Leah Goodman: Candidate Profile

Bio

Name: Leah Goodman

City: Warrenville

Office sought: Alderman, Ward 4

Age: 38

Family: Married to Nick Graf

Occupation: Attorney

Education: WWSHS Valedictorian, Stanford University B.S. Physics and B.A. English, University of Michigan Law School

Civic involvement: 2005-2011 Member of the Warrenville Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. Member of Warrenville in Bloom.

Previous elected offices held: None but this one

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? Yes, 2011

Website:

Facebook: facebook.com/leah.goodman.549

Twitter:

Issue questions

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

Fiscal responsibility and economic development are the most important issues facing Warrenville. Warrenville has no bonded debt, and we want to make sure that we stay that way. As Chairman of the Finance and Public Safety Committee on the Council, I take my responsibility to oversee the budget and keep a close eye on financial issues very seriously. I have a physics degree from Stanford University, so I'm pretty good at math, and I work hard every single week to add up numbers, check staff's work, and correct any mistakes. Budget transparency is also very important.

I am a lifelong Warrenville resident. My first priority as Alderman will always be to promote the long-term interest of the community when I make planning and budget decisions. To me, that priority means making responsible choices about the future economic development of Warrenville, while supporting investments in the future. We have to make sure that we have world-class technology, infrastructure, and education, as well as open space and sustainable, green initiatives, to keep Warrenville's people working and playing here. If we make our city attractive to new businesses and residents, and serve our current neighbors as best we can, our citizens will prosper.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

Serving the citizens of Warrenville for the past eight years has been an honor. I've worked hard to represent my neighbors and am always open to citizen input on many platforms. I have the experience to do the job well, along with familiarity with current and past local issues dating back to 2005, when I joined the Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals. I was only 24 years old then, but I have maintained a lifelong commitment to public service in Warrenville.

As Alderman, I've gone above and beyond my regular council duties, serving on many subcommittees and workgroups and representing Warrenville in different capacities. I've helped revise the City's Strategic Plan, served on the Branding Workgroup to plan how to market and promote Warrenville, redistricted ward boundaries after the census, redesigned the Acorn Van city bus system for seniors and disabled residents, and developed long-term financial plans to maintain water and sewer equipment. With the Park District, I've helped plan a community festival called Summer Daze; with the Historical Society, I've helped plan events throughout 2017 commemorating the City's 50th anniversary of incorporation; at Fermilab, I represent Warrenville on the Community Advisory Board.

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 diligent, hardworking, and very detail-oriented, which allows me to lead on the City Council. I try my best to be extremely prepared for all our meetings, having reviewed and researched all the available information about the issues under consideration. If I don't understand something, or want more information to help me decide, I ask questions. I am not shy about speaking my mind, and if the Council is being asked to make a decision, I don't let the details slide by.

My style helps create an environment where there is more transparency for the public, because more details about all the issues before the Council are discussed in open meetings. I also think it creates a sense of respect, oversight, and accountability among the City's professional staff, who know that what they do matters to me, and that I will be checking things over to help them catch mistakes early. Additionally, my preparation and questions help the Council clarify our 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? -

Warrenville is in much better shape fiscally than most Chicagoland communities. The city has no bonded debt, so none of our taxpayer dollars are going towards interest payments and fees. That's really rare, and it's due to years of good decisions and smart stewardship of the public finances. I am now the Finance Chairman, and I am proud of the years I have spent in that role, reviewing budgets and checking the math.

Our residents tell the City Council in surveys and outreach that that they like what the city is doing, but they'd like more services and want us to pay for it without raising taxes. The surveys show strong support for new economic development to achieve this goal. Warrenville has a diverse revenue stream, which helps keep property taxes in check. One growing source of revenue we can use is our Hotel/Motel tax, paid by people coming to stay here. We have six hotels now, with more planned. One way Warrenville uses this revenue is to sponsor tourism and arts programs and events to bring more people into Warrenville, so they'll shop at local businesses, stay in Warrenville hotels, and eat in Warrenville restaurants.

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

This year, I hope to work on a redesign of the City of Warrenville website, especially the mobile version. When the City's website was last updated in 2015, fewer people accessed the internet on smartphones. Our current website needs a total revamp, and I attended a course last fall which gave me some ideas on municipal websites, so I hope to be able to provide useful input. I'd like to make it easier for people online to pay their water and sewer bills, to research and apply for permits, to get alerts from the Police Department, and to find out about what's going on in Warrenville. From publicizing our wonderful community events to promoting our city to prospective businesses and residents, a website is more and more the 'face' of any community to the world. Redesigning the City's website will improve transparency, accessibility, and communication.

I love Warrenville, and I want my family, friends, and neighbors to be happy here in the years ahead. Modern communications change rapidly, and Warrenville needs to change with the times to make it easier for people to get the information they need about Warrenville online.