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JoEllen Ridder: Candidate Profile

Bensenville Village Board

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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: BensenvilleWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Bensenville Village Board Age: 56Family: Married to husband Bob for 26 yrs Two daughters ages 23 and 19Occupation: BookkeeperEducation: Associates Degree-Triton College Special Education and AccountingCivic involvement: President Bensenville Rotary President Bensenville Youth Coalition Ministry Scheduler - St. Charles Borromeo Church Member of O'Hare Noice Compatibility Commission-Sit on Residential Soundproofing Committee and Technology Committee Member of Besenville Senior Disabled Advisory CouncilElected offices held: Benesnville Village Clerk - 2009-2011 Bensenville Trustee - 2011 - presentQuestions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?I consider myself the best Candidate for the job because I know what the job entails. I believe as a trustee there are two facets of the job. One is attending the committee and board meetings. I pride myself on taking the time to become fully educated on all of the facts and issues prior to attending these meetings and making a decision. The second is serving the residents by answering their questions and responding to their individual needs and in order to do that you need to be approachable and available. Since being elected in 2009 I have made it a priority to know what is important to our residents and their families and make myself available when needed.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.As a Resident, I think you always feel as though your taxes are too high. As a Village Trustee since 2009, I understand all of the services that our residents and business community expects, and I am very familiar with the cost of those services. Those services are funded, generally through property taxes and, to a lesser extent, sales taxes. I believe I have been a good steward of the limited resources the Village receives in taxes, without burdening our taxpayers.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?I rate the efficiency of the Villages Police and Fire departments coverage as outstanding. As a Trustee, I will never compromise the public safety of our Village. We have been cognizant of the changing law-enforcement needs of the Village. We have made sure that our police are properly equipped and have the best training available. Bensenville has continued to reduce our crime rate since 2008 and I believe that our Neighborhood/Business Watch Programs which are led by our Police Department contributes to that success. Not only do they meet monthly with our residents but they continue to stay in touch with our businesses to address their concerns. The Village does not provide fire services. That is provided by a separate taxing body. I have however seen the level of training that our firefighters received through extensive classroom training and believe that they serve our community well.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?Since taking office, we have trimmed the Village budget considerably, particularly in the areas of professional services. I would be hard-pressed to find other areas where the budget could be trimmed. It would be helpful if there was additional money available to assist in the costs of maintaining and restoring the Village infrastructure. We have made a concerted effort to repair the crumbling infrastructure that this administration inherited. Those types of things are expensive and, unfortunately not highly visible to the residents. They are, however, necessary to retain our business community, our economic health and the safe passage of our residents.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to increase our intergovernmental cooperation. I think it is important, particularly in light of the limitations of the tax dollars flowing from the state that we work with the other taxing bodies to see if there is a way of sharing services with those entities. This would result in greater efficiencies, a reduction in redundant services and a cost savings to the residents.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Near and dear to my heart is our "Bensenville BWell" initiative. This program promotes healthy lifestyles in Bensenville by encouraging healthy eating habits and daily exercise. I am President of the Bensenville Youth Coalition and we have just recently started this program. I would like to see this initiative grow by having all of our taxing bodies, civic groups, and the local business in the community work together to support this initiative.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Even though she recently passed, Judy Baar Topinka would be my choice. The strength and conviction she exhibited as an elected official was amazing!What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?When you make a commitment you have to follow it through to the end. No Quitting!If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend more time with our daughters while they were younger. I worked full time and missed a lot of their "firsts"What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My classes that I took when studying to be a teacher. I believe that they have helped me to be a team player.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?The same advice that my Mom gave to me the first time that I was sworn into office "Stay true to yourself and your beliefs"