Below, I’ve summed up my stances on the issues affecting our community at the County level. Click on each for a more in-depth description.

No New Taxes or Fees

Responsible Spending

Supporting our Growth

Public Safety a Priority

Effective Public Transportation

Preparing for the Future

Open Government

True Public Service


Source: http://z3.thevoterguide.org/a-wbbm08/race-detail.do;jsessionid=60EC8ACB17E9CE3CB009E901CF84FDC5?id=10056636

What are the most important issues affecting your county, and how will you address them?

Tony Michelassi: Early this year, our county faced a $40 million deficit. Our Chairman lobbied Springfield to raise sales taxes to pay down that deficit. Now he has put forth a budget that increases spending by 12%, or $51 million. This isn’t the kind of answer we need as we face a global financial crisis. We should be putting money into a reserve fund to prepare for any future shortfalls we may face. This is what I will push for. I oppose any attempts to raise taxes and fees.

Our County Board has routinely voted to raise their own pay - they now rake in over $50,000 every year for a part-time job. This is over twice as much as in any other collar county. I will propose slashing our salaries by 40% to return a sense of public service to the Board, even as I devote myself full-time to the job.

As we suffer headaches over officials kicking back contracts and jobs to their campaign contributors, I will push for ethics reform. I will support ordinances that prohibit county-level candidates from taking contributions from companies on the county payroll. I will also push to open up the county’s contract-bidding process; this will make it fair and provide the best bottom line to residents.

County government should be transparent. I will hold monthly town hall meetings and distribute a newsletter by mail or email to interested residents. I will push to move County Board meetings to evenings, so they can be more accessible. I will advocate term limits for our elected officials to allow new, fresh ideas into County government.

The biggest challenge we face is making our transportation network more efficient and accessible. I am an advocate for creating a public bus plan that gets commuters into Chicago quickly and cheaply. I believe we should be working now to mitigate the sale of the EJ&E Railroad so that when that sale does become final it will not adversely affect our residents for long. I support the Metra STAR line project and the proposed extension of the CTA Blue Line into DuPage.

 
tony_michelassi.txt · Last modified: 2010/06/16 13:42 by 127.0.0.1
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