Carol J. Blackwood: 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: Arlington HeightsWebsite: http://www.carolblackwood.comOffice sought: Arlington Heights Village boardAge: 61Family: Married for 40 years to John Blackwood Two grown children, Stephanie and Kenneth One grandchildOccupation: Senior Vice President-Retail Banking Village Bank Trust Arlington Heights, IL 60004Education: Attended - University of Washington, 1967-1970Civic involvement: Current Village Trustee Past-President and Board Member-Wellness Place-Cancer Resource CenterPast-President and Board Member-Arlington Heights Chamber of CommercePast-Chair and Commissioner-Village of Arlington Heights Plan CommissionTeam Mom for the following: Northwest Chargers Hockey; District 214 Hockey; AHYA baseball and softball.POE Elementary PTO (Ways and Means Chair)Elected offices held: No government offices other than current appointmentHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Prudently manage and maintain a balanced municipal budget.Key Issue 2 A) BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BALANCE - We must vigorously maintain our existing businesses and bolster them with proven brands (national and local) that are known traffic generators. We also need to develop plans to welcome and keep businesses in our area. In the days ahead viable corporate concerns will be courted and lured away by not only by other municipalities but by other states and their governors...we need more commercial options and we need to keep the businesses we currently have. B) JOBS - The right balance of businesses coupled with a more stable economic environment often equates to opportunities for new jobs creation. All levels of jobs that could provide opportunities to our primarily 'white collar' jobless residents. Arlington Heights is quickly closing the gap to the 10% national unemployment average. We need to get our families, friends and neighbors back to work.Key Issue 3 Make sure that I am the voice of the people/community that I serve. It sounds like a given, but often times elected officials need to be reminded of this. Voters elect you to an office and sometimes find that the very people that they have put in office are dictating to them rather than listening to their concerns. I believe in being a 'representative' of the people I serve.Questions Answers Explain your point of view, or your vote, on the Boeger Place apartments proposal. Was the village board correct in rejecting the proposal as presented? What should happen now?I was one of the few who voted for Boeger Place and did so because affordable housing for low-to-moderate income individuals who face challenges (mental/physical) is a real priority in this Village. Today I would not be able to support their project on that site based on information and activities that have occurred subsequent to the May 2010 meeting.However, the Board was correct in their overall rejection of the project due to the lengthy number of zoning variances and special use requests. I was hopeful, that even after the board vote the Village staff and the developer would find common ground and find resolution for the project, but that did not transpire. In fact over a period of several weeks/months after the project rejection, certain actions, tactics and information relative to the development were disclosed which clearly demonstrated an unwillingness on the part of the developers to negotiate further with the Village with regard to the project. Finally, the developer did not opt to resubmit the proposal and file and revised project request and follow due process as requested by the Board.I am disappointed with the twists and turns that this project has taken. Nonetheless I still encourage and support the Villages efforts to continue working with developers and agencies to find other viable sites in our town for affordable housing projects of this nature.Should Arlington Hts. keep twice-a-week garbage pick-up forever? How do you feel about once-a-week versus twice-a-week, and the usefulness of rolling carts?Listening to my supporters, neighbors and community members, there is a strong leaning to continue twice weekly pickups, particularly with the use of fuel efficient trucks and inclusion of larger recycle totes. I feel strongly that the negotiations with our current hauler were carried out to satisfaction. However, the next time we enter into contract negotiations the choice of a once per week pick up should be included. I am also hopeful that the integration of carts for recycling will, through practical experience/use, show how we can easily manage this transition.Given the economic difficulties, what village services must be kept and what could still be cut? Are there things you would be willing to forego temporarily until the economy rebounds?To answer this question, its important to understand the process and appreciate what is in and what is out of our control. The budget for our municipality is relatively straight forward. Core allocations (80%) go to police, fire and public works. (Note that a number of line items in core allocations are not within Board purview). The remaining 20% of the fund is allocated to administration costs, health services and community development, all under Board stewardship.I took office in February 2010 during some very difficult budget discussions. One of the decisions that was made during that time involved cutting financial support to the Teen Center. There was a great deal of passion, media play and community comment. However, at the end of the day limited community reach and lack of a business plan supporting the significant expenses allocated to operate the center were influential in removing them from the budget. We have started the process once again with even more organizations requesting funds. Some of the groups already understand that they may not receive any consideration this year. More importantly, they all know that their requests will not likely equal their distribution. My answer to this question is that there are not one or two areas of service that could be cut from of the current budget without impacting a significant percentage of our residents. Actions have already been taken with regard to eliminating marginal projects that impact the bottom line. I feel that the next approach that we take is an incremental/micro review with a second look on every level of department spending. I know that there is more opportunity to pare back, we just need to find it. Foregoing events that don't generate revenue or tax dollars could merit suspension - but they need to be looked at and relooked at to assure our citizens that their tax dollars are prudently managed. A consistent paring away of expenses has to be our path.Is downtown Arlington Heights a success? Explain your answer.Yes it is successful-but much depends on the strength of the individual balance sheets of Main Street store-front businesses. Unfortunately many are still struggling. During the early to mid-2000's small business ventures were thriving along Campbell Street and adjacent cross streets. Arlington Heights was known for its variety of quality restaurants and entertainment. The downtown had become a destination and attracted significant traffic from other suburbs. The negative economic impacts of the past several years have resulted in start-up operators and some experienced shop owners to give up on their businesses in a once thriving environment. In some cases, landlords have chosen to keep mid-2000 lease rates and have vacancies rather than lower their rents for full occupancy. Most indicate that the financing they obtained for the development drives their lease pricing flexibility. Their terms make it difficult, if not impossible to offer lease incentives to prospective tenants. While not every storefront is rented today, there are enterprises (some local and some national) that are doing well in the downtown despite the economy. We need to learn resiliency from them and apply their best practices as well. In order to restore 'vibrancy' we need to attract national entities and balance them to our local establishments - we need both if we desire a strong downtown presence.Other than downtown, what is the one area of town that needs the most attention from the village board in terms of economic development?All of Arlington Heights needs our attention, but the first area that comes to mind is the northern Arlington Heights, Rand Road Corridor. This is a long viable stretch that could support larger national chains and supports significant traffic to sustain their existence. Secondly, Golf Road and the TIF area that includes International Plaza still presents an opportunity for significant growth.