Steven Polit: Candidate Profile

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:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: Mount ProspectWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Mount Prospect Village Board (4-year Terms)Age: 61Family: Married, two adult sons 27 24.Occupation: Owner Davinity Systems Inc. dba Custom Home Technology Automation and Integration company. Building home theaters, media rooms and smart home systems.Education: Graduate Elk Grove H.S. 1969 Harper College 2 Yr. SIU CarbondaleCivic involvement: Mount Prospect Lions Club Northbrook Hunger Food Network Mount Prospect/ Lions Farmer's Market Food RecoveryElected offices held: Elected Trustee Village of Mount Prospect April 2009 (4yr. term). Appointed Trustee Village of Mount Prospect July 2008 to fill opening due resignation of Richard Lorsdorfer. Mount Prospect Parks Foundation 1995 to 1996. Commissioner Mount Prospect Park District April 23, 1991 to April 25, 1995, Vice President from 1993 to 1995.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: Never!Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Rekindling Success of Kensington Business Center (bounded by Kensington Road, Wolf Road and residences to the south and Wheeling/Business Center Dr on the west) Now is the time to focus on returningWorld Class? status to the industrial business center through coordinated village wide leadership. Cooperation between KBC businesses and property owners, reducing business center vacancies, creating jobs in the local economy and growing the commercial value of KBC within corporate limits of our village serve the community well. The value/productivity of the Kensington Business Center has been greatly impacted by recession and higher operating costs in Cook County. As a village we must facilitate and participate with owners of the Kensington Business Center to join together with common goals and purpose to form an effectiveKensington Center Business Association?. Opus Corporation provided development, successful marketing and sales focus while completing the developing the new business center in 1970's. Now individual property owners managing and occupying the Kensington Business Center again require that oneness and focus lost to numerous vacancies managed by multiple leasing companies. Rekindling the commercial/industrial value of KBC to our Mount Prospect community is utmost important! Goal: Reduce burden of property tax levies on residential property by reducing the number of vacancies in the commercial/industrial tax base of the Kensington Business Center.Key Issue 2 Developing revitalized downtown business district. Through implementation planning, partnerships between regional local public sector and businesses, area wide residents can be attracted to downtown Mount Prospect transforming the business sector into an urban like environment full of commerce and activity. Using concepts/designs currently being developed by Village of Mount Prospect urban planners (Lakota Group) with a $100,000 grant from Regional Transportation Authority must address a new vitality. Endorse improvement of pedestrian and consumer traffic patterns in the business district while improving public transportation, economic revitalization, jobs and commercial growth producing new sources of revenue for the downtown school district, park district and Village of Mount Prospect can be a reality.Key Issue 3 Springfield Legislative Board Liaison Improving Mount Prospect Village Board relationships with elected officials in Springfield representing Mount Prospect and outside our local venue has never been more important. Legislation effecting municipalities frequently moves for approval within hours. Communicating impacts of these quick moving bills to downstate officials is paramount to our communities survival. Semi-annual meetings hosted by Mount Prospect Mayor Trustees with State elected officials should emphasize strategies to improve relationships and communicate village positions on legislation before the state legislature.. Springfield liaisons would stress the importance of reducing the proclivity and impact of unfunded mandates, importance of timely sales tax revenue payments and communicatingPriority Project? funding identification. Providing competitive projects for grant funding when state grants are allocated would be more successful.Questions Answers What's working at Village of Randhurst? What worries you about the Village of Randhurst? Talk about the rate of occupancy, the mix of businesses and the customer traffic. What can the village do to improve those things?How fortunate is Mount Prospect to have a $200 million brand new retail center, built on budget during a recession and now running successfully generating sales tax revenue. Randhurst Village was built completely with private investments. No tax breaks or TIF to reduce other governments real estate revenues during the recession or after grand opening. Mount Prospect is sharing sales tax revenues over predetermined successful performance levels generated by Randhurst Village businesses. This incentive motivates Casto and J.P. Morgan Chase to fill the facility as soon as possible to meet the performance targets to receive revenue. Occupancy rates are generally not for public disclosure. I understand however, Casto management is very pleased to be in the current leased position. Personally, looking at Randhurst Village plans and adding up the total square footage stated on schematics, determining and subtracting the vacancies now it would seem that the new center is over 90% occupied by square footage. Management of any privately owned business has total control over their business model, marketing and policies. A municipality does best to stay out of the business and let the businesses do what they do best. The types of businesses they lease to is entire of their making. The village planners did suggest some changes to the access roads by Carson Pierre Scott and Panera Bread which Casto concurred and acted upon in a timely manner. Other issues regarding the main west entrance are being studied. I'm constantly concerned that our entire business structure and economic conditions in Illinois will effect citizens willingness to part with what disposable income may remain. Purchases by our surrounding community drive our local economy. Overspending and concurrent tax increases at the state level have huge impacts on real economic potential. Municipals balance budgets and generate workable environments for the state to exist.Given the delicate balance between the need for revenue and over-taxing local businesses, what is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.Sales tax in Mount Prospect is fair and equivalent to surrounding communities: AH 9%, RM 9%, DP 9%, EGV 9%, Palatine 9%, PH 9%, Wheeling 9% and all add 1% food beverage tax. The sales tax falls upon the purchaser of items from the business, not the business. Businesses only collect sales tax for which they receive a stipend if they pay by due date. Mount Prospect receives 1% of the 6.25% state tax, 1% from home rule tax and 1% from food beverage tax. The only other fee charged the business owner in Mount Prospect is a business license at the cost of $135. The Randhurst Village Special Area tax adds an additional 1/4% tax to all purchases(CostCo Home Depot exempt). Every business pays real estate taxes. Owner's of the business pay property tax direct and renters either pay the real estate tax in a triple net lease or as a portion of their rent.Has the village's flooding issues been adequately addressed? Explain.Flood study engineering has been completed. Public funding for sewer/storm water improvements totaling $2.5 million to public water systems has been committed for Hatlen Hts. storm sewer, Hatlen Hts. sanitary sewer, Lonnquist combined sewer, Lonnquist storm sewer, Blackhawk storm sewer and Lawrence Lane storm sewer. Solutions for flooding during a huge event such as July 23rd of 2011, a 400-year storm are not financially feasible. There are additional projects to improve the combined/separate sewer systems totaling $23 million. The engineering and funding of these project will likely take several years. The board is aware of the issue and will take every opportunity to complete the project as soon as financially possible. There can, however, be no public financing of improvement to private property flood mitigation. I cannot support public funds for private projects, unless the private project is an alternative to significantly more costly public infrastructure solutions.What are the village's biggest public safety concerns? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.Crime has to be the most significant challenge that faces any community. The current state of the economy requires one to be even more vigilant. Awareness of your environment and it's impact upon your safety requires a personal responsibility: answer your door with caution, protect your identification/purse/wallet, lock your car, be alert to unusual people or cars in your neighborhood. Leaving on the front/back porch light of your home at night is probably the second most important action you can take after locking the doors. Calling 911 to report any activity you notice to be out of the ordinary is the most important action a resident can take. These are a few actions that can be done without cost to local police enforcement. Yet these are not habits we practice. The education costs making residents aware of these commonsense solutions in our MP community, (Officer Friendly) is tens of thousands of dollars per year. In budget cuts of 2010 Mount Prospect eliminated Officer Friendly. We are fortunate to have funds in 2013 Budget to return Officer Friendly to our staff. Overall crime is down, however a municipality can never stop intelligent policing to confront crime.In these tight economic times, municipal budgets have to be prioritized. Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?The next years budget process structure starts in April, just after previous years financial performance review a 1st quarter review of current year revenue/spending targets. The prioritizing of expenditures is a monthly on-going process. Financial reviews are presented by staff and bills are paid by vote every month. Remaining three quarterly reviews determine if budget performance is met. All expenditures have buckets (accounts that fund the expenditures). Revenues allocated to fund expenditures fill the buckets. If the bucket has insufficient funding the expenditure is reviewed in a public meeting and if necessary curtailed by an agreed amount. Next years budget process is done in a transparent series of public meetings. Prioritization occurs during the process from October through December based upon presentations by department heads and finance director. Trustees publicly comment on directions they wish the staff to take the final document. When the final budget is passed by ordinance the board believes the current budget has been trimmed to sufficiently fund necessary expenditures. The passed balanced budget has no expenditure to be trimmed or deficient funding. Budgets are passed unanimously receiving the vote of every trustee. Goals attained by Village Board policy management fosters economic development through controlling the size and cost of government, productivity and quality of services provided by Village of Mount Prospect to resident/business alike creating partnerships with all elements of the community and in the boards opinion improves the environment for people, business and commerce to thrive successfully! Over the last four years Mount Prospect portion of the real estate tax bill has risen by 4% in 2009, 0% in 2010, 3.99% in 2011 and 3.95% in 2012. That's about $100 for the average home in Mount Prospect over the last four years.