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Kevin Patrick: Candidate profile

BIO

Name: Kevin Patrick

City: Villa Park

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 36

Family: Married with three children

Occupation: Correctional officer; small business owner

Education: University of Phoenix

Civic involvement: Chairman Villa Park Fire & Police Commission; chairman Villa Park Cable Commission

Previous elected offices held: None

Incumbent? No

Website:

Facebook: Citizens For Kevin Patrick

Issue questions

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

I think the most important issue facing our community at the moment would be transparency between the village and its citizens. I feel that communication between the village and its citizens can be improved; it is important to me that we find a way to allow citizens to become more informed and involved in town issues. We need to increase attendance at village board meetings and improve the ways in which we communicate with the public.

For example, most people don't know that we offer Coffee with the Board the first Saturday of each month at village hall. Opportunities like these are frequently missed; I feel that with better modes of communication (i.e. website, social media, literature, etc.) we can get more town involvement. Additional issues facing our community that I would like to address include economic development, financial responsibility and public safety.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I feel that it is important for a trustee to be familiar with the community. I have lived in Villa Park since I was 13, first on the north side of town and now as a homeowner on the south side. Having grown up in this community, I am familiar with the public schools, the recreation department and its programs, as well as the development of local businesses and Villa Park's rich history.

My time as a citizen of Villa Park as well as my position as chairman of the Villa Park Fire and Police Commission and chairman of the Villa Park Cable Commission have given me many opportunities to talk with people in town and learn how they are feeling about the village. These interactions have influenced me to run for village trustee.

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.

In the book "In Search of Excellence," Tom Peters and Robert Waterman describe President Abraham Lincoln's leadership style as MBWA (Managing By Wandering Around). This leadership style is simply the process of getting out and talking with people in the community.

I believe that people in the community are a major source of information and in order for me to be a good leader and make accurate decisions I need to have key information in hand. The best way for me to do this is by getting out and obtaining the information first-hand from the community. I think my visibility and open-door policy will make me an effective leader in Villa Park.

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 of Villa Park has done a great job managing its budget over the past few years, giving us the opportunity to focus on different projects to further develop our community. Villa Park has multiple TIF districts and I think that the incremental revenue that is generated can be used more effectively on area-wide projects such as road and sidewalk repairs, infrastructure improvements, flooding issues, and the development and upkeep of community recreation facilities.

I believe improvements in these areas will provide a level of service that our citizens deserve and need. These improvements will also make Villa Park an appealing place to grow and develop businesses which ultimately improves our economic development as well.

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

One idea that I think offers an exciting opportunity for our community would be the creation of a park district within Villa Park. This would be different from our Parks and Recreation Department in that a park district has tax dollars devoted to it.

Though this might be a challenging undertaking, I believe that there are many benefits that are associated with having a park district in our community. Having a park district in Villa Park would not only help our economic development but it would vastly improve our environment and the overall health of the community.

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