Henry Frye: 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: Round LakeWebsite: http://electcitizensfirst.comOffice sought: Round Lake Village Board (4-year Terms)Age: 60Family: married, one adult daughterOccupation: Department ManagerEducation: Benton Harbor High School, 1970Civic involvement: Round Lake Police Pension Board TrusteeElected offices held: N/AHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Freezing Property Taxes for village residentsKey Issue 2 Honest goverment that is open to the publicKey Issue 3 Transportation- look to partner with other agencies to expand to county wide accessQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I have a deep sense of commitment to the Round Lake Area,since moving here in 2001. I would like to serve the village as trustee to help steer it forward into the next decade, during which time, we should focus on adding more businesses, now that we have added more residents.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.The tax is just right. We need to make sure that we do not discourage retail business by raising our portion of sales taxes. If our village taxes are higher than neighboring villages, shoppers will not purchase things in our village from our village businesses.Talking with your friends and neighbors, what seems to be their biggest public safety concern? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.Vacant foreclosed homes can lead to squatting, vandalism, etc. We must make sure that we can encourage new owners to take over those homes. One way to do that is to make our level of property taxes attractive to new residents. Currently, they are among the highest in Lake County, we must not raise these property taxes.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 budget is generally lean. We have some reserves, and we need to focus on long term capital improvements, which the village will need in light of the relatively recent population explosion in town.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?Our village should be networking and creating good relationships with other local and county entities to maximize services for village residents at the lowest possible costs. That is not currently being executed very well.