Thomas H. Price: 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: West DundeeWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: West Dundee Village boardAge: 50Family: Married, three childrenOccupation: Water Resources EngineerEducation: Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from UW Madison, 1983Masters of Science in Civil Engineering from UW Madison, 1985Civic involvement: First Congregational Church of West DundeeDundee Township Historical SocietyVarious professional organizationsElected offices held: Trustee, Village of West Dundee, 2007 - PresentCommissioner, West Dundee Planning and Zoning Board, 1991 -2007Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Continuing to look for ways to improve the financial and environmental sustainability of our operations and capital projects.Key Issue 2 Continuing to look for ways to do more with less and using our financial and human resources in the most efficient manner.Key Issue 3 Revitalization of our downtown, capitalilzing on its historic resources and proximity to the Fox River.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?In West Dundee, there are three incumbents running for the three available seats and no challengers. I don#146;t know that I am the #147;best#148; candidate for the job but I believe that I bring a unique set of talents and knowledge to the Board that compliments the strengths of the other Board members. I am a civil and water resources engineer involved in private and public projects, which provides me with a level of insight on what drives development. My work with other communities in Illinois and surrounding states provides me with an opportunity to learn from what other communities are doing.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 is a cost to the consumer, not to the businesses. That said, sales tax does affect the total cost to the consumer and therefore may have some influence on where people shop for goods and services. I believe that our sales tax rate is a reasonable balance between the need to generate revenues to service the businesses and residents and the need to encourage people to spend their dollars in West Dundee. I am not aware that our sales tax rate is sufficiently high that people are deciding to shop elsewhere based on that factor.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.To be honest, I do not hear people expressing concerns about public safety within their neighborhoods. If I hear any concerns at all, it is related to the mall but I believe those concerns stem from the nature of any regional mall more than the specifics of Spring Hill mall. That said, we need to continue to be diligent in working closely with mall security to identify problem individuals and other issues and address those issues.A primary factor that I believe contributes to the perception and reality that we live in a safe community is the high level of communication between our police department and our residents. Residents are notified by email when occasional issues such as residential theft arise and most residents are very comfortable contacting police about issues so they can be addressed immediately and directly. 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?These are very tough economic times and we need to do everything we can to limit expenses. When factoring in all municipal taxes, West Dundee#146;s is the lowest in the area, demonstrating our commitment to controlling costs. One of the ways we have been able to maintain that low taxing level is by constantly managing the size of our work force. Although our population has grown by over 50%, the number of full time employees is the same as it was in 2001 as we strive to find ways to do more with less. We are currently exploring combining the police departments of West and East Dundee and Sleepy Hollow to further control costs. In the past year, we have embarked on a number of necessary capital expenditures to take advantage of stimulus funding and other grants and a favorable bidding environment. Although significant work was completed in 2010, I believe we have cut our street and infrastructure program in past years more than is sustainable on a long term basis. The street and infrastructure program provides for ongoing maintenance of our streets that is necessary to prevent larger capital expenses in the future. What#146;s one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?As a sitting trustee, I would not be doing my job if I were keeping good ideas to myself. These are not necessarily new ideas but I would like to see us step up efforts in two areas as the economy recovers and revenues are available.1) Revitalization of our downtown through preparation of a comprehensive downtown development plan and targeted strategies to bring more people into the downtown. These efforts could include attracting more residential development to the downtown (projects similar to the Moser Building where Spa Blu is located) as well as public institutions that would help to generate foot traffic. 2) Integrating green infrastructure into our public infrastructure. Last year we completed two rain gardens to help cleanse stormwater runoff discharging to the Fox River. Some other communities are installing permeable paving streets during street reconstruction projects to improve pavement longevity, reduce stormwater flows, and improve water quality.