Pamela P. Fantus: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Pamela P. Fantus

City: Mettawa

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 64

Family: Married for 32 years to Richard J. Fantus, MD, the Director of Trauma and Critical Care Surgery in Chicago. We have 2 sons and a wonderful daughter-in-law that are all physicians

Occupation: Previous: Nursing Leadership

Current: Manager of a medical practice and consultant for a pharmaceutical company

Education: Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bradley University

Master's Degree in Nursing Administration from DePaul University

Civic involvement: Currently Treasurer for the Village of Mettawa

Member of the Charitable Foundation for an inner-city hospital for the past 15 years raising funds for specialty programs and infrastructure development.

Taught a "Stop the Bleed" course to village residents

Previous elected offices held: Rondout school Board 1997-2002

Incumbent? No. If yes, when were you first elected?

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Issue questions

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

One of the main issues the Village has been working on is revamping our Village ordinances. They are difficult to navigate and in need of updates. We are a mix of low-density, large-parcel properties that are spread out amongst subdivisions that have a smaller acreage and a higher population. These ordinances need to meet the needs of all residents. I would strive to value each resident's opinion equally and not just those of the most vocal residents.

While Mettawa has improved our overall communication to residents, I think we can leverage newer technologies to facilitate a more real time approach to contacting our residents with urgent updates regarding safety, weather, road conditions, and animal issues.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

Having lived in Mettawa for over 24 years, my family and I have enjoyed the open spaces and rural nature of this Village. I have attended the majority of the Village Board, Zoning, Finance meetings, as well as public hearings and other village related meetings over the past several years. For the past 3 years I have served as the Village Treasurer, so I am knowledgeable about the village's budget and current finances. One of my many roles as Treasurer was administering the tax rebate program. I communicated with all applicants in a timely fashion and assisted those that had difficulty with the process to ensure their successful submission. I also am an avid user of the Mettawa trail system and walk the trails most days with my Catahoula dog, Rocky. Our trails in Mettawa are one of our many great features and I will support ongoing maintenance to keep them in good condition for the residents' use. I fully support the plan in Oasis park for more plantings to beautify the park and more trees to provide much-needed shade for the new trail.

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.

Over the past three years, I have demonstrated that I am detail-oriented, fair, transparent, honest, and willing to make change for the better of the community. I am also very analytical, thorough, and a team player, who strives for collaboration and consensus in all group efforts. While following the present ordinances is important to me, I am able to objectively assess ones that are outdated and need to be changed in the best interest of the residents.

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 is financially sound and has a realistic budget to meet the needs of the community. I have worked as treasurer in collaboration with the finance committee to ensure three consecutive years of clean external audits. Our current income stream from our business district along with our new village partner, Grainger, make our financials even stronger as we look to the future.

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

Growing up on a farm of over 150 acres in Central Illinois where we had livestock, harvested crops, and rode horses from the age of five inspires me to want to enhance the value of our piece of rural paradise. Our rural residential community has equestrian, and other nonfarm animal activities. The well-being of our residents and welfare of our animals would benefit from having a committee on animal activities. This committee would address recurring issues that have arisen at several past village board meetings, zoning committees, and public hearings. I would gladly volunteer to serve on such a subcommittee if elected.