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Kane County Board, District 24 candidate Jarett Sanchez answered Shaw Local’s election questionnaire for the Kane County Board primary election.
Voting ends for the primary election on the evening of June 28.
Full Name: Jarett Sanchez
What office are you seeking? Kane County Board District 24
What offices, if any, have you previously held? Kane County Board 24
City: Carpentersville
Occupation: Self-Employed
Education: Graduated fromDundee-Crown High School, 2001
Largely self-taught.
Editor of the Trivium Binder Project, a compilation project for homeschoolers and autodidacts.
Campaign Website: www.sanchezforkane.com
Do you support decreasing local property taxes? If so, how would the county make up the difference?
I do support the concept, but property taxes are a complex subject. In theory, decreasing property taxes is ideal but for a unit of government that only makes up 4% of that total tax bill, even if we cut our budget in half (which is literally impossible) we still wouldn’t be taking ANY of the sting away from the line item going to local school districts. If we have a plan that is sound, sensible, and not disruptive to essential government services then I would support it.
What local road and bridge projects should be a priority to get done in the county?
I haven’t been keeping as close a watch on what’s going on over at KDOT, my time spent on the Transportation Committee gave me full confidence in their ability to create long-range plans and to prioritize projects by need and cost efficiency so I would refer to the latest iteration of their planning documents. Up North here we’re just looking forward to the possibility of eliminating the toll on Longmeadow!
Do you think there is a local crime problem? If so, what needs to be done about it?
Crime is local everywhere. Does Kane have significantly greater crime than other counties of similar size and demographic spread? I haven’t seen data saying so. But crime does exist in our county and it’s always a problem whether it’s violent crime or things like theft and embezzlement.
I applaud the work of Sheriff Hain because I do think the numbers show that his programs are reducing recidivism and helping those caught in the system to get out and enjoy productive lives as law abiding citizens. I’m proud to say that Kane County is leading the way in that area.
Access to mental health services also correlates to a reduction in crime over time and so I support measures along those lines as well. Just throwing people in jail and expecting them to get better doesn’t work in real life the way it does on paper for some people.
How will you work to keep crime low in Kane County?
By supporting programs like what Sheriff Hain is doing, as well as State’s Attorney Mosser who has initiated things like Pre-Arrest Diversion which helps identify individuals who may be committing criminal acts as a result of some underlying psychological deficiency or need. I believe that much crime can be avoided by providing appropriate mental health (and other social) services. But of course we want interventions that are backed by research and evidence.
Law and Order is necessary, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle if you’re truly attempting to reduce crime. Compassion is needed, too. And that is what we’re seeing with some of the programs coming out of Kane County.
Do you support Sheriff Hain’s pre-arrest diversion program?
Yes, I support the pre-arrest diversion program incorporated by Sheriff Hain and State’s Attorney Mosser (who has created a program for this and is working with municipalities in Kane County to incorporate it).
If you research programs like this, you will realize that it isn’t giving criminals a free pass, it’s giving them an opportunity to show that they’re not really criminals at heart and that with the right support they can become better neighbors, friends, parents, and citizens.
Do you support stronger county government ethics laws? What measures do you support?
While ethics is a term that can sometimes be ambiguous, I do think there’s always room for improvement (even if that just means periodic assessment of current laws to determine a need for change). We have internal policies for departments that have gotten some attention and I think it’s good for the health of any organization to review and revise their policies. I would like to see an ordinance that prohibits elected officials from receiving money from any vendors that do business with the county because that just looks bad and calls into question the integrity of contracts the county has with those vendors.
What would you push for as a member of county government to boost local businesses?
There’s not much that a county can do to boost local businesses as most businesses fall within municipal boundaries. I supported a lower tax for cannabis businesses in order to encourage the market to grow, although it seems to be doing quite well even with taxes mostly maxed out.
Our County Development Department does some good work with supporting business development in the county and we’re actually looking at some programs with them utilizing Covid relief money to bolster economic development and increase industry support so I’m very excited for that.
I also see a lot of potential in the Western agricultural portion of the county and I firmly believe that local food is the way of the future and want to see more money and programming going towards supporting that effort. What good are more roads and houses if all we’re growing is feed corn and soy? Let’s try and maximize how much we grow to feed our own citizens!
Why do you think the county has had some positions open for a while and a number of employees have left the county in recent times. Why do you think county employees are leaving?
Watch the budget presentations that spanned 2-3 Committee of the Whole meetings in 2021. The answer is clear: we don’t pay near market rate, even for government. When you have county departments paying less than Taco Bell for more work and more stress, it is very hard to compete. The “Great Resignation” has only made things worse.
Two answers to the problem have been increasing the tax levy according to the CPI (netting about $1M/yr on average) and implementing a countywide sales tax of 25-50 cents on every $100 purchase of certain goods. Both ideas have been met with significant public and political backlash because of high property taxes already creating a burden.
But as our Mandated Services study showed a few years back, many departments are cut down to the bone (which is not good). I have yet to see a solid plan that projects how we will pay our people better without utilizing taxes in some way. I invite financial adepts to get directly involved with their Board Members if they feel they have any ideas that can help us with this challenge.
How can the county seek to retain employees?
We have to find a way to increase revenues sufficiently enough to bring all positions up to reasonable levels so that we’re not just a training grounds for other counties who then poach our people once they’ve gotten experience under us. If taxpayers really understand that this is the scenario I think they’d be more inclined to consider some of the more “controversial” options being considered, like a countywide sales tax.
Rewards, recognition, and good will only goes so far and we certainly have some very high-quality and dedicated staff members. At the end of the day though, money is what will keep people here.
Do you support adding either a 0.25% or 0.50% retail tax to non-essential purchases(excluding groceries and gas)? Why or why not?
I certainly support giving Kane County citizens an opportunity to decide on the matter, which is the only way it can be implemented.
A .50% sales tax on eligible goods would mean an extra 50 cents on a $100 purchase. 50 CENTS. And it’s a tax that will be shared by EVERYONE shopping in Kane County, not just Kane County residents. 50 cents!
People will ask if we’re cutting costs first, and we can show that we’ve done a stellar job of that in the past 8 years or so that we didn’t increase the tax levy. But now that’s biting us in the butt and we have to do something to pay our people well and adjust to new Unfunded Mandates such as the SAFE-T Act which will cause a great burden to the County.
If we’re going to be fiscally conservative, we must be realistic not ideological.
If there were an increase in retail tax revenue, what wouldyou use the additional funds for?
We would use the funds to increase wages to keep up with market rates, and to cover Unfunded Mandates coming from the State such as the SAFE-T Act which is projected to cost the county $20+ Million Dollars a year once fully realized.
If I were to ever run for a state office I would probably be very vocal against unfunded mandates because it causes undue burden on local governments and indicates a lack of foresight and wisdom on the part of legislators. When the state says “figure it out” and the citizens say “don’t raise taxes” that puts local government in a VERY precarious position that is quite unfair.
Do you support a county gas tax hike? Why or why not?
I don’t because the state has already done a great job of instituting that revenue stream. Market forces at play right now are behind extremely high gas prices and I don’t think that’s the best mechanism for revenue growth in Kane County at this time.
If there were an increase in the county gas tax revenue, how would you propose using the new money?
It should only go to funding transportation projects.
Do you support more warehouse and industrial development in Kane County? Why/why not?
I think our 2040 Plan is a good start in the direction of the long-term growth in the county, and that sees the Western part of the county remaining agricultural, with the central county corridor seeing more development. I don’t oppose industrial development but I think it’s important to have a balance that promotes a good quality of life. Sprawling industrial parks do not feed the soul, but there’s something to be said for job creation and employment opportunities close to home. I support smart growth but I’ll leave that to the reader to define.
How can municipalities best deal with the increase in semi-truck traffic?
Municipalities hopefully have the resources to assess the traffic patterns in their area and make good judgements about alternatives that are developed. Each municipality is different so I’m not sure there’s a “one size fits all” response beyond quality assessment and choice creation.
Should county & municipal officials be required to disclose to the public the identity of a business, such as Amazon, that seeks to locate in the county?
I’m not qualified to answer that sufficiently. What are the pros and cons of such a requirement? Does withholding such information do a disservice to constituents who might rally to oppose a particular business project? Are officials contractually obligated to not disclose such inquiries? Are there strategic advantages to non-disclosure that are beneficial to constituents?
I would have to research the subject but those are just my immediate questions on it.
What are yourthoughts on the Illinois Freedom of Information Act?
It’s an important tool for government transparency and I fully support it. Is it perfect? I doubt that, but it’s much better than not having it. And I think it helps keep officials honest who might not otherwise be - at least in their digital communications.
Please state your plan to maintain government transparency.
When I first ran, transparency was one of my campaign promises. My main goal in that regard was to get the county to start livestreaming meetings and storing them online for access by the public. I inquired about it once I learned the appropriate committee and elected officials who would implement it.
It took 902 DAYS from my initial inquiries in writing until the first day that we went live on YouTube. I met great resistance from county leadership regarding the idea but I persisted. The plans were already in place before the pandemic hit but that sped up the timeline for implementation. I was the first elected official to encourage the county to post audio recordings online as well, which was the first step in transparency. Before that you had to do a FOIA request, the Clerk’s Office would give you a CD recording, and nobody even knew the recordings were available!
Should government employees and officials be allowed to sign non-disclosure agreements with private businesses?
No. At least not to my understanding. This would greatly reduce transparency, and may even violate FOIA laws. We work for the people, not private interests.
Would you push for or against government officials and employees being allowed to sign non-disclosure agreements with private businesses?
Again, to my understanding this is not a good idea. I would need to consult with legal experts to learn more about the pros and cons, but I don’t see how it’s a good thing and would not support it.
How can the county best support municipalities that are seeking to promote restaurants, nightlife, tourism (St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia)?
Well first, I wouldn’t just focus on the tri-cities area as the question parenthesis implies. Coming from the Northern part of the county, I will say that it feels like we are often neglected while the tri-cities area gets most of the attention and support.
I would defer to work being done by our County Development Department in this area and also to the project requests they have submitted to utilize covid relief funds for economic development. Stay tuned for those coming up through the American Rescue Plan Committee.
How long should the county support the Kane Vax Center in Batavia?
Well there are differing opinions. Some say we should maximize our time there, some say we should have exited it months ago. As Chairman of the Public Health Committee, I’m somewhere in between.
With no rent thanks to our gracious property owners, and not utilities costs thanks to Batavia utilizing FEMA grant reimbursement, and payroll expenses being covered by federal grant money as well, we aren’t creating a financial burden to the taxpayers by keeping it open. Currently we plan to maximize our stay there.
With pediatric vaccines being approved soon, our Vax Hub would stay open primarily to service that population. Were that approval not likely to happen I would have pushed for vacating the site already.
The County Board used more of the revenue it received from the American Rescue Plan to fund mental health services than it gave to social safety net services such as homeless shelters and food pantries. How can the county make funding for nonprofits impacted by the pandemic more equitable?
Mental Health was a usage that was most highly supported by the American Rescue Plan Committee when it was polled on the subject last year, and that is the issue that was recognized as the most impacted by the pandemic- not to say that the other categories were not significantly impacted!
The original conception for the Community Support Grant Program actually did not include homeless shelters or food pantries and so I (as Chairman of the committee) specifically made sure to include those categories in the dialogue. Because of that, the committee increased the amount of money for that program.
There are more mental health service organizations than homeless shelters and food pantries, so I wouldn’t say there wasn’t equity there, but would I personally like to see more go to those other categories? Yes, absolutely.
I know there are committee members who would like to see more go out to non-profits and they are working on ideas to help us conceptualize a potential “second round” or even expand the types of organizations we help. Again, follow the American Rescue Plan Committee to keep track of what we’re doing. It’s all on YouTube...
Do you support giving a larger chunk of the $103 million in funding the county received to social services?
The County Board recently adopted the spending plan put forward by the American Recue Plan Committee which I think is a solid plan for the rest of the money if you actually take the time to read the US Treasury’s Final Rule on the ARPA program (which outlines important uses beyond just helping social services).
That spending plan leaves room for more spending on social services and I support it if done right.
The committee will likely be discussing other iterations of our Community Support Grant Program this year but how that will look and what kinds of organizations it will support I cannot say at this time. My job as the Chairman of that committee is to facilitate the wisdom of the committee members for the betterment of the whole county and it’s people and guide us towards sound solutions.
Do you agree with the county paying the college tuition of a public employee? Please explain.
Some would say this is an abuse of taxpayer money. Others would say that in a county with some outdated policies (and little-to-no budget for hiring talent at competitive wages) it’s acceptable so long as no laws, statutes, or county policies are violated.
I think that the issue as it happened in Kane County is a Rorschach Test that reveals more about the individual looking at the issue then it does about the issue itself. To me, not everything around this issue is so black and white- unlike a Rorschach Test!