Albert (Al) Lipponeur: 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: Glendale HeightsWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Glenside Fire Board (6-year Term)Age: 51Family: Married to wife Cathy. Four children. Kayla, Kelli, Kyle KelseyOccupation: Business Owner of ESSI Midwest,LLC. An installation company of Material Handling Equipment.Education: College-Northeastern Illinois University National College of EducationCivic involvement: Current Trustee for the Glendside Fire Protection District, Coached Travel Softball for 8 years, Umpire for IHSA and NCAA womens Softball.Elected offices held: Have been a trustee for the Glenside Fire Protection District since 2004Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 The District BudgetKey Issue 2 SafetyKey Issue 3 Public AwarenessQuestions Answers Name the three most important goals or objectives this board should tackle in the coming term. Prioritize them, and briefly discuss why you believe each to be critical, and how the board should go about addressing them.Being a Tax based organization, the amount of working capitol we have to work with keeps decreasing. With homes in foreclose and taxes not being paid, funds from the past 2 years have barely moved or decreased. We also have very few investment options that have any good return on our investment. It is our #1 goal to manage what we have to work with and still provide the best possible equipment for the staff to work with. With the ever rising cost of insurance, we want to continue to work with the Chief Deputy Chief to eliminate workman's comp issues and keep our people safe and Healthy. With as many call as we handle, having a good working relationship with neighboring towns is critical. The mutual aid aspect also an area that we are all working on to get better.How should the fire protection district improve its services?I strongly feel that the service we provide right now is excellent. I have had the opportunity to ride along with these brave men/women and see what they do on a daily basis. I also have a son who is a Paramedic here so I get the opportunity to see and hear a lot of things. Our slogan is "we're there and we care". That is a fact. With that being said, I would want to see our public awareness continue to rise. I want all the people in our district to know what we do and how we do it. I would like to see more school kids know our firefighters by name and want to stop by and say hello. We are SO busy with day to day operations and calls that it makes it hard to interact with the people. I want to see that change. We do work a lot with the public but I would like to see it grow even further.Are you satisfied with the district's response times? If yes, please explain; if no, please offer your suggestions on how to improve.Geographically, we are a small district. Our average response time is around 5 minutes. Unless we can get trucks to fly, I would find it hard to improve much on that. Our guys do a great job of preparing themselves to react when the alarm goes off. Just recently we had additional strobe lighting installed in areas of the firehouse that were hard to hear the audible alarm, so now,there is not a place in that station, where there is any doubt, the alarm has sounded. We have also worked closely with the Village to make sure we have as many optic sensors at traffic lights as possible. Our goal is to get all green lights when we are at lights and sirens. Most of our town is residential, so you have to limit how fast you can safely drive through those areas. Yes, I am VERY happy with our response times.What specific background or experience do you bring that makes you the best qualified candidate to serve on the fire district board?In my opinion, being a trustee is overseeing the business aspect of the District. We are responsible for how the taxpayer's hard earned money is being spent! Being a successful business owner for the last 15 years has given me the knowledge and expertise to handle all aspects of the Districts affairs since they are not very different than my own business dealings. Also, having a son in the department, I have a vested interest in making sure these firefighters are given the best possible tools and equipment to do a very dangerous job safely. I am very proud of what these people do and want to continue to make what they do better.This item intentionally left blank.Candidate did not respond.