Thomas Swarthout: Candidate Profile

Back to North Shore Sanitary District Ward 4

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: Lake ForestWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: North Shore Sanitary District Ward 4 Age: 60Family: Candidate did not respond.Occupation: Builder and developerEducation: University of Illinois Business AdministrationCivic involvement: Trustee of Lake Forest/Northwestern Hospital, three years as ChairmanLife DirectorFormer Board member of Lake Forest Open LandsMember Friends of Forest Park CommitteeElected offices held: Chairman Lake Forest Park and Recreation Department, five years.Alderman City of Lake Forest, six years.Questions Answers What can the water reclamation district do to address illegal stormwater connections into sanitary sewers that can increase flows into the system during heavy rains and require use of reserve pumping capacity for extended periods?Implement an inspection plan to eliminate these cross connections using the City of Lake Forest model which was done during my term as chairman of the public works committee of the City Council. The City eliminated millions of gallons of storm water, saving on pipe sizes and major infrastructure modifications. This fix also had a huge impact on water spills into Lake Michigan.What can the water reclamation district do to hold the line on rising energy costs? Those costs were said to be the reason behind the 4 percent increase in the FY2016 spending plan.Currently looking into co-generation power similar to the natural gas generators at Lake Forest Hospital. As Chairman of the Building and grounds at the Hospital twenty years ago, we installed these generators that at times power the campus, going off line from Commonwealth Edison.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?I have consistently pushed to have us go to being debt free. No other governmental agency in the State of Illinois can compare with our fiscal situation. We have the highest bonding and rating capacity of any like organization in the country. I have been strident in allowing the engineers and management of the District to do their work without political interference.What's the most pressing issue that your district and the county will face over the next four years? How will you work to resolve it?The County needs to be proactive in attracting businesses to the area. We are competing with not only other counties and the City of Chicago, but with Wisconsin. We have the most educated population and work force in the State, we need to reach out to prospective companies and existing ones. A reduction in the County taxes will make us more attractive to those entities.Please list any elected office you have ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?Alderman for the First Ward in the City of Lake Forest. I filled an expired term for the North Shore Water Reclamation District Six years ago.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The District is debt free because it has been run by engineers and trustees who recognized constant improvement in efficiencies. More with less, wether it applied to the size of a motor or pipe or the amount of employees. Technological innovation is critical to saving the tax payer money and the cleanliness of our natural water.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Archbishop CupichWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Family FirstIf life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?More time with Family and FriendsWhat was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Architectural class at Lake Forest High School. It set me on my appreciation of buildings.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Work hard and love harder.