Helmut Gerlach: Lake Zurich Village Board Candidate

Please provide a brief biography.

My wife Patricia, my 15-year old son Karl, who is a Freshman at Lake Zurich High School, and I have been living in Lake Zurich since 2003.  I am a transactional attorney with a concentration in commercial real estate, finance, commercial and transactional law with over 30 years of business and legal experience on a global level as well as having several clients in the greater Lake Zurich area.  I am involved in the community through the high school’s “6^th Man Club,” as well as being an active participant in various charitable organizations including my church and as a volunteer “General Counsel” for Habitat for Humanity. 

How long have you lived in Lake Zurich?

Since August 2003.

Why do you want to serve (or continue to serve) the village as a trustee? 

An important issue in Lake Zurich that needs to be addressed is reviving the efforts to make Lake Zurich an attractive place for new businesses complementing existing businesses thus allowing for our property and sales tax base to grow and helping to control property tax increases.  Equally important is to serve with a mayor and trustees who have the qualifications and who, when they speak, do speak their own mind rather than being a puppet as is the case with certain current trustees and candidates.

What are your top priorities for the Village of Lake Zurich?

Competent financial management; sound growth and development in downtown (TIF district) and the community at large; collaborative leadership putting village first without personal agendas as well as speaking with one voice after a decision has been reached; and making LZ and business and community friendly place.

What needs to be done to create a solid financial base for the village?

 Elect the United LZ slate to have a cohesive group that understands how to run a business (after all, a village is a business as well).  Make Lake Zurich a place where businesses can come and rely on what they walk away with from trustees’ meetings without being completely blindsided by certain trustees the next time they appear before the board (or in other words, as a business person I must be able to trust what a trustee says because taking actions pursuant to a trustee’s recommendation costs money in the real world).

What is your vision for downtown development?

I believe it is important to approach developers who can demonstrate that they have ties to the greater area and the financial strength to break ground once their plans have been approved.  While it is not possible to make this happen in a 3 or 6-month period, with the appropriate aggressive marketing strategy, ground could be broken in 2014.  I would push for a multiple phase approach possibly with different developers satisfying the foregoing.  Moreover, the whole process from application to completion needs to be streamlined. which requires that developers need to demonstrate that they can walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Unfortunately, what is ignored is that for a remake of the downtown area to be viable, one needs to look to development in other parts of the community as well.  It is, therefore, necessary allowing other revenue sources to enter the picture.  Lake Zurich has the advantage over neighboring towns, such as Wauconda, that we have a great industrial area which has room for more development, the Rand Road corridor commercial sector which has plenty of opportunities to attract further business and a downtown ready for vitalization once we have a village board that is willing to work together moving Lake Zurich forward as a community.

How much time do you have available to devote to this role?

 However much time is needed.

What traits do you have that make you a good leader for the village?

 My family and I chose Lake Zurich over other communities when relocating to this area 10 years ago.  It is important to not just want for Lake Zurich to be any place but to see it as my home.  My training as an attorney allows me to not just see one side of a transaction but to anticipate what issues the other side will find.   Further, I have particular experience in working with the private and the public sector.  Last, but not least, for anybody either currently serving or wanting to serve as a trustee, integrity, reliability, character, the ability to maintain confidentiality and no prior or current behavior unbecoming to an elected official is paramount.