Mark Sabatino: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Mark Sabatino

City: Elmhurst

Office sought: First Ward Alderman

Age: 52

Family: Son, Aidan, 17

Occupation: Commercial Real Estate Executive

Education: BA Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Civic involvement: Former Commissioner, Vice Chairman and Chairman, Elmhurst Economic Development Commission, 2007-2015; Former baseball coach and manager, Elmhurst Youth Baseball and Elmhurst Electric Baseball

Previous elected offices held: City of Elmhurst, First Ward Alderman

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? 2015 - present

Website: www.ElectSabatino.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sabatino4elmhurst

Issue questions

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

One of the most important issues facing our community is our revenue or sources of income and we can't effectively provide great services without revenue. Operating expenses, budgeted capital improvement projects and unforeseen costs coupled with unpredictable market and economic conditions prove to be a challenge when revenue sources are compromised. For example, Illinois local governments share in the income tax revenue collected by the state. The Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) is where the local government portion of the income tax collections are deposited and then disbursed. The state's 2018 budget included a provision to reduce the amount of income tax revenue to be deposited into the LGDF for distribution to municipalities by 10 percent. For many municipalities, these cuts have been painful and have resulted in reductions in public safety, infrastructure and other core services. Fortunately, the City of Elmhurst is proactive and has planned well. The city's general fund sits at $18.7 million, over $500,000 more than the previous year. The city's AAA bond rating has helped the city refinance debt, saving tax payers over $4.5 million in the last five years. We've had the good fortune of growing our tax base considerably through new investment and our sales tax revenue has grown substantially as well, both of which allow us to fund projects, reducing the tax burden on residents. My goal is to always seek revenue sources outside of taxing our residents and through good planning and collaborative efforts between city staff and myself, I will continue to find ways to reduce our reliance on property taxes.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I believe my experience and commitment make me the best and most qualified candidate for the job. I've served as First Ward Alderman for the past four years and have been both a committee member and Vice Chairman of the Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee during my tenure. Previously, I served as commissioner, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Elmhurst Economic Development Commission from 2007-2015. I have extensive experience in budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, investment analysis, project/contract management, negotiations and personnel management. My 25 years in commercial real estate and expertise in the areas of institutional property management, asset management and leasing has prepared me with the skills and resources to make an immediate and profitable contribution to our city. Understanding the intricacies of local government is a bit of a learning curve and my commitment to the residents of Elmhurst spans twelve years. We've accomplished so much in the past four years and I want to continue the momentum by playing an active role in enhancing our community.

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 has always been one of open communication. One of the most important skills of a leader is the ability to communicate effectively and the key to effective communication is listening. As an elected official, it's my job to put the "residents first" and listen to their concerns, suggestions, etc., especially when engaging in debates and dealing with controversial issues and conflict resolution. It's equally important to have an effective and mutually supportive working relationship with city council and city staff. Understanding, appreciating and respecting each other's roles results in more successful city governance and management. I will continue to listen intently to my constituents and maintain a great working relationship with my fellow city council members and city staff in order to maximize organizational performance and value to our community.

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?

Elmhurst's budgetary performance is very strong and historically, the city has budgeted conservatively. The city's budgetary flexibility is also very strong, as it had an available fund balance of approximately $20 million or 36 percent of operating expenditures. It is expected that the available fund balance will remain above 30 percent of expenditures for the current and next fiscal years which is a positive credit factor. As previously mentioned, city staff and city council have planned well. Our tax base has grown by way of new investment which, in 2018 was $195 million. Over the past five years, this number has grown to $700 million. Additionally, our sales tax revenue has increased 14 percent over the past four years. Again, these are ways that we reduce the burden on the tax payer and still provide superior level of services to our residents. For example, the award-wining rescue one rapid response vehicle which was implemented in 2017 eliminates the cost of a third ambulance and shortens the response time when a resident needs help. Not only are we providing faster emergency response times, but we're also saving tax payers well over $200,000 annually by not requiring an additional ambulance. We are actually providing superior services at a lower cost. This is an example of fiscal responsibility, good governance and collaboration that will continue to provide the level of service we have grown accustomed to.

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

An excellent tool that would leverage the use of smartphones and encourage residents' participation would be the development of a municipal app. For example, residents could simplify the process of reporting problems like illegal parking, a pothole, missed trash pickups, a lost pet, etc. all with the touch of a button. Additionally, the app could be used to identify which train crossing gates are open, which are in use, what type of train (i.e. passenger or freight) is approaching and the timing of that train. Not only could this be a benefit and timesaver for drivers in choosing an alternate route, but it can also be a valuable resource to emergency vehicles. This app is not too far away from being developed and I will work with city staff, consultants and app builders to see this through the development stage and completion.