Wheeling Township Highway Commissioner Candidate: Scott Saewert

Patch wants to help you get to know your candidates for Wheeling Township trustee. 

Scott Saewert

Age: 59

Family: Married, two daughters

Education: Undergraduate Work, Colorado School of Mines B.S. Business, University of Colorado

Occupation: Manager, Audi of America

Previous elected or appointed offices: Wheeling Township Committeeman

Position sought: Highway Commissioner

Political party: Republican

Campaign E-mail address: scottsaewert@comcast.net

Campaign committee: ROWT

Campaign Website: http://www.rowtgop.org/

What is the primary reason you are running for this office? I am seeking re-election as Highway Commissioner to continue providing efficient Highway Department management and direct accountable representation to the residents of Wheeling Township.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected? Perform the duties and responsibilities of Highway Commissioner with the philosophy of “Neighbors helping neighbors.”  The Highway Commissioner has the state mandated responsibility to maintain the unincorporated roads in Wheeling Township.  These roads are in areas where there have historically been problems with road drainage and storm water flooding to an extent that it has been cost-prohibitive for neighboring villages to incorporate them and correct their drainage issues.  The unincorporated subdivisions where these roads are located are also of a size where Illinois State law prohibits them from being involuntarily annexed and for whatever reasons, the residents do not choose to be annexed at this time.  My overall goal is to restore the unincorporated road drainage systems and to resurface the roads under my jurisdiction, in addition to doing the usual annual road maintenance, such as road patching, snow plowing and traffic sign maintenance.  Devoting resources to correcting these problems will not only improve the lives of the residents living in them, but will also improve the storm water drainage from the surrounding villages that flow through these areas, which are the Villages of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect and Wheeling.  Furthermore, I strongly believe these improvements will make these areas more attractive for the neighboring villages and may entice them to work with the unincorporated residents to annex these subdivisions.

What are the top three issues facing Wheeling Township residents? The same issues facing all residents in Cook County, throughout Illinois and the entire United States for that matter:  High unemployment, high taxes and government overspending. Reducing unemployment in this ongoing sluggish economy can only be accomplished by balancing government interference versus free enterprise to allow capitalism to flourish, and reducing government spending and taxes to a minimum to fund necessary government functions while allowing the taxpayers to keep as much of their earning as possible to make their own wiser spending decisions. Wheeling Township government should provide non-duplication of essential services to our residents like performed by the Highway Department.

What sets you apart from the other candidate? My opponent’s reckless entire platform is to eliminate the position of Highway Commissioner and turn its duties over to the Township Supervisor and Board.  According to Illinois State Law, townships with over four miles of unincorporated roads will have an elected Highway Commissioner who can levy taxes to maintain those roads.  Wheeling Township has 5.5 miles of unincorporated roads under its jurisdiction, so this law applies.  Under current law, if the position of Highway Commissioner is eliminated, no taxes can be levied to maintain the roads, since they can only be levied by the Highway Commissioner.  Also, since the Road District tax levy is shared with the cities and villages within the Township, this would deprive those cities and villages of precious funds used for their own road maintenance and safety concerns. So if the position were eliminated, how exactly would a board that meets for a few hours once a month with no tax levy perform all the daily duties necessary to maintain the unincorporated roads for public safety?  How would the Township board with no funds and no civil engineering experience initiate drainage and road improvement projects that require detailed designs, competitive bidding and daily management when being done?  How would the board that meets once a month review and approve grading permits for new constructions within the unincorporated areas? How would they manage emergency road patching, traffic sign replacements or snow removal? I can only guess that my opponent’s plan is to not do any projects or provide any services.  Nothing would be done to improve the road drainage or road surfaces in the unincorporated areas.  He would provide no permit protections to insure new constructions do not cause flooding issues onto neighboring properties and do no emergency services whatsoever.  Instead, I guess his goal is to deny these services to intimidate our unincorporated residents into seeking annexation to a neighboring village.  In the meantime, he will be jeopardizing public road safety. I believe in treating the taxpayers with respect by actually performing the daily mandated functions of this elected position.  I have and will continue to actively improving the roads and drainage in the unincorporated areas of Wheeling Township, and provide direct accountable daily representation to our residents.  We all want to reduce taxes and spending, which we work at doing every day in the Highway Department, but not at the expense of public safety for our residents, their children, and all motorists driving on Township roads.  

Anything else you would like to add? I have faithfully and efficiently served the taxpayers of Wheeling Township as Highway Commissioner for over ten years.  During that time, we have completed 29 major road projects, including 15 road drainage ditch restoration projects and 14 road resurfacing projects, and have thereby improved the lives of our unincorporated residents and all motorists using these roads. This has also helped improve storm water drainage for the surrounding communities.