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EDITORIAL
The opinions expressed here are Al Barry's and mine alone. If you're not interested in my personal opinion, you don't have to read any farther.
There are only three positions available, and that means four hard-working candidates will not succeed. But our hats go off to all of htem for a sincere effort that impacted them and their families on behalf on Deer Park. Following are my opinions, on candidates in their ballot order.
The difference between "recommended" and "strongly recommended" is the difference between identifying problems and coming up with creative solutions. The most important opinion is your own and that's why we posted the candidates' materials on our Election 2007 page and their contact information so you can talk to any candidate with you questions.
You can vote for up to three candidates for trustee, including write in, though it’s not required to cast all three of your votes. There are two groups running together, but you do not have to vote for all three in a group unless you want to.
Maureen Pratscher, challenger, with regret NOT RECOMMENDED
I like Maureen personally very much. She’s smart and well spoken and was always friendly and professional to me and Deb both when she was clerk and since then. I had a great talk with Maureen on the first day of submitting petitions. She told us that the clerk position had taken a lot of time for the salary paid, and the reason she resigned is that she got a better job in her own field. But I worry that as a former employee hired by President Gifford, can she be independent of her former boss while she serves as trustee? Also, if Maureen had run on her own and not on a slate, I’d have more confidence in her independence.
At both forums, Maureen often mentioned that she was running with Kizior and Bridge because they all had “like minds.” I would like independent thinkers to bring new ideas and different solutions into play. I remember her saying at the Chamber forum that she was glad the village bought the Vehe property instead of its going to a developer, because once land’s gone, it’s gone forever. At the League forum, she talked about improved communication with residents and fiscal management. These are all good points, but I didn’t hear any specific plans.
Maureen has graciously answered our emails. We have not received written forum statements from her because she told us she spoke off the cuff. Maureen is welcome to get a written statement to us for posting before the election. I hope she will stay very active with Deer Park. In fact, I have a few projects for her if she’d ever like to become actively involved with Deer Park Neighbors.
Dave Kizior, incumbent, NOT RECOMMENDED
Dave has served on the board of trustees for nine years. My understanding is that he was formerly roads commissioner and now parks commissioner. But I cannot recommend Dave because:
1. He didn’t negotiate hard for the Village on the sale of our property to Red Seal. My opinion is this: Mrs. Dahm got $600,000+ per acre from Red Seal. Red Seal needed an additional 2.3 acres to be approved for the 72 homes they wanted to build. If Mrs. Dahm was on our board, we would have made out better than the poor $160,000 per acre we got.
2. Dave and his slate are talking a lot about decorum and respect, but I often see Dave having side conversations or laughing especially when residents or our women trustees are speaking. (Watch the meeting videos DVD.)
3. In Dave’s campaign, he is talking about the survey to ask residents about our wants and needs for the parks. As a matter of fact, Sara Guarisco, Parks Captain for DPN, came up with that idea. I wish he had given Sara a little credit for the survey. If this was Dave’s original idea, he should have implemented this years ago instead of automatically planning for more ball fields at Town Center Park.
I hope Dave’s experience and knowledge can be put to use in Deer Park, but I think it’s time for him to be replaced on the board.
Dave never answered any of our emails. He hasn’t sent in a statement for posting as of yet. If it comes in before the election, we’ll post it right away.
Teri Bridge, challenger, NOT RECOMMENDED
Teri is now the “former president” of the Vehe Farm Foundation. She has been the moving force behind the acquisition of the Vehe property, which I believe backs onto her own home. I think there is no reason to expect anything but her continued pushing for more money for Vehe. I never received even one fund-raising letter from the foundation. Did you?
At the Chamber forum I heard Teri say that taking village cash and converting it to real property was a good thing. She also said the Vehe property was going up in value. How do we realize that gain? I think it’s a frozen asset. I also heard Teri say that the cost of operating the Barn would be only $15,000/year. I checked my own budget, and my little ranch costs about $10,000/year for maintenance, repair, utilities and insurance, and I’m not operating a commercial building with those liabilities, commercial equipment and wear and tear.
Teri is bright and communicates well. She is obviously passionate about the village’s history. I am passionate about the village’s future. Where is the money to maintain and operate this “municipal campus.” In my opinion, the whole project is poorly planned and executed, but you can see it all for yourself on Sat., April 14, 12-5.
In our initial attempt to get a forum together, Teri flatly refused, saying the League forum was enough. However, she showed up for the Chamber forum. Teri has not answered our request for copies of her forum statements. If we get any statements, we’ll post them.
Richard Chay, challenger, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Richard has no running mates and didn’t accept any campaign contributions. I like that kind of independence.
The person who has put the most time into attending village meetings is Richard Chay. With a generously loaned camera, Richard filmed almost every minute of all board meetings. He duplicated the video onto DVDs for distribution to the library and to anyone requesting them—such as businesses, the press and some of our own trustees.
Richard’s top difference is that he’s retired from an extremely successful career in marketing helping large corporations to succeed. He’s the only candidate that is going to dedicate full time to the job of trustee. Anyone who promises to work at this job full time deserves to be elected, because I don’t think our board is always well prepared for meetings. Richard will hold regular office hours for residents. One thing that particularly impressed me was Richard going on a ride along with the Kildeer police, to learn about the police first hand.
Richard has extensive experience solving problems for huge corporations like Proctor and Gamble and Walt Disney World. I think he can handle Deer Park. At the League forum, he talked about negotiating hard on consultants’ contracts and that he would like to see an Economic Development Committee made up of residents with expertise in commerce, advertising, marketing, commercial real estate, etc. to go out and bring the best of the best to this village for the remaining spaces to be developed. He also wants to hold Town Hall meetings regularly.
Richard’s Chamber forum statements (opening and closing) are posted on our site.
David Pautler, challenger, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Dave is a Ph.D. chemist and I really admire and respect his knowledge. Dr. Pautler brings not only an independent and logical mind to the board but his problem solving skills are honed professionally.
At the Chamber forum, he made a strong point, that Vehe property was purchased with grants and village funds, but it should to be operated out of their own income, not the village’s operating funds.
Dave is also very concerned about this village’s emergency preparedness. His request to be named Emergency Management Coordinator was unanswered by Deer Park, so he sought information and training elsewhere. He also talked about seniors and disabled in our community, and how the village should them.
Dave is also extremely knowledgeable about environmental issues and impact. He has been researching the use of biologicals for pond maintenance instead of polluting chemicals. His scientific expertise in general would be very helpful on this board, to evaluate the information we get from consultants. I think the combination of his scientific brain and his respect for the residents would be an asset all around.
Dave’ statement is posted on our site.
Bob Kellermann, challenger and former trustee, RECOMMENDED
Bob is a scrapper for residents’ rights and fiscal responsibility. He is a former trustee and treasurer. The fact that he’s ready to serve again a quarter of a century later is impressive.
Bob is an accountant and he used his forensic skills to explore two important matters. First was the purchase and resale of open space from the Dahm property and the need to follow specific legal steps before selling a village asset. He also applied the same forensic approach to the actual costs of the Vehe project overall to date.
Bob said at the Chamber forum that it will take a long time to get out of the financial state the village drove itself into. He also said that he prepared a balanced budget that was presented to the Daily Herald at the time of his candidate interview. I have not seen that budget, though I would like to post it here for everyone to see. If Bob sends it, we’ll post it here.
Bob did not as of yet respond to our request for his forum statement. We would post any materials Bob sends right away.
Pat Ekstrom, incumbent, RECOMMENDED
I like Pat tremendously. She’s a single mother and in a full-time management position at Motorola and for her to take the time needed to serve as trustee is amazing.
I am not against incumbents. In fact, I think that the experience and relationships from time in office is valuable. Pat has been many, many times only one or one of two votes against the status quo. On the matter of selling property to Red Seal, she was outspoken for the village to make a profit on that land! What a concept.
Pat brings both experience and common sense to the board table and has survived what is plainly rude behavior toward her personally. I wish our President were as tough on trustees for being civil as he is on residents.
Pat is currently responsible for roads and drainage. She has battled endlessly for money to solve drainage issues throughout the village. She has had only one vote on the board.
I just reviewed tapes of the budget meetings from last year and Pat put the budget up on a screen so that everyone could see the numbers in real time as the trustees discussed line items. Her method worked so well that this year, the whole board agreed to use her system again.
Remember, if you support Pat, you will have to write in her name AND fill in the oval next to it. Pat told us she didn’t have written forum remarks to send us; if she writes a statement, we’re happy to post it.
I hope you will read Deborah’s take on the issues. Remember, if you have questions, you can read ALL the minutes of the last 6 years on the village web site or come to see us, we have it all printed out, and we have all the DVDs.