Dan Sugrue: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Dan Sugrue

City: Green Oaks

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 55

Family: Married to Margo, with three children; Kevin (18), Vivian (15), and Sean (13)

Occupation: attorney

Education: Chicago Kent College of Law (JD), University of Illinois at Urbana (BA in Economics), St. Laurence High School

Civic involvement: member-Lake County Bar Association, member-GLMV Chamber of Commerce, volunteer-House of Peace battered women's shelter, CCD teacher-St. Joseph Catholic Church in Libertyville

Previous elected offices held: Libertyville Township Precinct Committeeman

Incumbent? Yes. If yes, when were you first elected? 2011

Website: no campaign website

Facebook: Yes, but it's a habit I'm trying to break.

Twitter: no

Issue questions

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

The two issues uppermost in our minds in Green Oaks are repairing our roads and developing our business district.

Since it's founding in 1960 until now, Green Oaks has never had a Village tax. In the past, we've been able to maintain our roads through the Village's share of revenue from Illinois' Motor Fuel Tax combined with revenue from the sale of vehicle stickers to Village residents. However, over the years, the pace of deterioration of our roads has increasingly outpaced the revenue received from these two sources.

Last November, a referendum was placed on the ballot, asking Village residents if they would favor creating a municipal tax for the sole purpose of repairing and maintaining Village roads. The Village Board had already passed an ordinance mandating that any revenue from such a tax, if approved by the voters, would be used solely for Village roads. On Nov. 8, Village residents voted their approval. Starting this year, the Village will spend approximately $2.8 million to repair deteriorating roads and extending the life of those roads in serviceable condition.

The Village has been encouraging the development of it's Rondout business district, anchored on the west with Green Oaks Senior Living retirement community, and on the east with the Sheridan at Green Oaks senior lifestyle community. We are currently working on a proposed development on a vacant 35 acre site north of Lambs Farm.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I have a commitment to transparency to the public, and through my involvement in the community, I've been able to develop relationships throughout Lake County, which has enabled me to promote Green Oaks and advocate for the interests of our residents.

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 be a good listener, both to my fellow trustees, but more importantly, to my neighbors and fellow residents, so that whatever concerns are on the minds of our fellow residents are communicated to the Board. Generally speaking, all of the members of our board work well together and respect each other's talents and areas of expertise. But most important to the board is input from our 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?

Green Oaks is one of only a handful of communities in Illinois to receive a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor's. We're very frugal when it comes to spending the public's hard earned money. For instance, Village Trustees do not receive a salary, or benefits or a pension. It's our frugality in spending which has enable us to exist for 58 years without a Village tax.

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

Well, working on the Board is a collaborative effort, nobody really takes ownership of an idea. We all contribute to the process, both board members as well as members of the public.