Bob Madland: Candidate profile
Name: Bob Madland
City: Green Oaks
Office sought: Trustee
Age: 53
Family: Married to Jean Madland; we have lived in Green Oaks for 18 years. We have two boys, Mark and Mitch. Both of them attend Libertyville High School; Mark is a junior and Mitch is a sophomore. Mark and Mitch both attended Rondout School from kindergarten through 8th grade.
Occupation: President of Exceptional Spaces LLC, a remodeling and carpentry contractor.
Education:
MBA - Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2000
BS Electrical Engineering - University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, 1988
Civic involvement:
Board Member (current), Travel and House League Coach - Lake Bluff Youth Baseball Association
Cub Scout leader - Pack 73
Youth Soccer Coach - AYSO 163
Previous elected offices held: none
Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? N/A
Website: none
Facebook: none
Twitter: none
Issue questions
What are the most important issues facing your community and how do you intend to address them?
The Village of Green Oaks Redevelopment Plan and management of the resultant TIF district is the most important issue facing the village. We are now at a critical stage; the two anchors at either end of the TIF district, The Sheridan at Green Oaks and Green Oaks Senior Living, are both operational and providing revenue for additional TIF district improvements. The next stages of the plan will involve selection and funding of appropriate infrastructure improvement projects moving forward. It is crucial that these projects are critically evaluated for their ability to generate additional incremental tax revenue as well as for their impact on the residential neighborhood immediately adjacent to the TIF district.
What makes you the best candidate for the job?
My background as an engineer has taught me to research and evaluate a problem from as many different angles as possible. It's important to spend the time to thoroughly understand all of the relevant drivers for a particular issue. Doing so will often expose the potential for unexpected consequences that a more cursory examination would overlook. I'm a firm believer in what a former boss of mine used to say: "You're not expected to know everything, but you are expected to know how to figure it out."
Additionally, I benefit from living in the only residential neighborhood in Green Oaks immediately adjacent to the TIF district. The proposed projects could have a large impact on the daily lives of residents along Route 176, as well as along Bradley Road south of Route 176. All six current Trustees live on the West side of I-94. It is important that those most affected by the Village's decisions have both exposure to and a voice in those decisions.
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.
When working with a capable group of peers, I would say my leadership style is democratic or collaborative. As a business owner with professional experience in both engineering and construction, I have learned that the best way to make sound decisions is to thoroughly understand the issue at hand, and the best way to do that is to take advantage of the experience and expertise of all in the group. Listening to others, which would include fellow trustees as well as residents, is far more important than pushing a personal agenda.
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?
It is difficult to assess the current condition of the budget for the Village of Green Oaks since they have not made a financial report readily available (posted at greenoaks.org) since the fall of 2016. It would be fair to assume, however, that budgetary restrictions are preventing the village from keeping up with the increasing costs of providing necessary services. As an example we have last fall's referendum, narrowly approved by voters, for the first municipal property tax, earmarked for road improvements. The tax is expected to generate just under $260,000 annually. The property tax referendum illustrates the need to develop alternate sources of revenue for the village, sources that are not 100 percent borne by residents. Fortunately, we have already started down this path with the village's redevelopment plan. The crucial part will be to manage the TIF district development to insure a sufficient sales tax base to meet the village's future needs.