Ellen McAlpine: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Ellen McAlpine

City: Cary

Office sought: Trustee for Village of Cary

Age: 56

Family: Married to Christopher. 5 Children - Stefanie, Amy, Kyle, Colin and Sean. 5 Grandchildren- Maddie, Drew, Braxton, Miles, Piper.

Occupation: Manager for Envoy Mortgage, a full-service mortgage banker originating loans for residential properties.

Education: Harper College, National Louis University - Business Management

Civic involvement: current Trustee for Village of Cary, active member of Cary-Grove Chamber of Commerce for past 20+ years, past board member for Chamber of Commerce, Athletic Director for Saints Peter and Paul School, Religious Education mentor program and teacher; volunteer for Little City Foundation, St. Coletta's of WI, past Kiwanis Club and Jaycee, along with volunteer for numerous local charities and events.

Previous elected offices held: I am completing my first term as a Village Trustee

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? Incumbent; elected in April 2015

Website: www.weunitecary.com

Facebook: We Unite Cary

Issue questions

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

There are many important issues facing Cary that need to be addressed. These include economic development, sustainable revenue generation, taxation, pension funds, as well as future growth and fiscal responsibility. One way to address them is to work collaboratively within our board as well as with municipal partnering, innovative solutions, and having a board with an economic development priority. We need to increase our revenue streams into the Village in order to meet the continued expenses as well as continue to be fiscally responsible.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I want to continue serving and representing the residents of our town. Cary is a family-oriented community with incredible schools, parks, and businesses. Living in the town for the past 32+ years I am aware and share in the same concerns as my neighbors have: from property taxes to future growth concerns, as well as insuring opportunities for everyone to enjoy our town. In addition, I understand the complexities of managing and balancing a budget as well as always being willing to collaborate with board members, staff, residents, businesses, and potential future business opportunities. It is imperative to be able to listen, respect, and work with everyone in a constructive and professional manner.

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.

My leadership style is one of collaboration and respect. As a leader you must set an example which would include being prepared by reading material, reaching out for clarification as needed, and always putting the residents and village as front and center in the decision making process. I firmly believe that you should be willing to listen to others as there will be perspectives that you may not have considered. This strengthens and assists in making good and prudent decisions.

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 current budget is balanced, however, there are real challenges as we move forward. The state of IL has mandated contributions for our police pension fund and they will continue to rise. Additionally, we will have increases in our budget for employees that have union contracts. We need to work regionally with other municipalities to maximize savings by partnering in purchasing supplies such as salt, or road projects, to mention a few. We also need to remain vigilant in our spending as well as continue seeking avenues to raise revenues into the Village.

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

I believe that we need to make a consorted effort to obtain a comprehensive public safety pension reform fund and consolidation. This will need to be done in cooperation with other municipalities that are facing the same crisis of increasing financial contribution requirements that outpace the growth in revenues. Working with our state legislators is a must to accomplish this goal but it would provide positive results for our community. We must not diminish any of our public safety but I believe that if everyone can collaborate and work together on this issue it would not only benefit our village, but the entire state of Illinois and that would be a game changer for all.