2025 Election Questionnaire: Frank Binetti, Campton Hills Village Trustee

Name:

Frank Binetti

What office are you seeking?

Campton Hills Village Trustee 2 year term

What is your political party?

Republican

What is your current age?

63

Occupation and employer:

Semi-Retired

What offices, if any, have you previously held?

Carol Stream Park Commissioner. 4-year Term, Served 2 years as President.

City:

Campton Hills

Campaign Website:

I currently don’t have a website. Facebook- Frank Binetti CH Trustee

Education:

Bachelors of Science - Marketing - NIU University

Community Involvement:

Home DuPage - Board of Directors - VP and Chair of Finance Committee.

Columbian Club of Chicago - Position Secretary 2025

Feed my Starving Children - Participate in annual Food Drive

Marital status/Immediate family:

Married to Cherry Binetti

4 Children - All grown Christopher, Alex, Kaitlin and Nicholas

Questions:

In past years, Campton Hills has been a center of drama – the lawsuit against Brian Larsen, the dismissal of its previous administrator and executive assistant, zoning issues and most recently, the public censure of Trustee Janet Burson. What would you propose, going forward, to keep the village on an even keel?

Campton Hills has had some type of conflict between administrations or on boards for as long as I can remember. One of the reasons I am running for office is to try and bring unity. not only to the village board but to the community in general. Any team needs to be able to have a healthy debate and respect each other’s opinions. The focus needs to be more on the village and its residents and less on the individuals and their egos. I have built successful teams throughout my career in the private sector. Listening to each other, the residents and being transparent on the issues is key to having a successful team. Understanding the Why is also very important when dealing with conflicting opinions. As a leader you have to have empathy and try to understand where someone’s opinions are coming from. The ability to compromise and come to a consensus as a group is key. Unity- Respect-Transparency. In Carol Stream, we won the National Gold Medal Award while I was on the Park Board. We were able to accomplish this by working with the park staff and the residents in the community to find out what areas needed the most improvement. We created a plan on what improvements were needed, how to fund the improvements and then we executed that plan over the years until we were recognized nationally. The best part was there was consensus and agreement without a lot of conflict and drama. Leadership is key. Strong leaders in the village can set the tone for the entire community.

Should local law enforcement cooperate with ICE to identify and deport immigrants who do not have legal status to be in the United States?

I’ll answer the question directly first, yes, I believe local law enforcement should cooperate with ICE. The migrant issue is complicated because there are so many different scenarios for these individuals. I would say we definitely need to deport criminals that entered the country illegally. Whether they were criminals coming in or committed crimes while they were here. We definitely need a better immigration process. As an immigrant myself who came here from Italy in 1963, I understand the great opportunities our country provides individuals and families to improve their lives. Sometimes I feel immigrants have a greater appreciation for our country than the people who were born here. With that said, if someone is here without papers, they should either be deported or documented depending on what their situation is. We definitively need to address the immigration process and find a way to streamline it.

What are your top three priorities for our city, and how do you plan to address them?

1. Unify the board and the village by being a bridge between the village and the residents as well as the trustees, President and staff. Seeking everyone’s opinions on issues and being as transparent as possible. Shift the focus to doing what’s best for the village and its residents and away from the drama and individuals.

2. Planning for the future. The village will be challenged with infrastructure issues in the years to come. Roads come to mind first and foremost. As a large village geographically but a relatively small village by population there will be challenges to generate the funds needs for general maintenance and improvements. Looking at ways to finance these projects through grants and bonds versus creating or increasing taxes will be key. Supporting local businesses and attracting more businesses to the area while maintaining our open space and nature is key. There needs to be a realistic economic plan for the village and our residents to prosper for years to come.

3. Water: It’s my understanding that the Wasco Sanitary District may be reaching its capacity. Learning more about what the potential issues are and the impact in may impact the Village be is a priority. I’ll need to research this issue more thoroughly before I can really comment but it is a concern.

I really don’t have a personal agenda in running for office. I’ve reached a point in my life where I feel I can give something back to the community I’ve lived in for the past 20 years.

How do you intend to balance economic development with environmental sustainability in the community?

This is a key point for most of the residents in the community. We all love our open space and the freedom we have living in Campton Hills. The beauty of the area is truly special. Many small towns across the country end up failing when a major business or industry leaves an area, staying diversified is the key. We don’t rely on any single industry or business to drive our town. Although that’s a positive it does create a challenge in how to maintain and improve infrastructure as I’ve mentioned before. We need to help the businesses that are here today expand and grow. We also need to attract additional businesses that won’t detract from the area’s beauty. Generating revenue is key. Having a sustainable economic plan is key. This will allow us to control how and where the village grows versus having developments come in because of potential political influence in other parts of the state.

What are your plans for enhancing public transportation and infrastructure in the city?

We have a train station nearby which is a valuable resource to our area. Based on our location and population I don’t know that there are many alternatives to enhance public transportation in the area, If the residents feel this is an area that requires improvement, I will do the research to address it. This is not a concern that I’m aware of. As far as infrastructure, as I’ve already mentioned we will need to research available grants and bonds to help with maintaining and improving roads and other projects. This likely will be the main area of concern in the coming years. Having a strong plan and the right resources to do the research will be important.

What role should the city council play in supporting local businesses and economic growth?

I’m not a fan of big government so having a commonsense approach to passing legislation that impacts businesses is important. Safety and health concerns should be the villages main concerns. Otherwise, we should do whatever we can to help the businesses that are currently in town expand while trying to attract a diversity of businesses to the area. Over regulation is a business killer as we all know. Common sense governance is the key.

What are your top public safety concerns for our community and how would you propose addressing them?

We are fortunate to live in a low crime area and we have a very good police force. With so many open roads in the area, speeding traffic is probably one of the main things we need to address. Otherwise, just making sure most people just go about their business in a friendly and neighborly manner.

What can or should the city to do increase affordable housing?

Candidate did not respond.

How will you ensure that city policies promote inclusion for all residents?

We have a small but diverse community that include rural areas as well as neighborhoods with HOA’s. Some rules within the HOA’s are more restrictive than the rules the village has. Transparency and commination are key in my opinion. Listening to all residents from all areas is vital. As a trustee my role is to represent the people in the community not to dictate to them. My opinion is you have to know your audience. If someone from an HOA is complaining about something in a rural area, then you have to consider the impact on that particular resident. For instance, if you’re in an HOA and complain about someone with animals on their property but those animals having little to no impact on you directly, that carries less weight with me. Every situation needs to be addressed on its own merits and both sides of an issues should always be explored before offering a solution. Hope that makes sense.

Do you support requiring government officials to publicly disclose potential conflicts of interest, and how would you enforce this?

Absolutely, I have to do this is in various roles I’ve had between work roles and various board positions I’ve sat on. I think it has to be on the honor system and a disclosure should be required to be completed upon entering office. If any conflicting information would come up then there should be consequences based on the severity of the infraction, up to and including being asked to resign if the lack of disclosure is egregious. There are too many politicians who unfairly profit from their positions. That’s not the reason they should seek office.

How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?

To my wife’s chagrin, I’m always on my phone. There are numerous ways people can reach out to me and my history is to respond as quickly as I can. That way I won’t forget by letting things sit. Anyone who knows me and has worked with me can attest to that as well. I’m in the area most of the year so finding me is relatively easy. Phone call, Text, e-mail, Facebook, Instagram. I’m easy to find.