Meet Your Candidates: Georgianne Brunner, Village of Morton Grove, Board of Trustees

Georgianne Brunner is running for a four-year seat on the Village of Morton Grove Board of Trustees, a six-member group steering the village's government and economic policies with one President, totaling seven officials in all.  

Brunner served as a trustee from 2005-2009, and did not win re-election in 2009. Her professional career began in nursing, and she continues to work at NorthShore University HealthSystem as a staff nurse. Since 2009 she has served as the chairman of the local Board of Environmental Health. 

This year, three seats are up for the four-year terms of service, and two political parties are campaigning for spots: Action Party (Shelden "Shel" Marcus, John Thill and Maria Toth) and  (Georgianne Brunner, Rita Minx and John Pietron). 

Morton Grove Patch collects the local politicians' beliefs and opinions with same Q&As for each candidate, publishes them in alphabetical order, and does not change submitted answers in major punctuation, style or content ways.

Now then, let's get down to the questions:

Patch: How would you assess the state of the village’s budget?

Brunner: The village budget is in poor shape after several years of the Action Party trustees refusal to issue REASONABLE tax levies recommended by the village staff.  The Action Party trustees FALSELY believed there was too much money in reserves and did not seem to understand that the village budgets of 2008, 2009, and 2010 were not balanced when passed—in those years the budget was balanced by depleting the reserve fund.  In 2010 bonds were issued because the reserves were getting low.  The bonds were issued to pay for needed expenses such as purchasing an ambulance, street repairs, water & sewer maintenance.  Now, tax levies will need to be approved to pay the interest (debt service) on those bonds. 

Patch: If expenses need to be reduced, exactly what would you cut? Be specific.

Brunner: The only thing left to cut in the budget is the trustee salaries and stipends along with paid commission stipends and professional expenses. Otherwise, there is nothing left that can reasonably be cut from the budget—the current board has made drastic cuts without planning.

Patch: If more revenue needs to be raised, exactly what would you propose? Be specific.

Brunner: I would explore bringing back full time code enforcement so that property maintenance issues could be properly addressed and violations ticketed when necessary.  I would also like to relook at and possibly raise the minimum fines for violations such as the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, the sale of alcohol and tobacco without a license, DUI offenses, parking fines, etc. just to name a few.

Patch: What, if anything, does the village need to do to adequately fund police and fire pensions?

Brunner: The village board needs to continue its dialogue with our local state legislatures to ensure fairness with pension funding legislation.

Patch: Does the village need to start or intensify economic development efforts? What specific ideas do you have to foster economic development?

Brunner: I plan on working to support the village’s director of economic development.  I will also work with our various village departments to foster a business friendly atmosphere of the village through village codes and regulations to aid in enticing businesses to come into the village.

Patch: If the state of Illinois succeeds in re-establishing the capital bill, would you support video gaming in this village?

Brunner: I would have to see the wording of the legislation before I make any decision.

Patch: Briefly tell us what, in your background or education, has prepared you to make a contribution on this board. Can you offer an expertise that would be a resource to other board members?

Brunner: Please see attached resume.

I will keep the residents informed and make it a priority just as I did when I was a village trustee.  I offer a strong commitment to community, a history of leadership positions both in my work environment and volunteer activities, a strong ability to work with many different people on diverse projects, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to ask questions.  I am committed to working hard and voting my conscience on behalf of the residents of Morton Grove.

Patch: How would you assess the public services the village offers residents, including police, fire, trash pickup, snow removal, responsiveness of village hall, etc.? What needs to be improved? Are residents getting adequate value for their tax dollar?

Brunner: The village staff is doing a tremendous job despite the recent staff cuts by the current village board.  However, residents are getting less services—no village nurse, no senior bus, reduction of man hours ion code enforcement (just to name a few) but are paying more in fees and taxes—increased cost of vehicle stickers, paying full cost of garbage collection, increased sewer fees (just to name a few).

Patch: What else would you like voters to know about your positions on issues or point of view?

Brunner: I would like to clarify fabrications perpetuated by my opponents’ party and shed factual light. The Action Party makes accusations that an OTB is illegal in Morton Grove which is FALSE.  OTB facilities are allowable businesses within the Village of Morton Grove but the Building and Zoning Commission can restrict what zoning district such an establishment can be placed. The Action Party criticizes the increase in the gas tax and the elimination of the sunset clause for the food and beverage tax both of which I supported.  However, they have had the majority of the board from 2007 through today, but haven’t reversed any of those 3 decisions.  The Action Party claims that 82 new business licenses have been issued, yet upon research (which I am known to do) I found that most of the licenses are for service based or home businesses that will not generate sales tax revenue.