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Full Name: Lucio Estrada
What office are you seeking? Kane County Board member
What offices, if any, have you previously held? None.
City: Elgin
Occupation: Supervisor
Education: None.
Campaign Website: https://www.lucioestrada.com/
Do you support decreasing local property taxes? If so, how would the county make up the difference?
Yes, I support decreasing taxes. The county would make up for differences by selling county property that is not being used, and by better budgeting and creating more efficiencies.
What local road and bridge projects should be a priority to get done in the county?
I believe that Longmeadow PKWY should be prioritized, and another project would be not to install toll booths over county roads/bridges.
Do you think there is a local crime problem? If so, what needs to be done about it?
Yes there is a crime problem and gang activity is on the rise especially in District 20, and I believe that some of the steps that need to be taken are to encourage citizens to report any criminal activity to their local police or the Sheriff Department. Another step is for the States Attorney to prosecute gang leaders. I support our former States Attorney Joe McMahon’s way of taking gang leaders to civil court and suing them for their assets, discouraging people to join gangs.
How will you work to keep crime low in Kane County?
My District is 100% policed by the City of Elgin, but I would like to work with the City of Elgin Police Department and Sheriff Department and be a liaison between our Law Enforcement agencies and community.
Do you support Kane County’s pre- arrest diversion program?
Editor’s note: This question has been updated from a previous version to correct that the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office created the program and the Kane County Sheriff’s office participates in it.
No. I believe it does not work, it is costing the taxpayers more money, and they’re going of Seattle’s data in which we all know how Seattle looks right now.
Do you support stronger county government ethics laws? What measures do you support?
I do support stronger county government ethics laws.
What would you push for as a member of county government to boost local businesses?
Sale tax holidays.
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?
Employees usually leave their jobs due to the leadership they work for.
How can the county seek to retain employees?
Hold weekly or monthly meetings, and ask the employees how can the county do a better job in making sure that the employees are happy with their job and recognize outstanding employees.
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?
NO I do not support it. The citizens of Kane County are already paying way too much in taxes.
If there were an increase in retail tax revenue, what would you use the additional funds for?
If there was an increase in retail tax revenue, I would use the additional funds to go back to the taxpayer.
Do you support a county gas tax hike? Why or why not?
NO, I do support repealing the gas tax.
If there were an increase in the county gas tax revenue, how would you propose using the new money?
Give the taxpayers back their money.
Do you support more warehouse and industrial development in Kane County? Why/why not?
In my county board district there is no room for warehouse and industrial development. I would support it since it would bring more money and job opportunities to the county.
How can municipalities best deal with the increase in semi-truck traffic?
The county should make sure that there is adequate funding for semi-truck driving in county roads and highways for safe driving from county to county for the semi-truck drivers. Also I would leave it the municipalities to decide what is best for them and their residents.
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?
Yes.
What are your thoughts on the Illinois Freedom of Information Act?
I’ve only used it twice, and I think it is okay but I believe that it could be improved by the time they take to respond.
Please state your plan to maintain government transparency.
keep an eye out for improve technologies that we can use to better service the people of the county, but overall Kane County is doing a great job in transparency.
Should government employees and officials be allowed to sign non- disclosure agreements with private businesses?
They should not be allowed.
Would you push for or against government officials and employees being allowed to sign non-disclosure agreements with private businesses?
I would be against government employees signing non- disclosure agreements with private businesses.
How can the county best support municipalities that are seeking to promote restaurants, nightlife, tourism (St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia)?
I am more focused in improving district 20th where we have a lot of restaurants that our own by our own people that live in the district, and bring tourism and awareness to the Historical areas of Elgin including the Black Historical area of Elgin where some of the first African American families settle when they fled from slavery.
How long should the county support the Kane Vax Center in Batavia?
They should stop supporting it as soon as possible, it is costing the taxpayers a lot more money. The private sector is doing a way better job at distributing the vaccine than the county vax center. We could use that money that we would be saving from the vax center towards nonprofit services, instead of debating if we should use the money on mental health services or nonprofit services.
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?
The American Rescue Plan was a one payment from the Federal Government, the County Board should allocate the funds to where it is most needed, and mental health illness have dramatically increased due to the pandemic. The County Board needs to use the funds for mental health services. 47.1 million people in the nation are currently struggling with mental issues and the county should press on this issue and fund it the most.
Do you support giving a larger chunk of the $103 million in funding the county received to social services?
I believe that the county should give a larger chunk to social services, but the social services should be aware that this is only a one time only funding.
Do you agree with the county paying the college tuition of a public employee? Please explain.
No, college is a personal choice and the taxpayers should not be required to pay for someone else’s tuition when they got their own or their child’s tuition.