Luis Perez For Oswego Village Trustee: Patch Candidate Profile

Name: Luis Perez

Age: 51

Position Sought: Oswego Village Trustee

Family: Married to wife Kathy for 24 years; 2 daughter Annika 17 a junior at OHS. Angela 13 8th grader at Plank Jr. High.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? NO

Education: University of St. Francis BA Journalism

Occupation:

National New Business Manager for Ace Hardware Corp. 25 years of industry experience in business development and retail finance.

Why are you running?

3 reasons, love, volunteerism and productivity. I care deeply for Oswego so I believe it is important to volunteer to causes that you love if you have the time to give. "Offer of yourself especially if you can be productive" which leads to my final point…

My role as your incumbent Village Trustee has been PRODUCTIVE but I’m not done yet! As your Village Trustee, I have been involved in many "WINS" for Oswego which I will detail below. I hope that after your review, you feel that this makes me the best fit for the position on your behalf

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: Proud to be your servant as Village Trustee since October 2015.

Campaign Website: https://www.facebook.com/LuisF...

What do you hope to accomplish in office?

I'm so proud of what has already been accomplished but there is more to do. As your Village Trustee I will lead on the following:

Provide Oswego the leadership to lead over and manage our revenues and expenses.

• Maintain our balanced budget
• Protect local government distributive fund
• Automatically distribute local revenues (motor fuel tax, video gaming) back to Oswego
• Lead, identify and properly budget for long term expenses (CIP) (Wolf’s Crossing / Water)

Provide Oswego the leadership to continue and manage our growth (proper growth while remaining fiscally sound).

• Making sure Oswego wins big on behalf of its downtown development!
• Address vacant destination retail vacancies (anti dark legislation).

Support Metra service to Kendall County

How would you hold local government employees accountable?

Village employees are held accountable to serving the citizens of Oswego and the best interests of Oswego daily. At our core, it is in our mission and vision statements. At the highest levels, our leadership team leads by example each and every day. There is no exception to this golden rule.

Explain your attitudes toward fiscal policy, government spending and how taxpayer dollars should be handled by your office (or board)?

Our annual budgets are balanced and should remain balanced. Revenues should meet and or exceed expenses. This is something I constantly monitor with the village team throughout the year. If we find ourselves at risk, we must reduce expenses to protect the residents and the village of Oswego.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

As stated above, it has been my pleasure serving and volunteering as your Village Trustee. Just as importantly, I'm proud of the following accomplishments and "WINS":

• A balanced 2017 budget
• Property tax rate freeze
• Senior care and support
• The proper long term budgeting for our new police station
• The future growth & development of downtown (you will be amazed)!
• Oswego’s first capital improvement plan (long term planning).
• Federal funding for the Oswego Metra study.
• Full disclosure of our expenses to the public online.
• Negotiated an improved service contract for garbage and recycling while reducing your monthly fees!
• Brought in MetroNet to compete with Comcast & ATT.
• Victorious against other cities and negotiated the entry of Long Horn Steakhouse into Oswego.
• Properly budgeted for IT infrastructure improvements for the police department and village hall.
• The sharing of public services with Yorkville to reduce our costs.
• Proactively setting short, medium and long range goals for the expansion and development of Wolf’s Crossing.

What else would you like voters to know about you and your positions?

I am proud to be your incumbent Village Trustee. When you look at all of the accomplishments, the stability and our growth in just 1 1/2 years of service; I hope that you would continue to honor me with your vote and support.

Go Oswego and Thanks!

Photo provided by Luis Perez