Ted Lonis: 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: BartlettWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bartlett Village President (4-year Term)Age: 67Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Finance-Credit Manager, ITW-Illinois Tool Works Retiring May 31, 2013Education: BSBA, UICC, 1968Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NOCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 I agree with the 90%+ of a cross section of Bartlett residents at a public location that signed my petition. They like Bartlett, where they live, their neighbors and their neighborhood. They do not like the Village leaders for a number of reasons, and expressed a negative opinion of Bartlett government. There are only two options: the leaders make a complete turnaround attempting to make up for their past discretions or the voters turnaround the leaders. The later seems to be the only viable option to restore the confidence and support of our citizens. I will do that.Key Issue 2 Bartlett is a divided community and a difficult one to navigate, being in three counties. The Kane is just a short strip of undeveloped land. The main split is Cook County and Du Page County. Although the question has been bantered around before, this may be the time to seriously revisit it. With virtually no services readily available, serious transportation distances to Cook offices, higher sales, gas and rising real estate taxes, and decisions being made out of Chicago, would the Cook residents of Bartlett consider annexing to Du Page county and making Bartlett whole. I am willing to explore and champion this if the Cook residents so desire.Key Issue 3 When Bartlett started, it was a small farming community with very few citizens. It was a Village. In the last 30 years, it has grown and grown up. Having a Board that can limit the representation of all the Citizens and all of the locales needs to be reconsidered. Bartlett may need to consider the option of becoming a city, The City of Bartlett. A Number 4 issue is the school district, U49.Questions Answers What can the village do to encourage more development into Bartlett, particularly in the Brewster Creek Business Park?The other day I took my doggie to the Bartlett Animal Hospital for his yearly check-up and vaccinations. On that block alone, there were seven 'for lease' or 'for rent' signs. Driving around the BCBP area, there was virtually no development activity (well, it is winter)and numerous buildings available. A serious question is, has the Village Board and the Economic Development Committee, (one of whose members wants to be Village President)directed Bartlett on its best economic path. The two main factors that a community has to encourage business to locate within their community is a cheap and ready labor force and low expenses, i.e., taxes. Neither of which give great benefits to the community. Don't read negatively into this. Those business are extremely important to a well rounded economic community, but we need to think out of the box and add more rounding to the mix, giving Bartlett revenue bases that are more resistant to economic turnings and not depending mainly on residential and small business taxing. With my Business background, ability to think out of the box and personality to negotiate, I know I would bring a lot more to the table than the other candidates.With millions of dollars in budget cuts the last few years, how will you make sure the village continues providing good services to residents?Anyone that answers that question with a they 'will make sure' about tomorrow isn't someone you or I should trust. I can only reply that I am a fiscal conservative and would address each issue considering it's and the peoples needs and the economic conditions current with short term future estimates. Soon to be retired, I will finally have the time to offer my skills and personal abilities for my friends, neighbors and Bartlett, where I live and that I like. Not in this for pension points or financial gain, but willing to serve and for one term only.Weigh the value of late liquor licenses to local businesses (4 a.m. in the case of the Cadillac Ranch) against safety concerns. Should 4 a.m. licenses continuie to be permitted? If so, what can be done to curb the number of incidents?Having to file a Freedom of Information request with the Police Department and Village and having to wait to simply secure basic info, I stopped in at the Cadillac Ranch the other night. Reviewed the establishment and spoke to management. It was clean, nice decor, security and safety equipment abound and most of all the cliental. They were nicely dressed,from about 35 years old up to a couple that looked like late 60's. Most were enjoying western line dancing. There seemed to be no trouble in this establishment. Management stated the last time they had an incident was last August when someone busted in an outside fence on the property. What recent data can you supply that supports this question as a serious issue for Bartlett?Given the delicate balance between the need for revenue and over-taxing local businesses, what is your opinion of Bartlett's present level of local sales taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.At the January 14th, Economic Development Committee meeting, staff gave a report that Bartlett's Sales Tax Revenue share for the past recorded twelve months was $2,000,000. Pulling the State Report Data, Hanover Park got $6,892,606, W.Chgo got $5,198,673, Carol Stream received $7,962,326 and St.Charles, $15,024,192. We need to have a comparison of population, roadways, housing, etc. to get a clearer picture. A basic look doesn't indicate that our leadership has been on a best development path for a very long time. Over-taxing our current local businesses or our residents is not an acceptable option. Having residents of other communities spend their dollars in Bartlett, is. Increasing the revenue base, how do we get there? I propose a resident 'think tank' be formed, that includes anybody, not just those appointed by the board or president.What are the village's biggest public safety concerns? Explain the concern as you see it, and discuss how you think it should be addressed.The Village is ranked very high in Public Safety. What are the contributing factors and how do we maintain them, is the question. I feel that 65% is due to the residents, the people. 35% due to our Police and Fire Personnel and our Building Department. Does the Daily Herald have a Public Safety concern?