Marty Hower: 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: ItascaWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Itasca Village boardAge: 52Family: Married, three boysOccupation: EngineerEducation: BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, 1980MBA, University of Chicago, 1985Civic involvement: St. Peter Parish School, School Board other committeesPresident of Itasca Dolphins Swim Team Parents Club 2007-presentPark District grade school coaching in baseball, basketball 8+ yearsElected offices held: Itasca Village Trustee, 2009-2011Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Maintaining our input and voice in the O#146;Hare Western Access Project. This development can have an enormous impact on the residents of Itasca, as well as influence the future of economic development for the Village.Key Issue 2 Being able to maintain the same level of Village services and community support during this time of decreased tax revenues.Key Issue 3 Planning and preparing for the future development of the O#146;Hare corridor. Developing a strategy to use the Village#146;s strong positive qualities to attract the right businesses and investment.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?During my two years on the Village Board, I have learned a great deal about what is going on in the Village and how it runs, and have developed a sense of what things are working well and where there may be some room to improve. It has been an interesting time with tight budgets, a large Waste Water Treatment Plant project, a new Village Administrator being hired, and a new mayor taking over. I also bring my experience in business decision making from my regular job, and past experience in other community organizations. I am a fourteen year resident of the Village and have a committed interest in keeping Itasca the most progressive and respected small town in the area.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.With the present state of the economy and lower sales tax revenues, it would seem to appear on the outside that the sales tax was too low. However, I feel that it is probably about right because during a good economy, our revenues were adequate to support our budget. We also need to be careful about relying too heavily on sales tax as our biggest source of revenue because of how it increases and decreases with the health of the economy. We need to manage our tax revenue mix to maintain a fair balance between businesses and other sources, and to stabilize year over year levels.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.With the crime statistics dropping in Itasca over the last several years, and with the Village earning and maintaining its status as a Safe Community, I do not hear much concern about public safety. Our police department programs aimed at crime prevention, along with excellent community policing programs and volunteer resident participation, have resulted in Itasca being one of the safest communities in the metropolitan area.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?If necessary, we could look to possibly cut some of our discretionary spending out of the budget, such as the costs for some of our many special events in town. One of the lean areas of the budget over the last couple of years has been in the area of capital improvements, such as new streets and curbs. I feel that we need to find a way to accomplish some of that work each year.What#146;s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?One of the things I have learned in the last two years is that there are a lot of good ideas being discussed in all areas of our Village staff to address and correct all of the problems and issues identified and talked about by the residents, and even some issues that they may not even know about. Not all of the ideas are visible on the outside of Village Hall or Public Works because they are not yet implemented for a variety of reasons. One idea I have is to somehow get the word out to residents that their questions and issues are heard and that they have the best people working on getting the solutions in place.