CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE ANSWERS

All City Council Candidates were given the opportunity to complete this candidate questionnaire.

CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
 
Candidate Name: Gary Crosby
Position Sought:   City of Highland, City Council

1. Please tell us about:
   1. Your Family:
   2. How long you’ve lived in Highland:       Highland Rural area since 1974, Inside city limits since ~1996 
   3. Your education:            IDFPR Home Inspection Training Program, FEMA –National Incident Management System (NIMS) 100,200,300,400,700,800.  PWW Ambulance Billing Coding and Compliance Courses, Emergency Medical Technician – Paramedic, Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate, Emergency Medical Technician – Basic. 

Some College: Accounting, Computer Programming, Business Management. I never finished college as I became disillusioned with the direction of the course work, thus my constantly changing majors. However, I have found that my diverse course of studies served me well as I had a much better working knowledge of finance, business management and the technology associated with modern business environment.

1. Your employment:      
   1. 2015 - Current:   Self employed with a variety of business ventures.  Illinois licensed home inspector, Owner of Jag-Aire, LLC (a manufacturer of replacement climate control parts for classic Jaguar Cars), Custom Solutions (all variety of repairs, modifications, and custom machining of parts).  
   2. 1999-2015:            Operations Manager of Highland Emergency Medical Services, Paramedic.  
   3. 1996-1999             EMT Paramedic / EMT Basic with the City of Highland
   4. 1988-1996:           Graphic Arts – Digital Pre-press operator Home construction

 

1. Why are you seeking this office?   I have 3 choices, lead, follow, or get out of the way… I have chose to offer my service to lead.  I believe that the city often overlooks the average hard working family in their policy making.   I want to make Highland a better community by improving fiscal responsibility offering a clear understandable budget, streamline policies, develop a series of community outreach / development programs.  I believe with my 19 years of employment with the City of Highland EMS and nearly 16 in a management role, I have had the opportunity to interact with citizens in a way others have not.  I was able to assist people in their time of need but also come to an understanding, however briefly, their struggles and stresses
2. What education, skills and experience have prepared you to deal with the complex financial, technical and legal issues that regularly come before the City Council?  As EMS Operations Manager with the City of Highland, I worked directly with City Staff to develop proposals for tax levies and develop department budget. I negotiated contracts with local fire districts for contract ambulance services, established city bid documents for services and equipment replacement, and oversaw the City’s ambulance billing compliance and operations.  
3. What, if anything, should the city of Highland do to retain, expand and attract ‘head of household’ jobs?  I think the city over emphasizes the benefits of fiber to the home as a business development tool.  We need a strong and diverse business mix, and not concentrate on only “clean” tech type businesses.  We need to create a city that people want to come to and live in. Develop sporting and entertainment  opportunities. Create business cells…areas or blocks of businesses that are linked by a common activity.  Ie. Historic, education, shopping, eating, crafting. I think Highland faces issues outside of its control which affect peoples’ decision to move to Highland.  Commute time is one. We need to research what Highland can do to decrease the amount of time residents spend commuting.  Highland is perceived as an expensive place to live…especially in regard to taxes. By increasing efficiencies and addressing cost of living in Highland, I think we can attract businesses to Highland.   
4. Please identify and prioritize the three most important ‘large capital’ projects in the city of Highland. Please justify your prioritization. How do you propose to pay for these projects?  I don’t currently have enough information to guess at future capital improvements.  I think it is necessary to have good communication with the department directors to anticipate large capital projects. .  We need to be frugal and improve cash reserves, to reduce the need of revenue bonds.
5. What are your thoughts on city finances?  The city has borrowed too much and spent down too much of the departmental reserves.
   1. Are there opportunities to cut expenses?  Yes
      1. Specifically, where are those opportunities? Cut consulting fees.  Increase the ability of city staff to expand their scope of work to reduce 3rd party contracts.
   2. Is there a need for new or additional revenue?  There should only be a discussion of new revenues after the city has reviewed its own operations to determine were excess costs can be cut (if possible)
      1. Specifically, where would it come from?  I am unable to predict where revenues could come from until an understanding of the scope of the needs.  The scope of any projects may open or close different avenues such as grants etc.    
   3. Are there areas where spending needs to be increased?  Yes
      1. Specifically, where does spending need to increase? Personnel.
      2. Specifically, where would the money come from?  There are a number of city projects that could benefit by increasing city staff to perform the work in-house instead of contracting with  3rdparty construction firm.  Since most all 3rdparty companies quote projects with a profit included in their cost, I think the city could save money by hiring staff to perform many of these tasks.  Ie. Sidewalk replacement.
6. What do you believe is the role of a city council member in the City Manager form of government?  It is the role of the city council to establish priorities and policy for the city, it is the city managers responsibility to administer those policies.  
7. If you’re the incumbent, what have been your significant accomplishments during your term? If you’re the challenger, what do you believe have been the significant disappointments of the incumbents, and how would your term in office be different?  Poor foresight regarding cause and effect of long term policy decisions. Failure to vote no, or inaction resulting in kicking difficult decisions down the road.   
8.  If elected, what would be your top three priorities?  Knowing our “Why”, financial responsibility, local development.  Knowing our Why:  so why does the city exist…establish a clear sense of WHY we are a city and what we do….we exist to serve the residents of the City, not control or manipulate. This effects all future decisions…getting everyone to buy into this outlook will take time.  
9. At the end of your term in office, how will you know if you’ve been successful?  It is not for me to determine if I have been successful, but it is the opinion of the residents of the City of Highland to determine if I have served their collective interests and made Highland a better place to live. My goal is to make decisions that are easy to understand and are financially responsible.
10. Are there any changes you would like to see regarding…
    1. How city council functions? For the council to function effectively, they need to have an understanding of how the individual departments are performing, and what challenges they are facing on a more timely basis.  To that goal, I would like to see the department directors give a brief summary of past weeks performance, planned objectives for the next operational period, and operational challenges needing attention. This gives the council the information necessary to keep up with city operational performance and make appropriate changes to policy / budget / staffing etc on a timely basis.
    2. How commissions function? I don’t have the necessary understanding of the various commissions and their roles to venture any suggestion on changes, if necessary, at this time.  
    3. How departments function? During my ~16 year tenure as EMS Operations Manager, I had the pleasure to interact with most of the city departments.  I believe that City departments are staffed with dedicated individuals that are eager to perform at their best.  I would not assume to know what changes need to be made in each department.  I believe that it is the responsibility of the council to work with the department staff to remove obstructions to performing at their peak.  I think department staff are the ideal groups to recommend efficiencies and opportunities for improvement.

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CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
 
Candidate Name: Sarah Sloan
Position Sought:   City of Highland, City Council

1. Please provide us with some basic information. We already know your names and address. Please tell us about:
   1. ​Your Family, How long you've lived in Highland, Your Education, You Employment: I have been a resident of Highland since 2008. My husband and I moved here from Chicago. I have my degree in Elementary Education and currently employed at McGinley in Highland as their F&I Manager. 

2. Why are you seeking this office?  I believe that our community should know our City Leaders. I love our community and I love to be out in our community. There are so many wonderful organization and groups that are active. There is constantly someone or something happening to help better this wonderful town that we call home. My belief is that our residents should know who our councilman are. The members of the council should be out visiting with local businesses, organizations and events. Building relationships and listening to each other. My goal is to be that person. Be the leader and help guide our residents. To continue making residents and businesses proud of Highland. 

3. What education, skills and experience have prepared you to deal with the complex financial, technical and legal issues that regularly come before the City Council? There are several areas that I have been blessed to be part of to help allow me to understand the complex financial issues, technical and legal issues that come before the council. The Highland Jaycees have been part of my life for over 5 years. I have had the opportunity to be part of some amazing projects. I chaired our groups largest fundraiser, Schweizerfest. When preparing for this event, it was my job to set a budget, delegate jobs accordingly, and follow up with everyone involved. This project was important to learn to budget accordingly so that we have a profit that will benefit our community. This is just an example of the many projects that I have been involved with. I also have been in the school district for the past 9 years. Teaching children of all levels. Learning and understanding the school’s budget. 


4. What, if anything, should the city of Highland do to retain, expand and attract ‘head of household’ jobs? Let’s make Highland the “destination city” that people want to settle. For one, invite them to visit our community. If they come visit, then hopefully they fall in love and want to live. When they live in our town, people 
eventually will look for work in our community. Second, are we actively seeking for those looking to build or expand their business? What can the city do to help them get their business started and be successful? Do we have attractions that will bring families to our community? (Dog Park, Swimming Pool, etc.) Are those attractions enough? Do they need improvements?  

5. Please identify and prioritize the three most important ‘large capital’ projects in the city of Highland. Please justify your prioritization. How do you propose to pay for these projects? From my understanding there are several projects that are happening in our community. The Police Station, new Round-About, and replacing/fixing the water mains. Are all of these important and a priority for our community? Absolutely. How do we pay for these improvements? We look for Capital Improvement Grants. If the improvements are way out of our budget and we can’t afford them.. then we don’t build them. 

6. What are your thoughts on city finances?
a.) Are there opportunities to cut expenses? For one we can spread the major projects out. Let’s not try and accomplish all the major projects at one time. Also, we can try and connect more community resources instead making new ones. Use the resources that are readily available to us. 
b.) Is there need for new or additional income? NO 
c.) Are there areas where spending needs to be increased? When looking around our community, I can think of one area that I would increase our spending. That would be our Street/ Alley Department. There are several alleys and streets that are in dire need of repair and service. 

7. What do you believe is the role of a city council member in the City Manager form of government? I believe there will be several roles as Councilwoman. 1. To oversee the finances and guide the correct direction as to how that money is being spent. 2. Listen to the people of our community and bring their ideas &/or complaints forward. 3. Be the voice for the majority of the people. 

8. If you’re the incumbent, what have been your significant accomplishments during your term? If you’re the challenger, what do you believe have been the significant disappointments of the incumbents, and how would your term in office be different? Our current council members have done a wonderful job. The only thing that I would have done different or consider a disappointment was the ½ percent increase in sales tax for the business district. I would have liked to ultimately have seen this been pushed as community vote. 

9. If elected as Councilwoman, my three priorities, in no particular order would be: 
1. Weinheimer Center- As the social center for Seniors, the gym for many sports, dances for students, community center, and storm shelter for our residents. There needs to be significant changes and improvements made. 
2. Be active, be involved. Our members of the community should know our City Council Leaders. Our City Council leaders should know what our community members are doing. Visit events and learn their interests. 
3. Our community is thriving and it is exciting to see the direction that we are moving. We need to keep the good word of our town going and keep inviting people to our community. 

10. At the end of your term in office, how will you know if you’ve been successful? At the end of my term I hope that I have made a positive impact in my community. That I have spoke up when needed, influenced those that reached out and hopefully made a change for the betterment of our community. 

11. Are there any changes you would like to see regarding…

1. How city council functions?
2. How commissions function? There are many Commissions in our community. Are we able to combine any of these to allow more participation in our community? For example, Silver Lake & Tree Commission? If there were less groups, there may be more chances of our community participating. Are the Commission groups that we have, current on their meeting minutes and agendas?
3. How departments function? As far as our departments, I believe that it would be beneficial for everyone to have a “Rate Our Service” area. A constant feedback for each department instead of waiting once a year. It would be nice to know if there needs to be an area for improvement or give someone a pat on the back.

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