Robert Spieker: Candidate Profile

Back to Pingree Grove Village Board

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:BioQA Bio City: Pingree GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Pingree Grove Village Board Age: 43Family: Married with two childrenOccupation: Appliance Service TechnicianEducation: Some collegeCivic involvement: Village Planning and Zoning Commissioner Community Events member Graduate of Citizens Police Academy Public Works Building Task Force member Village Trustee(4 year term)Elected offices held: Village TrusteeQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?For more than 6 years I've been deeply involved with multiple aspects of Village operations. Aside from my current role as Trustee, I've served as a Planning/Zoning commissioner and the Board representative on the Special Events Committee. Both have enlightened me with a better understanding of other facets of a municipality outside of the main financial obligations and regulations associated with traditional Trustee responsibilities. As a graduate of the Citizens Police Academy I learned a lot about the inner workings of the police department and the challenges they face. One of the many goals I've strived to achieve, is to make sure that this Village focuses on what's best for it's residents as a whole. Keeping a close eye on spending and developing long term goals helps keep the tax burden on residents low. Continuing to push for economic development without sacrificing the small town charm that many of us enjoy. And I will continue to fight to reduce and eventually eliminate the maintainence SSA's. Keeping our taxes low will help Pingree Grove continue it's growth and evolution.What is your opinion of your community's present level of local sales and property taxes? Is the tax just right, too low or too high? Explain.Our property and sales taxes are already lower than most municipalities around us. I plan on keeping that the case as it will hopefully attract more people as well as businesses growing. However, as we continue our positive growth, my hope is that we can continue to reduce the SSA taxes village wide.Rate the efficiency of your town's police and fire coverage. Are the departments well prepared for the next decade? What, if anything, should be changed? Do you have specific public safety concerns?Pingree Grove has a very well run police department which has grown with the population. As the Village continues to grow the demand for service will as well. It's important to properly fund this but be mindful of the long term impact it will have financially. Fire coverage is controlled through a fire protection district. A brand new facility is currently under construction to better serve our community.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Being the largest expense to the General Fund the police budget is always under scrutiny. There will always be a lot of attention focused on that. I think it's important to concentrate on trimming whenever possible to everything within the budget, not just one area. The area that I don't think gets enough funding is road maintainence.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?Marketing and promoting Pingree GroveWhat other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I would really like to lose the division within our borders. The Village is often times segregated into three main areas. The Village should be run as a singular entity regardless of where someone lives.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.NoneWhat's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Use common senseIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Having my kids at a younger ageWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?ScienceIf you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Don't go through life angry, it's too short to be miserable