Jacqueline Clisham: 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: RomeovilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: DuPage Township Board (4-year Terms)Age: 43Family: One daughterOccupation: Corporate AttorneyEducation: J.D. Loyola University Chicago, 2007 M.B.A. DeVry University, 2002 M.A. Lewis University, 1996Civic involvement: Lions Club, TreasurerElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: Candidate did not respond.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Achieving greater citizen awareness of Township services.Key Issue 2 Continued improvement of programs for residents.Key Issue 3 Increased collaboration with other community organizations.Questions 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.1. Keep tax rates flat. With home values still on the decline, and families struggling to make ends meet, government needs to continually strive for greater efficiencies before considering raising tax rates. 2. Increase governmental accountability. State government launched the Sunshine Project several years ago, making government spending more transparent. Residents of Illinois can go to the Governor's website and view detailed information such as expenditures, vendor contracts and audit reports. Increased accountability in the spending of tax dollars aids in a achieving greater efficiencies. Pushing transparency to the next level is critical to maintaining public trust in government activities. The model for how to accomplish transparency already exists. 3. Increased collaboration. The Township focuses mainly on providing assistance to residents. Our community is large and contains vast resources by way of volunteer organizations and service-minded citizens. I would urge the board to look for new ways to collaborate with these organizations and residents in order to help one another by sharing knowledge, time and experience.In the 21st Century, with municipalities gobbling up vacant land, why are townships needed? Should they be serving a new role? If so, what?Although their roles have dimished over time; e.g. maintenance of roads; the Township form of government can be vital in responding to resident needs globally. The township is larger, encompassing more than one municipality, and should be utilized as a tool for collaboration. Indeed, the township role must evolve to remain relevant. The township is small enough to have a handle on the needs of its residents without being bogged down in the day-to-day administration of the many facets of municipal government. Township can be of greatest service to the municipalities by fostering partnerships within its boundaries.What should be the primary responsibility of township government?Identifying and assessing the general needs of residents and creating partnerships to implement efficient and effective response.In these hard economic times, can you identify some township expenses/programs that could be trimmed or eliminated to reduce the tax burden?It would be presumptuous to attempt to identify specific programs or expenses without sufficient and detailed information regarding the townships internal activities.What specific background or experience do you bring that makes you the best qualified candidate to serve as an elected official in the township?My background of approximately 20 years in the field of accounting includes time spent recently as a Chief Fiscal Officer in State government. As CFO, I was charged with developing and implementing my agency's annual budget. With State agencies struggling to do more with less, I am no stranger to the process of identifying waste and inefficiencies in governmental operations. My desire is to take the knowledge and skills I gained as CFO and bring them to local government. As a member of the Lions, an international service organization, I am keenly aware of the larger community around me. My service as a Lion includes finding ways to obtain the support necessary to accomplish a greater good. This commonly involves reaching out to other community clubs to join forces in achieving these goals.