Michael Woerner: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Michael Woerner

City: Batavia

Office Sought: City Council Alderman, 5th Ward

Age: 66

Family: Wife, Susan, seven adult children, seven grandchildren

Occupation: Retired, Instructional Assistant, Special Education, Wheaton Warrenville South High School

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science Education, Augustana College, Rockford, IL

Civic Involvement: Volunteer, Hesed House, Aurora, IL; Member, Holy Cross Church, Batavia, IL; Member, Knights of Columbus, Council 2191

Previous Elected Offices Held: Board of Education, CCSD 181, Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills, 1995-2003; Board of Education President, CCSD 181, 2001-2003; Hinsdale Village Trustee, 2003-2005; Hinsdale Village President, 2005-2009

Incumbent: No

Website: No

Facebook: No

Twitter: No

Issue questions

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

Batavia is a successful city in many ways. I believe the biggest issue facing Batavia, or any city for that matter, is to make sure we don't become complacent but rather, to continue to grow. We are facing a governmental and economic climate that is in a constant flux. Businesses are and will continue to come and go as the cost of everything rises and people become weary of increasing taxes. As a city, Batavia needs to be proactive to inevitable change and stay ahead of it through planning. It is a challenge and competitive to maintain and grow a vibrant business community. Alternative revenue sources must be explored while monitoring governmental spending to be efficient. While all cities and villages desire to maintain an identity, exploring the feasibility of cooperative governmental services is another idea. We are fortunate to live in a city that offers so much to the lifestyles of its residents. We must continue to maintain and grow our community creatively.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I bring the City of Batavia solid governmental experience and history. Having been elected to village government four times makes me the best and most qualified candidate for Alderman. Having served on a local school board and village board allowed me to learn and grow from all types of situations that confront a community. I know what it takes to work toward a consensus in decision making while building trust in a community.

Also, I am committed to Batavia. My wife and I deliberately chose Batavia as our new hometown and settled here for the rest of our lives. Being relatively new to the area, we had the unique opportunity to study and explore before we chose Batavia and purchase our home.

With my experience, I bring a fresh perspective and viewpoint that considers the issues with wisdom and knowledge of governmental practice. I have been down this road before, successfully growing a local business district while searching out alternative sources of income and balancing a budget. My experience has maintained a AAA bond rating for a village.

As a retired citizen, I have the opportunity to serve and devote the time needed to be a successful and valuable Alderman.

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.

My leadership style can be best described as being a good listener and adept at asking good questions. While interacting with neighbors and the public, listening to their concerns, I can best formulate ideas, needs and opinions that best serve the community. These ideas "bubble up" from the grass-roots. This style is sometimes referred to as leading from behind. Once clear ideas of public needs and wants are determined, the next step is to present these to the city council. I have learned from experience to then be able to work toward consensus, determining a plan of action and sticking to the plan.

Thus, Batavia having developed a strategic plan is positive and I am very much a believer in having a well thought out plan to follow.

As a good listener and knowing the history and success of Batavia, I have no desire to reinvent the "wheel." Rather, I intend to be effective in helping build a better and stronger wheel.

As one of 14 Aldermen, to play an effective role in this governmental body, I will be an effective communicator representing my constituents.

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?

I would describe Batavia's budget as precarious. There is very little margin for error. Our past loss of the sales tax revenue from Sam's Club closing shows how sudden a negative change can occur. The City has to be always aggressive in searching for new and larger sales tax revenues. The greatest source of sales tax revenue for any city is from car dealerships and hotels. Batavia is sorely lacking revenue from these two sources. We need to aggressively seek out businesses in these categories.

Batavia might also explore revenue from grant funds available to municipalities from other levels of government and governmental agencies. Other revenue generating sources might also be fee and license collection that does not exist today. Have we tested the water for any type of licensing from citizen cars, bicycles, pets or parking?

I have no interest in increasing the property tax paid by resident homeowners. The climate for increased property tax revenues is extremely negative. In addition, seeking alternative revenue sources, we need to zealously attack spending and searching for any and all waste that may exist.

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

Batavia is fortunate to have a reputation of a strong and successful city with a deep history. It is hard to imagine having an idea to make Batavia a better community with an idea no one has ever thought of yet. But that being said, I would look to our strengths and build on those. With its deep history, the Fox River and our Historic District and Downtown, Batavia can utilize these creatively. Using the beauty of the river as a natural resource and a draw in developing one or more bed and breakfast inns might make the city a destination for visitors. The bike path is already bringing visitors through our city and providing places to stay would bring variety and quantity. The river also might be groomed for rowing competitions for college, high school and adult clubs. Batavia, using its historic district and river to grow boutique hotels and a variety of restaurants will further successful growth in our historic business district.