate of 10.2 % since 2007. These locally-held public safety pension funds are created and controlled by state law and so the Village's ability to impact these cost increases is limited. In an effort to control this expense, municipalities statewide-including Barrington-are asking the state legislature to pursue consolidation of the over 650 public safety pension funds. This would allow each community to have its own "account", so a community does not lose ground by subsidizing another, yet all would receive the benefit of the increased investment returns and lower administrative costs that consolidation would bring-thus reducing this expense in each community's budget.Reducing the pension expenses would allow more of the budget to be directed to capital improvements like road maintenance and repair. With additional funds for this work, the multiyear infrastructure plan could be adjusted to allow more frequent attention to road repair and maintenance and timely replacement so major, expensive repairs can be avoided.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 strong leader who has led on developing and pursuing a shared vision for where our community and leaders want to take our village and we have worked closely together to make that vision a reality. The Trustees with whom I serve and would serve with on the next Village Board are community service minded individuals with unique skill sets. My leadership style is to respect and encourage the various perspectives and talents they bring to continue to pursue the vision of our thriving community.My leadership abilities have afforded me the opportunity to represent our community as part of and a leader for regional and statewide efforts and organizations. I was recently elected President of the Illinois Municipal League-the statewide association for the over 1200 cities, towns, and villages in our state. Prior to that I served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, a caucus of the 274 municipalities in the greater Chicago region, President of the Northwest Municipal Conference representing over 45 municipalities in the north and northwest suburbs and as Chairman of the Barrington Area Council of Governments. Our rail safety efforts through the TRAC coalition of villages, cities, and counties which we founded and I have co-chaired since 2008, have enjoyed success at the state and federal levels.In these positions, I have honed my leadership skills and helped to accomplish legislative change like pension reform and rail safety enhancements, while bringing additional benefits and opportunities to Barrington.What is one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?After constructing the grade separation at Route 14 and the CN rail crossing, or sooner if funds allow, a pedestrian/bike underpass should be constructed at the CN crossing on Lake Cook Road in order to provide additional safety for the many students (and others) who walk/bike there daily.A second good idea would be to increase the use of the village cable channel 4 to provide some community programming.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?There are several important infrastructure projects, addressing safety and traffic congestion, in process that I wish to see through to completion.One project is the replacement of a main sewer line which will begin in 2017 and be completed in 2018. This project will help address the sewage overflow problem in parts of the village, but it will also allow us to improve service lines and replace any remaining lead service lines in the project's right of way.Another important project is adding turn lanes at Hart Road and Route 14 and adding bike and pedestrian enhancements along Hart Road and Main Street around the Barrington High School campus. We are also installing a traffic light at a new Route 14 entrance into the train station commuter lot . And we are installing a traffic light at the intersection of Dundee Rd and Grove Ave.The Route 14 underpass needs to be completed to ensure there is one unimpeded route to Good Shepherd Hospital, decrease public safety response times and reduce traffic delays. We have secured $21.9 million in state and federal funds and will continue to seek more from these sources and CN, as well as continue to be active on hazmat safety as CN carries double the system average of hazmat on the EJE line.It has taken years to plan and fund many of these projects, and in my final term I want to complete them to ensure the village is well situated for the future.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Peter Roskam as he is a man of strong faith, intelligence, and a great sense of humor.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Service to other people is important"â#128;ťboth parents were very involved in not- for-profit and community service including on town boards and commissions.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have spent more time practicing piano playing,What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?American History- giving me a great sense of patriotism and respect for law and our form of government which is with me to this day.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Keep the Faith"â#128;ťlove God above all and treat your neighbor as you wish to be treated.