Kevin Geary: 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: Sugar GroveWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Sugar Grove Village Board Age: 51Family: Married to Laurie, 21 years One son, Michael, 2007 Graduate of Kaneland High School, Marine Corps VeteranOccupation: Owner of Sugar Grove based business: Advanced Realty ConsultantsEducation: College of DuPage and Waubonsee Community College Course work in General Studies, Electronics, and Real EstateCivic involvement: Sugar Grove Village Board 1999 to Present Sugar Grove Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for over 8 years Past Sugar Grove Corn Boil President and committee chair, currently Fireworks committee chair Veterans Park Board of Directors memberElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What makes you the best candidate for the job?Over the last 35 years I have held a number of professional positions from Technical Training Specialist to Customer Service Representative, including an engineering position with responsibilities for quality control, best practices, and cost containment and efficiencies. I currently own and manage a local Real Estate Brokerage. With my diverse background I would like to bring my Quality, Customer Service, and Business experiences to the table and apply my outstanding business skills to our Village Projects, Programs.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.On July 1, 2007 The Village of Sugar Grove enacted a 1% non-home rule sales tax. These funds were targeted to pay for infrastructure projects to encourage growth in areas of our community that without this stimulus growth would not be possible. The Village used some of this money to extend Municipal and Galena Blvd. and we now have an age restricted complex being built on Galena Blvd. The Village has also rebated portions of sales tax as an incentive to bring in new business. This was done for the Jewel development and, when they opened, it dynamically changed the quality of life for our residents by not having to leave town to shop for groceries, it also brought in new sales tax to the Village that was being lost to other communities. On the Property tax issue, I believe that the property tax is a much larger and complicated issue because it involves multiple taxing bodies. Most property owners look at their tax bill and say the Village is taxing us to death, but the Village only represents five percent of the total tax bill. The most important thing I can say here is that for several years Kane County and Sugar Grove Township have held their tax levy flat and I have encouraged the Village to do the same. Property tax payers need a break.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?For the size of the Sugar Grove community, we have exceptional Police and Fire services. The SG Fire Department is a Fire Protection District and is independent of the Villages authority, but works for the betterment of our community. The Village recently hired a new Chief of Police and we could not be more pleased with the changes and improvements he has made to the PD in a short period of time. Chief has made recommendations that makes the department function better while providing additional services such as a part-time Administrative Officer that allows the public to come in and see an officer to resolve an issue without having to pull an officer from the street. We also partner with other agencies that have advanced skills or equipment needed in an emergency. Sugar Grove is uniquely challenged by being located near an airport, busy rail, and busy highways. Any of these could offer a concern of a disaster let alone Nature's fury. While our Fire and Police Departments are well trained, during a disaster you can never have enough good help. I would like to see a joint effort between the Sugar Grove Fire Department and the Village of Sugar Grove to have Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Everyday citizens properly trained for disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact our community and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety and first aid, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations.Where, if anywhere, could the current budget be trimmed, and conversely, are there areas the budget does not give enough money to?As stated earlier the Village only receives about five percent of the overall property tax bill which equates to about twenty-one percent of the Villages overall revenues for fiscal year 2014, down from twent-five percent a year earlyer. The majority of the revenues for the Village come from other taxes on more of a regional or state level equating to about forty-five percent of our overall budget. The remainder of the Villages income comes from Village activities and services, whether issuing of build permits or water and sewer services. With all this said the village runs a very tight budget and we have made the critical decisions to tighten our budget early on so we don't have wasteful spending. The one key area of the Villages budget that is always underfunded is the ongoing road maintenance for the village's streets. The Village uses the Motor Fuel Tax to fund these projects and quite often we supplement the MFT money to stretch and complete the most repaving, patching, and crack sealing roads possible.What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?I would like to see a joint effort between the Sugar Grove Fire Department and the Village of Sugar Grove to create Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Everyday citizens properly trained for disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact our community and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety and first aid, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. CERT trained residents can assist others in their neighborhood, community or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediate see this being made available to any resident interested in being a first responder and CERT trained so our community is prepared for any type of disaster.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I would like to see more Public/ Private Collaboration to get community projects completed at little or no cost to the Tax Payer. A great example of this type of collaboration was in the creation of the Sugar Grove Veterans Park. The Village had park space available and through the creation of the Veterans Park, the Veterans Park Board is able to do improvements through private funds. A win win. Another great example of this type of partnership is when several municipal groups were contacted by a contractor who was asked to dispose of twelve commercial grade decorative cement planter boxes. As a result the Veterans Park received six boxes, the Sugar Grove Township build receive two, Library received two, and the Park District received two. The best part of this project is that there was no cost to any municipal body or tax payer, yet we all will share in the benefit for years to come.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bruce Rauner because he exemplifies the can do spirit that has made Illinois great in the past and hopefully in the future.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Honesty is the best policyIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I wouldn't because, it is in our life lessons we become the people we are.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I don't know that I had a favorite subject in school, however I realized early on that learning is a lifelong process.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Work hard, Play hard, and enjoy life.