Fanny Y. Lopez Benitez: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Fanny Y. Lopez Benitez

City: Hanover Park

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 29

Family: Fanny and her husband David are proud parents of two children, one of whom attends Kindergarten in Hanover Highlands. They are a military family and are proud of their immigrant roots.

Occupation: Project manager, data analyst and evaluator for U.S. Department of Education Title V grant and adjunct professor at Dominican university.

Education: Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Civic involvement: Advocate, organizer and educator for numerous grassroots, community-based organizations working with disadvantaged populations in Chicagoland area.

Previous elected offices held: None

Incumbent: If yes, when were first elected?

Website: None

Facebook: Together for Hanover Park

Twitter: None

Issue questions

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

The most important issues facing Hanover Park, as perceived and experienced by community members, are high property taxes and water/sewer rates, infrastructure issues, and lack of communication between the village and residents (in particular those living in DuPage and non-English speakers). To address these issues, I will work with committees and commissions to bring more sales tax generating businesses to the village. One way is to identify residents who want to open businesses in the village, in particular Veterans and minorities. Moreover, I will partner with elected officials and community members to implement water and sewer rates that are affordable for our residents and to prioritize the preventative maintenance of infrastructure which is less costly than repairs. Finally, to improve communication with residents, I plan to host information sessions where community members gather (i.e. schools, religious institutions, libraries, etc.) in both Cook and DuPage counties to give them updates about the village, get their feedback, and invite them to attend board meetings. I will also advocate for the availability of translation and interpretation services to make sure official communications from the village are provided in multiple languages in public meetings, on paper and online (email and social media).

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

After completing my masters degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, I developed expertise in data analysis and program evaluation. I have applied these skills managing federal grants and budgets for four years at the University of Chicago Department of Medicine and currently at Dominican University. As Village Trustee, I will ask critical questions that encourage the board to evaluate policies thoroughly and make decisions based on solid evidence.

As a bicultural and bilingual, immigrant woman who is also a young mother and military spouse, I bring multiple perspectives to the board that are underrepresented.

I am an average Hanover Park resident who is eager to be an independent voice in the board of trustees. I will ask questions and raise concerns that average residents would also bring up. My main priority will be to serve and empower all community members.

As an experienced community organizer, I also know how to serve as a bridge between village elected officials and the residents. Finally, as a mother and a professor who works with youth, I will work hard to ensure that my children and other young residents grow up in a village that is inclusive, economically healthy and prosperous.

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 am a leader who values collaboration, honesty and open communication.

I listen to different perspectives and always seek feedback from all the appropriate stakeholders before making a decision. I am open to criticism because I seek to improve my skills, ideas and behaviors. I am flexible and willing to make changes if that would benefit our village and residents. I am aware of my limitations, and I feel comfortable reaching out to experts who can educate and advise me. In addition, I am approachable and I listen with an open heart and open mind. I strongly believe that those attributes will allow me to be an effective Village Trustee who builds trust with the community and maintains positive working relationship with other elected officials. I look forward to constant and effective collaborations with Hanover Park residents and elected officials to produce the best actions and decisions together.

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?

The village budget has strong reserves but I am concerned with unsustainable expenditures. For example, the recent allocation of $3 million dollars for road repairs is budgeted, but as a one time expense. There should be a long term sustainable infrastructure plan to ensure that necessary road repairs are completed. One important action that my village should take is to conduct a multilingual needs assessment with residents to identify the level of services they want. Once results are ready, we should report them back to the community and invite residents to provide recommendations for how the village can improve current services or develop new services they need. Ideally, the community should also be involved in implementing and/or evaluating the services the village provides to ensure that these services are actually meeting the residents' needs. Another important action is to increase the number of sales tax generating businesses so that our residents do not see an increase in property taxes or other local taxes like the gasoline tax or natural gas tax, which were increased recently. Finally, our village needs to improve communication with our residents. Many community members feel ignored and excluded. We need to actively reach out to community members (in multiple languages) to understand their concerns. We also need to work with residents to find and implement solutions to the issues that they bring to our attention.

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

I want to create committees for community groups that are underrepresented in the board of trustees. The village needs to be more intentional about serving communities with identities that have been marginalized, in particular women, youth, residents with disabilities and LGBTQ people. I will create a committee for each one of these groups to make sure they all have a seat at the table in village hall. Women are half of the population in the village, yet there is only one woman in the board of trustees. Women's voices and leadership need to be included at different levels in our government. Youth (ages 19 and under) represent the largest age group in the village with unlimited leadership potential that is currently untapped. Youth like my children are the future of Hanover Park and they need to develop into empowered residents who can work together for the long term success of Hanover Park. Residents with disabilities and LGBTQ community members are often invisible in village initiatives because they are not mentioned in data reports or strategic plans. It is time for the village to make sure these residents are visible and that their unique needs are taken into account when decisions are made.