Michael Kolodziej: Candidate Profile

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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: South ElginWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: South Elgin Village Board Age: 54Family: Married to my wife of 22 years, Kristina Kolodziej. My son, Devin, a freshman at Western Illinois University majoring in Sports Broadcasting. My daughter Taryn, who is an eigth grader at Haines Middle School.Occupation: High School Teacher for 33 years at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn. I teach English and Speech.Education: Masters degree in Education, National Louis University. Bachelors degree in English and Speech Communications from North Central College in Naperville.Civic involvement: 12 years involved with the South Elgin Little League, a Knight of Columbus, neighborhood representative for the Thornwood Homeowners' Association, and South Elgin trustee for the past 16 years.Elected offices held: South Elgin Village Trustee, South Elgin Liquor Commision, South Elgin Little League SecretaryQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I tend to look at issues from the perspective of the average citizen and look at myself as being a voice for them. I too am the husband and father who is looking to raise my family in a safe and close knit community that provides an outstanding quality of life for all. I listen and I process. I consider myself having a moderate position when it comes to the decisions I make. I am an independent thinker and I do not put a "rubber stamp" on issues I have been entrusted to examine. I was the only trustee to vote "no" on the controversial Rivers Edge project in South Elgin which passed 5-1. I work well with people and I often use humor to calm tensions if they are running high. Being a teacher of English and speech, I am able to communicate effectively and I have always reached out to my constituents when they need my help. Being a strong family man myself, I have peen a proponent for better public safety and public works, developing strong intergovernmental relationships with our school districts (both D303 and U46), and seeing that we have accessable parks and recreation. My wealth of experience on the job has given me a chance to see where we were and where I want South Elgin to be in the next 4 years. Despite my experience, I still approach the job of trustee with great energy and fresh ideas!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.In 2013, the South Elgin portion of our tax bills ranged between 6.91% and 7.18%. This percentage that we control has remained relatively flat over the years that I have been in office and has not increased much. Yet, other aspects of the bill that we do not control have skyrocketed such as the taxpayers' share for our school districts within South Elgin. Despite this conservative approach to our fiscal planning, we have hired more police, increased our park space and recreational programs, and provide outstanding public works. Our sales tax rate is in line with our neighboring communities, and expiring tax breaks for some of our big box retailers on Randall Road will provide a nice spike for our village finances. All in all, I would ay our sales and South Elgin tax rates are in line and just right. We have been recognized for our fiscal integrity for the past 10 years of my service on the board. My colleagues and I take great pride in this.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?As a village, we have taken great pride in providing our community with outstanding public safety. Our police cheif, Christopher Merritt, has done a wonderful job leading our police department. We have continued to hire outstanding officers who have been recognized locally for their work in protecting and serving the citizens of South Elgin. We have continued to add to our force and have not cut police services even in the recent difficult economic times. Our relationship with the South Elgin Countryside Fire District is outstanding and they too have provided impeccable service to our village. We need to continue to be proactive in this area. We need to continue to provide our police liason within South Elgin High School and I recently asked that our police department do more "stings" to prevent our liquor establishments from selling alcohol to minors.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?We are in the process of streamlining our offerings within the parks and recreation department and will be eliminating some programs that are not drawing interest from the community but are costing us dollars to promote and staff only to see them canceled due to a lack of interest. Our staff is outstanding when it comes to procurring state and federal grants for parks and other programs that allow us to spend our tax dollars on other projects. It would be nice to find more dollars to continue to improve our village's infrastructure, especially some of our roads and streets. We are allocating dollars to do some roads each year, but it would be nice to repair and repave more of them. Unlike other villages, we have not had to make drastic cuts when it comes to issues like public safety or other elements that would effect South Elgin's quality of life.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I have requested that our police department do more "stings" to curb the recent increase of South Elgin liquor establishments from selling to minors. I felt that doing these once or twice a year was not enough By increasing the number of checks, we can hold our license holders accountable and be sure that we our keeping our teenagers safe from the ability to purchase alcohol and the dangers associated with it.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We must continue to spend our tax dollars wisely. We must improve our village's infrastructure-primarily our roads. With the economy rebounding, we must again promote responsible residential growth. The Trails of Silver Glen is a good example of this. We must continue to spur growth within our two TIF districts in town. We must keep our parks safe, update them frequently, provide recreational programming that the citizens want, and stem vandalism in our parks. We must continue to encourage businesses to locate in South Elgin and continue to stimulate our local economy be having South Elginites spend their hard earned dollars in South Elgin. It would be nice if we could get a hotel chain to locate in South Elgin so that visitors to our village can have a place to stay within our village limits.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I cannot name one. I am inspired and grateful to all who serve their communities whether locally or nationally, especially those who serve our country.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Nobody wants to hear you complain. If you are not part of the solution, you may be part of the problem. Action vs. words.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wish I could go back to when I was a teen in the 70's and thank my parents for teaching me dedication and discipline.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Intro To Speech. It eventually became my life's work as I have been teaching the importance of communication for 33 years!If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Be accountable for what you do or what you do not do. Take charge of your life. Remember the importance of community and give back.