Karen V. Mills, 2021 candidate for Hoffman Estates village board

Six candidates for three available seats

Bio

City: Hoffman Estates

Age: 70

Occupation: Community association manager at Barrington Square Improvement Association

Civic involvement: Trustee for 29 years, active member of St. Hubert's Catholic Church, member of Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce

Q&A

Q: How do you view your role in confronting the pandemic: provide leadership even if unpopular, give a voice to constituents - even ones with whom you disagree, or defer to state and federal authorities?

A: The way I have viewed my role in this pandemic has been to first of all be prudent and obey the safety protocols that have been given to us by those professional authorities - wear a mask, social distancing, wash hands, etc., both in my personal life and professional life. As a trustee I have also sought help from our Village Health and Code Enforcement personnel to put together guidelines and directions for our businesses in town to get through these tough times. By setting this type of example, we are showing leadership.

Q: Did your town continue to adequately serve its constituents during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.

A: The village of Hoffman Estates definitely worked hard to keep our town going forward as seamlessly as possible. At all times during these hard days, we continued to provide the same services that residents have come to expect. We had no layoffs and no shutdown of services. We adjusted positions and had several employees working remotely and found that we could still conduct business as normally as possible with zoom meetings and other forms of social meetings. Our Emergency Management team met several times a week in the beginning and still meets weekly, to evaluate where we stood with personnel absences, upcoming issues, possible problems, etc. so that they could be better prepared to face the crisis.

Q: In light of our experiences with COVID-19, what safeguards/guidelines should you put in place to address any future public health crises?

A: Hoffman Estates can take pride in the fact that while this was a crisis that no one would have ever imagined going into 2020, due to the vast amount of emergency training and planning that we have done over the years, we could react quickly. We were able to put together our Disaster Management team and faced the issues immediately. That is an area that we should continue to strengthen and update for all employees and elected officials. We need to know how to react in an emergency which I felt we did professionally.

Q: What cuts can local government make to reduce the burden of the pandemic on taxpayers?

A: It is hard to cut budgets that are already bare bones such as ours has been over the past few years as we refuse to cut essential services. Police and Fire must continue to do their jobs, we must continue to repair deteriorating streets, snow must be plowed, especially this winter. Given that we did not want to put our residents at risk, we did cancel all events last year and that saved some money. As we go forward, we should look at all spending associated with events and nonessential travel. One major cost savings measure we have implemented in the 2021 budget has to do with the purchase of major pieces of equipment such as a fire department vehicle. Instead of buying these pieces outright from funds in our capital accounts and bringing that down, we have worked with local banks to come up with a leasing purchase plan at little to no interest costs to us. This allows us to have the equipment we need now and, just like a resident, pay for it over the next few years.

Q: What do you see as the most important infrastructure project you must address? Why and how should it be paid for? Conversely, during these uncertain economic times, what infrastructure project can be put on the back burner?

A: We have been addressing most of our infrastructure projects over the past years and hopefully will be able to continue doing so. To me, the most important project is to continue the revitalization of our streets. We have been aggressively addressing streets resurfacing and replacement over the past years and that needs to continue. Unfortunately this village is aging, while in a good way, but if we ignore the infrastructure, just like our homes as they age, we will end up with bigger and more costly problems in the future. As to funding, we should continue to make use of grant money when possible from the state, county and federal funds. However, we can never totally relay on these outside sources of funding as they can be cut and disappear at any time. So we also have to continue the use of current taxes such as food and beverage.

Q: Do you plan to address businesses that don't adhere to the governor's order to close or restrict business?

A: We have encouraged and advised our local businesses of what the state has decreed. When we receive a complaint we immediately contact the appropriate village department, be that police, code enforcement, health department, for further investigation. If we receive more than three complaints concerning the same business, it can be turned over to the State's Attorney's Office for further investigation.

Q: Do you agree or disagree with the stance your board/council has taken on permitting recreational marijuana sales in the community? What would you change about that stance, if you could?

A: We reviewed the various aspects of the recreational marijuana sales prior to approving a policy. I feel that we did provide a good framework for our town based on our research. As of yet we have not been faced with the task of approving a location within our town but if and when we do review an application, we may find that some additional conditions may need to be considered.

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

A: Recently we interviewed a college student who applied to become a member of one of our commissions. It was refreshing to hear his ideas and brought to my mind how we could benefit with some students on certain commissions. A good example would be on our Youth Commission to bring in that insight as to what teens are seriously looking for from the village. Also, they could possibly work with our high schools to put together lists of teens willing to volunteer help to other residents with simple chores such as shoveling snow, bringing toters to the curb for garbage day, helping with yard work, when weather is a problem, etc. This could help these teens earn service points for various school and/or scouting projects. We are always getting calls, especially from seniors during the winter months, looking for help.