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Name: Ellen Nottke
Party: Republican
What in your professional experience best qualifies you for a seat on the Kane County Board?
Through my volunteer efforts, I have worked to protect my community. From fighting against intrusive development to stopping a proposed mega garbage dump in the Western Part of our county when the Settler’s Hill landfill was scheduled to close, I have learned that it takes more than just saying no to accomplish something good. Instead I’ve learned that the best way to win an argument is to present reasonable facts to the contrary. My passion for public service runs deep. I have advocated for smart responsible government. I’m ready to bring my common sense approach to Kane County
Why are you the better candidate?
My opponent, as the former mayor of North Aurora and more recently as a county board member has served his community for nearly 30 years and should be applauded for his service. However Kane County Board District 2 does not begin and end in North Aurora. The district covers just a small portion of North Aurora, the west side of Batavia Twp., parts of Blackberry Twp., and the southern tip of Geneva Twp. I have walked the entire district and have listened to the voters. Issues that have a direct impact on them have not been addressed by the current board member. Issues like granting a gravel pit around the clock permission for operation fell on deaf ears, and his was only one of two board members to vote yes, against his constituents wished. He voted to raise the gas tax and flippantly stated during a board meeting that raisin property taxes by just 5% would be equivalent to the cost of 2 martinis a month. I’m running because I want to bring a fresh perspective to entire district not just my backyard.
What do you think are the three biggest challenges Kane County will face during the next term and what solutions would you propose.
If we don’t have money we can do one of 4 things: 1. we can print it, 2. we can steal it, 3. we can increase revenue or 4. we can cut spending. In the last 4 years, we have done nothing to cut spending. We continue to spend money like drunken sailors, then borrow from our reserve funds, essentially kicking the can down the road. Borrowing from reserves is not balancing the budget. That would be like borrowing from your child’s college fund to pay the electric bill. That money never gets returned to where you borrowed from and soon your child has nothing in his college fund. If this keeps up the county is projected to be broke in two years. The board must exercise its oversight responsibilities and not just rubber-stamp every request that comes before them. Reduction in new spending is not a cut.
b. The crisis, the Kane County Coroner has exhibited extraordinary leadership. Along with the county’s health department, they have made great strides to educate the public. As the opioid litigation continues at the national level, it is important that the board makes wise use of those settlement funds.
c. Attendance, The lack of quorum at meetings has reached excessive proportions. Unless and individual is gravely ill there should be no reason to attend a meeting remotely. The Covid crisis which necessitated this need is behind us. You are elected to do a job representing those that have elected you. You are required to attend 4-5 meetings a month. Many board members have full time jobs and have made arrangements with their employer to take a half day off and that is commendable. One of the biggest reasons for the lack of personal attendance or loss of a quorum is the fact that many of these meetings go on endlessly. Almost every meeting seems to establish a new record length.
What goals would you like to accomplish during your term?
I think a major goal for the board would be to have a balanced budget without borrowing from reserve funds. Getting the other elected officials and department heads on board would be a tremendous task to accomplish but I believe it can be done.
Do you believe you can serve your constituents in a bipartisan manner? Why or why not?
Why wouldn’t anyone be willing to serve our constituents in a bipartisan manner? We represent all people not just Republican, Democrat or Independents. If you haven’t noticed one of the biggest problems at the federal level is the partisan games that are played. This accomplishes nothing. We have to learn to work together, to make compromises to get things done.
In 2019, Kane County adopted the Greenest Region Compact, the largest sustainability collective of communities in the US. Do you believe the county board has a role in addressing this? Why or why not?
I think this is a lofty initiative and one that needs more thorough investigation. There are no definitive answers to how this can be sustained. While solar power and farmland now is filled with solar panels is great, placement of them is a recipe for disaster. Today the average life of these solar fields is roughly 20 years and there is o plan for disposing these panels when they are no longer viable creating and environmental nightmare.
Also, we would all love to have two Tesla automobiles in our garage. Unfortunately, we do not have the infrastructure to sustain that number of battery powered cars and it will be decades before we will have that infrastructure.