Robert Bohler

On the Record

What experiences do you have that make you a good candidate for office?

I have been a Trustee in the Village for 16 years. My background includes 4-US Design Patents, I was the Vice-President, promoted to President of a manufacturing firm in Batavia for 23 years. I also made a career change in 1993 20 years ago in the Security and Life-Safety field and hold a NICET Level II certification. I also hold a FEMA ISO 100, 200 & 700 Certification. My community involvement includes, coaching softball, basketball, T-ball, Corn Boil Volunteer for 19 years and started and continue to bring the Corn Boil Fireworks to the Village. My civic involvement is testimony of my love for the Village of Sugar Grove.

What are your top three priorities if elected?

• The commercial and retail growth along the Rt. 47 and Galena corridor has been encouraging. The new businesses like McDonalds, Walgreens, and the Rush-Copley Convenience Care Center are great additions, but more is needed. Commercial and retail business does not put children in the school system. The residents gain by new amenities and support to the Village, the school district will gain by the additional tax revenue from the property tax and the Village will gain from the additional sales tax dollars. • I would like to see FIBER OPTIC brought into the Village to meet the needs of the residents and our commercial and industrial partners. Fiber is essential for substantial growth. Wireless technology has been mentioned. For most, I believe the difficulty comes in from the uploading side and needs to be addressed for wireless to be viable. • We need to continue working on funding for the Rt.47 and I-88 interchange and expansion south from Cross Street to Rt. 30. There is a developer looking at the I-88 and Rt. 47 interchange for a future project. We have been working on the project for a number of years and are currently seeking “Prairie Parkway” dollars for the improvements. • We have existing, unfinished subdivisions (Hannaford Farms, Prairie Glen, Settlers Ridge) that need attending to. All single family new growth needs to come from existing subdivisions and not by expanding outward.

Would you support freezing your taxing district’s levy until housing prices rebound? Why or why not?

No I would not be in favor of freezing the tax district’s levy. Holding an increase without covering inflation the residents would see a reduction in services. We have done a good job at holding expenses down by a 20% reduction in staff and that enabled us to balance the budget. There are not a lot of communities in the Valley can boast about that. If you want to reduce taxes, adding more commercial and retail growth is one of the answers. Freezing the tax rate without knowing the future needs could be disastrous. Take for instance the cost of Obamacare. We have some good numbers but we don’t know for sure. We need to keep flexible and financially solvent.

What one decision by the village board do you most disagree with and why?

I don’t believe I strongly disagreed with the Board on any issue. Something that stands out was with the Board entering into a new impact fee agreement with the Kaneland School District. I had several reasons for that decision. One, the existing subdivisions where the new development would take place already has a full impact fee structure in place. Therefore, it would not impact the School District or the Village paying it’s fair share for growth. Second, the economy was in turmoil and property values were dropping. I felt a new impact fee study was needed to explore the viability of impact fee reduction. Third, I did not know what the Elburn Board was going to agree on with the planned subdivision with Shodeen and wanted all impact fees to be the same. As it turned out, I believe they signed an agreement at 50% of the proposed fees.

What was the biggest accomplishment of the board in the past year?

Hands-down, it was the Mallard Point – Rolling Oaks water drainage agreement. Some residents had huge flooding issues and little recourse if the Village didn’t get involved. There were a lot of issues at hand and agreements with other governmental bodies and landowner’s was needed to proceed with the eventual solution. My biggest concern was twofold. One, the impact on the residents from additional fees the residents were going to have to pay and second, was the work being done going to solve the problem? From the latest reports, it appears the new drainage tiles have worked.

Why should voters elect you to office?

My wife Sandy and I have been residents of the Village for 28 years. We raised our family here and have lived through the changes that have been made in the Village. I have been fortunate to have been elected as your Trustee for 4 Terms - 16 years. We have seen tremendous change in the landscape and population in the Village. The groundwork was laid years ago on how the existing residents viewed growth. As a Board, we listened then and will continue to do so in the future. Different visions were cultivated into what we have today. The Village constantly strives to look at change and adaptation. Not all progress is good for the Village and not all visions are the same. We have worked together before in shaping the Village and I would appreciate your confidence in my abilities in moving forward in the future by voting for Robert Bohler.