David R. Parro: 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: Tower LakesWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Tower Lakes Village boardAge: 57Family: Married, 2 childrenOccupation: Engineering Management, HoneywellEducation: Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois, 1975Civic involvement: Tower Lakes Zoning Board of Appeals Member, 1995-1999Tower Lakes Improvement Association Board Member 1995-1999Barrington Area Historical Society MemberElected offices held: Trustee, Village of Tower Lakes 3 terms, 1999-presentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Keeping the Village share of property taxes as low as possible while maintaining infrastructure and services responsibly.Key Issue 2 Maintaining the condition of our roads and rights of way, including continuing a prioritized resurfacing program.Key Issue 3 Maintaining an effective public safety operation.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Unmatched experience with municipal operations.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 question is not applicable to our Village as we have essentially no commercial businesses and collect only a trivial amount of sales tax from a few home based businesses. However in general, since I and many of our residents work or shop in Cook County daily, we share the concern of most people in that County that the recent sales tax hike has been excessive.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.Our recent surveys indicate a relatively high degree of satisfaction with our current police force. One issue I would like to try to address is to explore cost effective ways to increase the % of hours of coverage, which has historically been less than 24x7.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 Board has done a nice job in recent years of running a lean operation by relying on extensive volunteer labor. Recent budgets have sometimes underspent on aging infrastructure replacement. We have a good prioritized plan to make upgrades to the oldest parts of our water system, and we should continue to explore creative funding options to make that happen.What#146;s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to see the historic former Tower Lakes School house preserved and restored to it's original look. It could both preserve our heritage and be turned into an aesthetic asset at the center of the community. It would be possible to eventually also make it a utilitarian part of a future larger multi-purpose building.