Thomas Weber: 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: Lake VillaWebsite: http://www.weberforcountyboard.com/Who_is_Tom.htmlOffice sought: Lake County board District 3Age: 45Family: Parents Duke Irene Weber, I am youngest of 9 children, 6 sisters, 2 brothers, Married for 23 years to my wife Rebecca, we have 2 children Joshua 19 and T.J. 21, I have 10 nephews and nieces and 5 great nephews and nieces.Occupation: Self employed, Contractor 18 yrs, Owner/Employer @ Weber Sons Inc.Education: St. John's Military AcademyCivic involvement: Lake Villa and Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce, Lake Villa Historical Society, The Patriot Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Lake Villa Republican Club, Lake County Republican Federation, Republican Assembly of Lake County,Harvest Bible Chapel, coached iceless hockeyElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Small Business owners like myself, who generate the majority of jobs in this country, are dramatically under-represented on the County Board. Almost 80% of all sustainable jobs are created by small business. I have the experience to be a positive influence on issues that come before the County Board and ensure that we improve the business environment in Lake County.We need to create a product which will attract business and ensure a friendly environment for them to succeed.Key Issue 2 Communications with the constituents of County Board District 3 have dramatically deteriorated since Suzi Schmidt left the Board. The county has hired people that put together an e-mail letter that is sent out on behalf of the County Board members periodically. However, there is no longer any personal contact between our County Board member and the constituents of the district. I have already started attending Board meetings throughout the district (Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, Lake Villa Township, Fire Protection District) and will continue to attend these meetings on a regular basis. I am also putting together a list of all home owner organizations in the district and making sure they know how to contact me. I will attend those meetings as necessary. I am running because I want to serve the public and represent their interests. I will be the people's advocate.Key Issue 3 The "Millburn Strangler" issue needs to be reopened. Unfortunately, our current County Board member did not even bother to attend the majority of the meetings held on this issue. The opinions and concerns of the vast majority of our citizens were completely ignored. Then someone found an agreement written in the 1990's that the County Board says cannot possibly be changed?We have amended the United States Constitution 27 times but we can't amend a document signed by the County Board? The people in my district know that once again the process has failed and they are losing faith that they have an advocate on the County Board. The issue must be reopened and the Eastern by-pass reconsidered.Questions Answers The county remains in the black, but property taxes across the region are high. Should programs be cut to save taxpayers money? If so, which ones and why?With our taxes being 413% above the national average and being ranked by Forbes as the 17th most expensive county to live, it is apparent that we do not have a revenue problem but a spending problem --not only on the County Board but at all levels of government. The first issue to consider is why the forest preserve needs it own police force. Why do we need a police officer to open and close the preserve gates' When a significant crime occurs or after dusk the Lake County Sherriff's office handles it. How much lawlessness actually occurs'I want to see a detailed list of the responsibilities and duties of the Forest Preserve police, a recap of their accomplishments for the last year, and a detailed accounting of expenses. The bottom line is we need to aggressively examine every area of the budget at all levels of government to give our employers (tax payers) immediate relief and create a friendly environment to attract job creators.What should be done with the Fort Sheridan golf course? If no building or management proposals come back from vendors, do you propose abandoning golf? If so, are you concerned about a lawsuit? If you propose building a course, how should it be funded?First of all government has no business competing with our local businesses at any level. It was a bad agreement from the beginning. With golf courses all over the country are going bankrupt, why are we considering building a new course? I would suggest a public/private agreement with a private company who wants to build and run a golf course. I have not seen the opinion of the County's attorney's regarding the likelihood of a lawsuit but there has to be an alternative solution found. As a last resort, offer to return the property. We need to remedy the mistakes of the past and be forward thinking. I will not vote for building a new golf course with tax payer dollars at Fort Sheridan or anywhere else. I will work to turn our existing courses over to private companies to manage and lease.The Winchester House nursing home recently was turned over to a private company for operation. Should other county or forest district departments be privatized to save taxpayers money? Please explain.Yes! No level of government, including the County, should be competing with private enterprise in areas of business. Winchester House will be best handled by the free enterprise system. Just a few others are food service, water testing, lake studies, wastewater analysis, boat slips, boat rentals, maintenance, etc. Why is the county in the food service business' Food service at all of the golf courses should be put out for bid. There are some portions of remote county roads that could be serviced at a significantly reduced cost by a township; why not pay a township if significant money can be saved? The problem is that short term we may save a few dollars but long term benefits to government employees is what is crippling our state. We need to aggressively work at outsourcing before we have 1,000's more retirees collecting benefits that well exceed those which social security offers to our constituents!The County Board needs a better understanding of the long term effects of having so many employees with a limited supply of revenue. When our boss (tax payers) are suffering as our economy contracts, government needs to contract with it. As I have spoke with many citizens in our district the one thing that is constant is, the need for immediate relief from high taxes and excessive regulation.Is there a specific type of service or amenity that is lacking in your district? If so, how do you propose to provide and fund that?District 3 has elected some great officials at the village and township levels who have done a great job taking care of the needs of the community. One thing possibly in the future would be to assist with more public transportation for our elderly. However the more pressing need is to ease the tax burdens and attract business. The Lake County Forest Preserve has some great prime commercial frontage property which was not funded by IDNR and is not property specific which could be sold or leased or traded to new businesses. I want to have a great relationship and be easily accessible to the villages and townships and make sure we work together. Let's be open to all options with our prime real estate and attract new business to offset some of the tax burdens on our employers.Should the county continue to pursue open space policies' Why or why not?We now have an excellent Forest Preserve system but we now need to modify our open space direction. In County Board District 3 we have a nice collection of forest preserve properties but now we should concentrate on making these properties more user friendly. The dog walk in Lake Villa/Lindenhurst on Grand Avenue, which is on property my family sold to the Forest Preserve, is one of the most heavily used and self sufficient properties in the whole system. But we have many other pieces of property which are significantly underutilized. Improving these properties and developing interconnecting trails can be done with the money already available to the forest preserve; no increase in taxes and no new bonding is needed. By connecting our assets by affordable and reasonable means we can help the people by giving them an asset to use across the district. I am 100% in support of preserving our wildlife for the next generation. However I would like to end the forest preserves track record of being one of Lake County's largest developers. This is about land preservation and not above running recreational parks, marinas and golf courses.When buying new properties we need to be asking ourselves a few questions:1. Do we need it?2. Do we have the money?3. Are we hurting the community by taking prime real estate?