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
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.