Elissa Kojzarek: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Elissa A. Kojzarek

City: Gilberts, IL

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 36

Family: Husband Kurt, sons Robbie, 7, and Charlie, 3

Occupation: Director of Marketing, United Way of Elgin

Education: BA, Iowa State University; MPA, Northern Illinois University

Civic involvement: PTO, Gilberts Elementary School

Previous elected offices held: Village Trustee, 2015-19

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? Yes, 2015

Website: NA

Facebook: Keep Gilberts Moving Forward

Twitter: NA

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your community and how do you intend to address them?

Growth of the village to ease the tax burden on residents while also maintaining our small town feel. The board has worked with both residential and commercial developers to find compromises that encourage smart growth while also protecting the interest of our residents. For example, the developer of the new Conservancy neighborhood is also responsible for expansion of the water treatment plant and repairs to the roads surrounding the development. Without that agreement, the village residents would be on the hook for any expansion needs or road repairs that may be needed. We've also worked with commercial developers along the Route 72 corridor to bring services that not only will benefit village residents, but also appeal to those who regularly travel through our village. And the current board is not just approving development for development's sake. We've rejected commercial or industrial projects that we felt would not be beneficial to our community, like not allowing a new gas station to function as a truck stop right across the road from a neighborhood.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I think I bring a unique perspective to the village board as a mom of young children. Each member of our village board has their own experiences and goals, but in the end, what we all want is to continue to move Gilberts forward, making it a desirable community for families to relocate and businesses to set up shop. I grew up moving from place to place following my Dad's naval career, and I did not have a 'hometown'. I love that as an adult I've been able to set down roots in Gilberts - my kids will likely graduate with the same kids they started kindergarten with, and that's amazing to me. Every decision I make is through the lens of what I want my kids' hometown to be in 10, 15, 20 years, when our children are grown and looking for a place to call home - I want Gilberts to be a thriving community where my kids want to raise THEIR families.

Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing actions and decisions with your village board or city council.

I like to listen first and react second. I listen to residents, local business, village staff, and my fellow trustees on issues of importance within the village in order to always receive the complete picture before forming an opinion. I also value transparency in board decisions. To enable that, I often ask the simple questions on issues - ones that might seem obvious to experts or staff, but provides us a chance to explain the issues to residents.

How would you describe the condition of your community's budget, and what are the most important specific actions the town should take to assure providing the level of services people want?

Our budget is pretty solid. We do the best we can with what we have. Our village does not belong to a park district, yet we have created great parks with amenities like playgrounds, a fishing pond, ball fields, and the splash pad. Also, each year during the budget prep, board and staff work together on "Wish List" items that we'd like to see funded during the year. Staff helps us identify the projects that we likely CAN complete within the budget, and items that we can hold on to in case we have money left over at the end of the fiscal year. Finally, our staff works hard to achieve savings in everyday activities, like getting new accounting software which saves time for finance staff. By finding efficiencies in the budget, we're able to free up dollars for other needs, like addressing the police department's need for another full time officer, without affecting the bottom line of the budget.

What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?

I've always tried to encourage residents with ideas on how to improve the community to come before the board - we're always open to discussing new ideas or projects. Our board wants to do things FOR our residents, not TO our residents, and input/ideas from the community is the best way to do that. We are constantly trying to get more involvement from residents, but our village board meetings are not well attended by the community. I'd love to see more residents coming out and letting us know their thoughts on issues and decisions before the board. A lot of times, just asking a question at a meeting can help clear up a misunderstanding or incomplete information the public has about an issue. Lastly, I've recently joined the PTO at Gilberts Elementary, and if reelected I'd like to serve as a liaison between the village and GES to find ways we can work together on community issues.