Meet Your Candidates: John Thill, Village of Morton Grove, Board of Trustees

John Thill 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.  

Thill is running for reelection, after winning a trustee seat in the 2007 election. A nature enthusiast, he has served as president of Friends of the Morton Grove Forest Preserves for nearly 10 years. He has lived in Morton Grove for 40 years.

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?

Thill: We’re stretched to the limit. There isn’t a dollar spent that isn’t looked at twice.

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

Thill: The only thing that could possibly be cut at this time is services. What we need is meaningful relief from Springfield on the state-mandated pensions.

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

Thill: Raising fees on businesses would drive them out of town, and raising taxes must be a last resort, as residents are stretched to the limit. Sources of new revenue should not be on the backs of the taxpayers.

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

Thill: We have raised our levy 3.5% for the 2011 budget solely for the purpose of taking care of our State-mandated pension obligations.

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

Thill: We are doing every type of outreach to the business community we can, such as attending business seminars, updating and putting out information on our website, and engaging in ongoing dialogues with representatives of local, regional, and national businesses.

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

Thill: If this happened, it would need to be researched and discussed.

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?

Thill: With forty years in business and dealing with the public every day, plus attending Village Board meetings for 15 years prior to being elected, I feel qualified to be a problem-solver and a diplomat.

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?

Thill: One word: Outstanding! There’s nothing that couldn’t be improved, but “tweaking” is probably the optimum word here.

Q9: What else would you like voters to know about your positions on issues or point of view?

Thill: Our positions are developed when issues arise, and hopefully not before. This board is open to all kinds of ideas and considers all of them carefully. As far as a point of view is concerned, mine will always be as a resident first and a trustee second.