Nicholas J. Helmer: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Nicholas J. Helmer

City: Prospect Heights

Office sought: Mayor

Age: 76

Family: Wife Gail, two children, 4 grandchildren

Occupation

Real Estate Builder, Developer. Also on the board of directors for 12 Inland Banks in the Chicago area.

Education: DePaul University interrupted after 3 years by service in the United States Army after which I completed my degree in Business Communications at Loyola University.

Civic involvement: 35 years on the basketball coaching staff at St. Viator High School, Arlington Heights.

Served 14 years on the board of directors at Pal Waukee/Chicago Executive Airport as the representative of Prospect Heights.

Previous elected offices held: Mayor of Prospect Heights for 2 four year terms.

Incumbent? yes

If yes, when were you first elected? May 2011.

Website: yes

Facebook: yes

Twitter: no

Issue questions

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

Severe flooding and drainage issues take the lead. We have several grant requests in the works and have sold a 10 acre parcel across from the airport. Matched with excess TIF funds, this will produce up to $4.5 million dollars to mitigate drainage and flooding in the Arlington Countryside subdivision. Four more areas have been selected by our engineers to continue this program.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

54 years of experience in solving the same issues for my national company that we now face in our city. Add my very successful 8 years of municipal management and my 14 additional years of serving on our airport board certainly will make me the choice to serve our 16,250 citizens. My ability to develop a more robust effort by the mayor and aldermen to fill all vacant store fronts with sales tax producing business to enhance our budget. For the past 8 years I have led the charge in this area. When I started in office in 2011 our budget was insolvent with personnel and police officers either terminated or furloughed, with the police station closed 24/7 and city hall open only 4 days a week. Within 8 months we became fully operational in all areas. I then attracted many businesses (a total of 22 new merchants within the first two years) to bring their sales tax production abilities to our city. Leading the way I started eliminating and filling 45 percent vacant store fronts in the Prospect Crossings shopping center by leasing the 84,000 square foot long closed Dominick's now occupied the very successful Tony's Fresh Market. Also many other successful merchants now occupy virtually 100 percent of the center. Annual collected sales taxes is something that I watch carefully because that is our major source of revenue. More business operations bring more money: Sales tax income for 2017 was $1,282,369; Sales tax income for 2018 was $1,498,194

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 try to stress that we must work for the greater good of our citizens. Working for the interests of one or a few individuals is often not the best thing to do. But other solutions can often be found to solve minor problems. I do not subscribe to the answer "that can't be done". I believe that every problem has a solution. If I did not agree with that premise there would be no Tony's Fresh Foods, no fully staffed Police Department, City hall would not be open 5 days, a settlement with Travelers Insurance would not have paid the 9 year holdback of $525,000 for the fire that destroyed City Hall, the pot holes would not have been filled and new roads would not have been built. There would be no sidewalks to schools with more to come this years and no city identity signs would be visible. These and many other projects would not have seen the light of day.

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?

Our budgets are solvent and our reserve funds are very adequate. We must continue to do the necessary things we are charged with and our needs that must be met. A clear brain and eyes must keep focus on serving the needs our citizens and come to terms with our abilities and plan for future needs

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

Communication with our citizens is critical. To that end we publish the Weekly E-News, televise all council meetings and committee memberships and their meetings. Our Quarterly News Letter is disturbed to all our homes. We hold several Community events to include the 4th of July parade with edibles at the end, Run the Runway at the CEA draws well over 20,000 people is an annual event, the Mayors Community Breakfast and our Park District events along with Lions Club picnic and many other City events makes for good times with neighbors and friends and helps to disseminate the reputation of "Prosperous Prospect Heights.