Choose MacRunnels for Kane chairman

I served as a Kane County Board member for eight years when Mike McCoy was board chair.

I am proud of the programs and financial restraint that we were able to provide the public.

The reserve and surplus funding, the jail expansion, the animal control facility and program, the water resources, storm water management, farm preservation and open space programs were among many efforts of that administration.

The need for fiscal restraint is the duty of the board. It is especially true today when decreased property values, limited growth and recession are everyday problems.

Jim MacRunnels will serve the next administration as a financial professional who will exercise financial restraint, glean redundant managerial positions from the administration, assign a realistic value to the property values in the county, establish transportation retrofit/maintenance standards based on need not influence, limit and apply the natural infrastructure capacity with the demands of population growth, establish reserves and surplus through sound fiscal policy -- not borrowing, "pay-as-you-go" debt management -- and amend the "ethics" ordinance to prohibit elected officials from accepting or soliciting contributions from consultants and contractors.

MacRunnels has also suggested that the "old" jail be used for work release, DUI offenders and short-term sentences.

This will be augmented by federal residents on a "lease" structure to bring some needed cash into the system to offset the new facility's costs.

I believe MacRunnels has the financial expertise, the commitment, the moral compass and proven management skills to provide this county with the leadership needed for the next administration.

Lee Barrett

East Dundee