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My name is William Waldack and I am a Candidate for Downers Grove Village Council. My name will appear 1st on the ballot in the April 7th election. It has been an honor to serve the people of Downers Grove on the Village Council for 4 years and I ask you to allow me to represent you for the next 4 years. Just a brief reminder on my personal biography... We have lived in Downers Grove since 1985. Judy, my wife for 34 years, and I have 2 young adult chidren, Jeff & Sara, who both went to St. Joseph’s and Downers Grove South. Professionally, I retired from AT&T in 1995 as a Budget Manager in Global Real Estate with responsibility for a $102 M budget. My training and experience is as a budget and management analyst. It is an honor to serve the people of Downers Grove on the Village Council. Being an incumbent shows experience and provides you with a record that I am proud to share. What should you look for in a candidate? Certainly a devotion to public service and both an interest and a history of participation in village issues. You’ll want someone who is willing to do the homework and come prepared for each and every meeting. You’ll want someone who is willing to ask the right questions and is not afraid to be independent. You’ll want someone who can make the decisions that you would make if you had all the information and knew the consequences. Experience and a record that you can trust is critical. I am not new to public service and my background demonstrates over 15 years of being involved in issues affecting our village. I first served as Chairman on a Downers Grove Transportation Sub-Committee. I am now in my second term as Chair of the Inter-Agency Paratransit Coordinating Council (IAPCC) – the Ride DuPage people. That organization is made up of about 50 municipalities, townships, not for profits, and DuPage County – all working to make transportation available to seniors and people with disabilities. I have been a Board Member of Senior Home Sharing for two years. We have houses in 5 communities, one in Downers Grove near McCollum Park. I am a United Way Volunteer, I am active in St Joseph’s Parish and I still teach Religious Education to 5th Graders. These are only a few of my activities and involvement in our community. Prior to joining the Council nearly 4 years ago, I had attended numerous Council, Committee, and Budget Meetings on a variety of issues for several years. I did not wait until a campaign to become involved. Over the last 3 ½ years, your village council has addressed important issues and responded with Redevelopment and Demolition ordinances. I personally took on the issue of executive session confidentiality. I was also the council member who questioned possible relationships between village contracts and campaign contributions. This became a key issue in the last mayoral campaign. Since then, the Council has passed ethics reforms requiring contractors to show political activities. I introduced the concept of a Contractor Report Card in which a contractor’s work is evaluated and files created so that Staff and Council do not rehire vendors who did sub standard work, nor do we recommend them to other communities. The most important issue facing our village is the one that affects all of us – the economy. The decisions we have made and the policies we put in place enabled Downers Grove to be better prepared when the downturn hit the economy. While it will still take great time and effort to address our decreasing revenues and budgeted expenses – this is not an issue where good intentions will get the job done. It is not just about cutting expense, it is knowing what to cut and why. It is about projecting what effects the cuts will have in the middle and long term. For example, cuts in our Public Works and tree care years ago had effects that linger with us today. Decisions like these involve familiarity with the various departments and management while meeting expectations. We also continue to hold staff accountable for providing the services our residents expect. Our village faces numerous issues, many of which are under the radar. You need to be able to trust that these issues will always be addressed with your interests in mind. You need to know that your commissioner is willing to do the homework and put in all the effort to represent you. I am such a commissioner. There are politicians who are in it for who they can become. There are politicians who are in it for what they can get…And then there are public servants who serve for what they can accomplish. I am running for Commissioner for what we can accomplish for Downers Grove. The people of Downers Grove will judge who is worthy to best represent them on the Village Council on April 7th. Today, I hope you will judge my performance the last 4 years as being worthy of your endorsement. I ask you to vote for me, William Waldack, on April 7th. It’s the first choice on the ballot…it’s the right choice.
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