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Crest Hill mayoral candidate Ray Soliman submitted this questionnaire, answering The Herald-News' questions about the 2017 mayoral race.
Name: Raymond R. Soliman
Political party: Independent
Age: 59
Address: 1615 Clement Street, Crest Hill, Illinois 60403
Marital status: Married to Vicky for 34 years
Significant other:
Profession: Retired Westmont Letter Carrier
Employer: Westmont Post Office
Email address: raysoliman@comcast.net
Website: raysolimanformayor.com
Children: 2 daughters: Stephanie (Guy) Walters and Emily (John) Morris
Education: St. Joseph School, Joliet 1971; Joliet Catholic High School, 1975; Lewis University, 1979.
Why are you running for mayor of Crest Hill?
I would like to continue the progress we have made since 2009 and market our City professionally and in a pro-active manner to support our current businesses and attract new businesses. I would like to continue to be fiscally responsible to our residents by continuing to pass a balanced budget while improving city services, continuing road and infrastructure projects, and hiring additional police officers to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.
What are your qualifications to serve as mayor?
My experience in municipal government, both as Alderman for 16 years and as Mayor for the past 8 years, has proven that I can effectively lead the City while improving the quality of life for all our residents. Now that I am retired, I have the opportunity to devote more time to the duties and responsibilities of the Office of Mayor. I am proud that the promises I made in 2009, I kept. Given the opportunity to serve again, I will continue to keep those promises.
What are the greatest challenges Crest Hill is facing in the coming years?
We must continue to be good stewards with taxpayer money and prioritize projects throughout the entire city in a fiscally responsible manner. With the uncertainty in state government, we must continually strive to find steady sources of revenue in order to fund all of these projects to improve city services to all residents.
If elected, what will be your top three priorities?
1. As the economy continues to improve, economic development throughout the entire city is still the most important priority. Even though we have added 262 businesses over the past 8 years, we continually strive to market our city to attract new businesses while promoting and supporting our current business community. We constantly strive to meet with developers and offer creative incentive packages to bring new development throughout the entire city. As new businesses are added to our city, this will lower the tax base for our residents and ensure growth in sales tax revenue to supplement our budget.
2. We will continue to maximize our non-home rule sales tax revenue as promised in 2012 by:
Issuing yearly property tax rebate checks to all property owners.
Completing projects on aging road and infrastructure throughout the city.
Increasing the number of police officers to exceed professional standards.
All of these actions will certainly improve the quality of life for all our residents and visitors.
3. The West Wastewater plant on Gaylord Road was built in 1968 and is in dire need of upgrades and rehabilitation. We need to implement these upgrades in a manner that is fiscally responsible while meeting all EPA standards.