Russell P. Fitton III: Candidate profile
Bio
Name: Russell P. Fitton III
City: Village of Inverness
Office sought: Trustee
Age (on election day): 63
Family: Wife (Pam) 3 grown children: Russell IV, John, Patrick
Occupation: Dentist
Education: U of Dayton, B.A. Chemistry 1977, Loyola University Dental School, Doctor of Dental Surgery 1981
Civic involvement: Barrington High School JV Hockey Coach 1983-1985, Northwest Chargers Hockey Association Youth Hockey Coach 1994- 2007, Northwest Chargers Hockey Association Board of Directors - Treasurer 1994-2006, Fremd High School Assistant Varsity Club Ice Hockey Coach 2007-2008, Fremd High School Varsity Ice Hockey Club Head Coach-2008-2009, Fremd Varsity Assistant Golf Coach 2009-2010, Inverness Golf Club Board of Directors 2003-2009, Dental Mission of Mercy- New Orleans LA. 2006 (post Hurricane Katrina), Remote Air Medical Mission of Mercy - New Orleans 2007, Western Golf Association Director 2012-present, Inverness Village Zoning Committee 2009, Inverness Village Board Trustee- 2010-2019
Previous elected offices held: None
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Issue questions
What are the most important issues facing your community and how do you intend to address them?
Keeping control over costs to maintain the services provided to the residents of Inverness. Since we are a small village we have limited funds to maintain our infrastructure. Our movement from outsourcing the Village Police Department to starting our own force has saved the residents of Inverness close to $6,000,000 over the past 9 years. The Village's portion is only 15% of the total Tax bill residents pay. The present Village Board is doing an impressive job of controlling Village expenses. This action has minimized tax increases for the Village residents.
What makes you the best candidate for the job?
My past 9 years as a Trustee on the Village Board has given me the experience to be a part of the team that guides the future of the Village of Inverness. My past experiences as a volunteer, whether it be as a youth sports coach, various volunteer Board of Directors, Missions of Mercy to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, have given me unique life experiences. My development throughout my career has been that ideas, suggestions and talk all can be constructive but at some point the sleeves need to get rolled up and the work needs to get done. My record of community service shows that I'm not afraid to step in and work as part of a team to accomplish the objective.
Describe your leadership style and explain how you think that will be effective in producing actions and decisions with your village board.
My leadership style is one of consensus. Much like Dwight Eisenhower who was great at leading by consensus. If everyone on the team knows their input counts then when it comes time for the vote, no matter which way it goes, the team backs the decision.
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 condition of the community budget over the last 9 years I have been a part of the Village Board is excellent. Our Villages bond rating is AAA. Our Village employee pension fund is fully funded per requirements. We have sufficient funds in reserve to weather any unforeseen event.
What's one good idea you have to better the community that no one is talking about yet?
Since we are a small community we have limited funds to work with. Going forward as our community gets older we need to address infrastructure needs such as roads and drainage. Partnering with our neighborhood communities to improve storm water management and increase our focus on maintaining our roads