We need new leadership on the DuPage County Board

When you find yourself in a hole, as the current county board now does regarding the budget, you need to ask two questions - "How do we get out of this hole?" and "How do we keep from falling into another one?"

There were dozens of recommendations presented to the county board by the board's own Cost Efficiency Committee and also by the independent, non-partisan Civic Federation. These recommendations would have consolidated departments, reduced the number of elected officials, reduced salaries and perks, improved operational efficiency, and generally reformed and modernized county government, saving millions of dollars in the process.

But these reports were essentially ignored by the current county board.

Why?

Well, that's a good question to ask them, but I submit that it was because change is hard. Change requires a lot of effort. And change would mean relinquishing many of the luxuries that the current county board members have come to enjoy.

Indeed, the Civic Federation stated: "Changes to the structure of DuPage County government will not come without challenges but continuing on the path of...inefficient government is no longer sustainable or fiscally responsible."

In fact, they issued this ominous warning: “Without serious reform, …financial pressures will require continuous property tax increases for the foreseeable future.” And sure enough, this is the third year in a row that the county has raised our property taxes to the maximum amount allowable by the tax cap.

It is obvious that the current county board is not up to the challenges that face us today.

Because the current County Board chose to throw money at their budget problem by raising taxes, and did not attempt to change the fundamental structure of county government which would help prevent budget problems in the future, we need new leadership on the county board. We, the Democratic candidates for DuPage County Board, are ready to lead.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3