Jay Murphy: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Jay Murphy

City: North Barrington

Office sought: Trustee, Village of North Barrington

Age (on election day): 49

Family: My wife and I and our three children ages 6, 4, and 1, and my mother-in-law live in our home in North Barrington

Occupation: Contracts Management: Aerospace, Defense, Railroad

Education: B. A., Hope College; J.D., Thomas M Cooley Law School

Civic involvement: Parishioner at St. Ann's; PTO Member Barrington-220 schools

Previous elected offices held: N/A

Incumbent? No

Website: www.jaydougnb.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jay-Murphy-Doug-Ramsdale-for-North-Barrington-Trustees-328047524709882/

Twitter: N/A

Isue questions

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

I have coordinated my campaign with candidate Doug Ramsdale in an effort to challenge the slate of candidates we are running against and bring fresh energy and new ideas to the Board.

We experience too many power failures because trees and branches fall on power lines. We need a better organized plan to remove dead trees. We should eliminate outdated regulations that require bond payments when homeowners must remove dangerous trees on their properties, while also preserving our beautiful nature and environment.

We need to improve snow plowing, assuring it is timely with excellent quality. We must explore returning to the previous service provider for better results. We must also modify certain intersections, including adding turn lanes, to make them more safe in poor weather.

The Village needs to improve essential communications, including offering more interactive social media. Social media updates can instantly keep the community apprised of weather conditions, road maintenance, and snowplow status.

Two members of the incumbent slate of Trustees we are running against missed a combined 9 out of 12 monthly Board meetings in 2018. That's astonishing. They are not representing us. I will meet my commitments and attend meetings and perform my job.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

On a professional level, I have over twenty years corporate senior staff experience directing government contract reviews, including the bid and proposal process, government regulations, and contract negotiation, which I will use to help our community seek the best quality and cost-effective service contracts possible (snow plowing, policing, and waste management - including recycling efforts). The budget must balance and we cannot increase fees or taxes.

On a personal level, my wife and I both work full time, we have lived elsewhere through corporate relocations, and we are raising three young children. These experiences mean I have the patience and discipline to work with our community and bring new and fresh insights that will reduce costs and add quality to services we need.

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

The incumbent slate of Trustees running for re-election missed an astonishing number of Board meetings this past year. In contrast, I am a hard-working dedicated professional committed to my responsibilities. As a Trustee, I will seek consensus, give dignity and respect to all voices, listen with thought and reflection, visit homes and properties in-person if requested, and make decisions based on value and facts that produce a common-sense result.

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?

I welcome and support a balanced budget, and the condition of our community budget is satisfactory. However, the priorities in the budget are misaligned.

For example, we have excess funds budgeted for snowplowing without using those funds this season. That leaves us with diminished plowing services and unsafe driving conditions.

We need to prioritize a community plan for tree removal, and provide tree removal assistance to private residents which is covered by funds in our existing budget (and free of outdated regulations). This will help eliminate power failures and keep our community safe.

Eton Park is a gem in our community, and we enjoy an outstanding outdoor environment with natural beauty. We need to expand walking paths and trails to allow all members of our community the full enjoyment of these resources.

These priorities are supported by current budgeting, and I would NOT support increases in fees or taxes to cover new expenditures.

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

We must be proactive when protecting our children. Parents and grandparents in our community advocate moving voting out of North Barrington-220 public school into Village Hall for the safety of our children. I have found that many members of our community are not yet familiar with this idea. This idea is cost neutral, removes unaffiliated persons from school grounds, reduces cars near our children, and avoids other potential negative results. As a private citizen, I attended a Board meeting months ago and listened to the voices of concerned parents and school officials. The incumbent slate of Trustees up for re-election have done nothing in response to these voices. I believe everyone should consider this change as a sound and proactive school safety measure.