Janice Gannon: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Janice Gannon

City: Lake Zurich

Office sought: Trustee

Age: 55

Family: Married to Mike Gannon for 25 years. Two daughters Emma (18) attends U of Illinois with a Biology major and Sarah (15) attends LZHS.

Occupation: Retired with a career history of 15 years in the financial services industry at Household/HSBC and Transamerica as Director of Business Development within the retail and commercial sectors.

Education: Bachelor of Science 1986 SIU College of Business, marketing major

Civic involvement: Various positions in the LZ school districts including elementary, middle and high school. Numerous roles ranging from classroom help to currently assisting the LZHS Poms Dance team with special projects.

Previous elected offices held: Lake Property Owners Association including VP and Director for the past 22 years.

Incumbent? No

Website: none

Facebook: LZ Values

Twitter: none

Issue questions

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

Lake Zurich has a few dominant issues plaguing the community that include water, the downtown, transparency and communication, growth, and vision. The LZ Values slate that includes Jeff Halen and Michael Paulus, has specific plans to address each of these.

Palatine has clean Lake Michigan water and we've got to believe there's an affordable way for LZ to have it too. Research needs to be done to understand the full expense and timeframes. The water meter replacement was a debacle and water rates are now up 20% leaving so many residents confused. This needs to be addressed.

The downtown area has been in a dilapidated state for decades. Meanwhile other communities with a downtown have been able to prosper and soar. The "block sale" concept has prohibited the downtown growth and needs to be eliminated. This will give smaller entrepreneurs the opportunity to put up a shop in Lake Zurich and allow us to increase the foot traffic and provide the residents with what they've been asking for many years. Excuses like "we don't have a train station", or "the bypass killed downtown" are not relevant. Many downtowns similar to LZ have been able to prosper.

Transparency is something that shows via your actions, not just your words. Countless projects that could have a negative impact on the immediate residents close to the potential project deserve this critical information. Targeted and direct communication is necessary to improve the transparency. Many people still don't follow Facebook. The Village can't rely on this as a means of total communication and transparency.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I've lived in the Village since 1996 and have raised two daughters here. I have supported growth through the years that included the Rt 22 bypass, the library, police station, Target, Costco, Home Depot, Kohl's and many more. I'd like to see continued growth through targeted planning. Growth and vision go hand-in-hand and the LZ Values slate would like to respect the zoning codes put in place and make sure all future growth projects benefit the residents more directly. Gas stations, vape shops and gambling should not be what defines our Village. We need to make sure our growth protects the current loyal businesses and gives our residents a true benefit.

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 that includes putting the residents of LZ first and foremost before any decisions are made. Will my decision benefit the residents? Will my decision increase property values? Will my decision improve the residents lifestyle? Will my decision make the residents proud? If the answer isn't yes to those questions, I'd encourage the board to take a huge step back and look at other alternatives.

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 of LZ has a healthy budget but it's in dire need of prioritization. One example is that the they're considering spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to install a ramp at Paulus Park on a private lake for just one police boat. That's a classic example of what doesn't make sense. The residents in the Village seek beautification and road improvements and every spare dollar needs to go to that at this point.

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

I'd like to see the Village eliminate the "block" concept that is preventing the downtown growth. Currently a developer must purchase the entire block, even if they'd only like to develop just a small portion. That prevents smaller entrepreneurs from being able to secure the appropriate financing. Purchasing an entire block would seem like an overwhelming commitment to most potential developers.