Bob Smith: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: Robert M (Bob) Smith

City: Algonquin

Office sought: Village Trustee

Age: 58

Family: Wife Dianne, Daughters Britney and Rachael, Grandson Nate

Occupation: Midwest Regional Manger International Freight Forwarder

Civic involvement: past member of Algonquin Jaycee's current member of Algonquin Lions

Previous elected offices held: Algonquin Village Trustee 1993 to 2017

Website: bobssmithfortrustee.com

Issue questions

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

Making sure that we are able to provide for the health and safety of our community. Being able to continue to make the improvements to our streets and sidewalks keeping up on improvements to our water system. Keeping our Police Department well staffed with Police Officers and support personal to handle the needs of the community. To meet these challenges and keeping our property tax low has always been a difficult job. Bringing in business that provide a good sales tax base for the Village has been our best asset. Working on the development of our Corporate Business Park will also help to strengthen our revenue base. Making sure that the residents know that the Village Board is there to represent them. Keeping the lines of communication open. The only way our village truly works is when all parties are working together.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

Having served on the Village Board as a Trustee for 24 years I have the experience to help keep the Village moving forward. I have always worked to keep Algonquin type of community you would be proud to live in. I have always made the health and safety of our residents my top priority. Over the years I have worked with the residents listening to their issues and working to come up with solutions to help make Algonquin a better community. My ideas and input have help bring new programs and services to the Village that are being used by all of our residents. I understand the importance of having a strong business community and having the Village support them and work to help them grow. I have worked with my fellow Board Members and Village staff to see that the Village is financially sound with a balanced budget. I Have and will continue to work to keep our Taxes low and the highest levels of service to the people of Algonquin.

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.

Over the years I have learned that as a Trustee you are part of a board so you have to be able to work with Board Members to achieve any goal. You also have to be willing to fight for what you believe in. Many of the change that I have been a part of bring to the Village took time and hard work but in the end I was able to help make the changes that have made our community better. I also know that at times you will have to agree to disagree and move on. You have to be able to work with all parties involved to come up with solutions to the issues. You have to listen to the residents taking their concerns into consideration when working on an issue. You have to be willing to do what is best for the Village as a whole.

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?

Algonquin has a balanced budget and has been able to keep its portion of the property tax levy lower then 2008 levels. The Village needs to continue to grow it sales tax revenue by continuing to bring in new business and work with the current business to help them grow. The focus on development needs to be on all parts of the community the Eastside, Downtown and the Westside. I am currently serving on the Village Economic Development Commission. As a member I have been working with the other Commission Members and Village Staff to help bring in new business. We are also working on business retention of our current business. . The Village Staff has always worked to find ways to reduce its cost and add new revenue sources. I will continue to support the Village Staff on their efforts to reduce cost and help the Village keep a balanced budget while providing the service to the residents.

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

As a Trustee I worked to start the Village Recreation Department I worked to improve our Parks and that new parks have been added throughout the Village. I want to see the Village work to bring a Dog Park to our area for all residents to be able to use. This would be one more think that would help the people of our Village looking for this service.