Harry Leopold
What do you think is the biggest issue Huntley faces?
“I think for the most part, our residents are pretty satisfied with village government, both from the staff level that provides services and from the official level that governs us. I think some of the things that we are keenly interested in is seeing the state agency—the review board—to approve the requests for the Centegra Hospital. That’s a big issue, not necessarily one that there’s any controversy about as far as the village government’s concerned. It’s something that would really boost the economic engine of our community and provide needed services closer than the alternatives. That’s the biggest issue.
The second thing that concerns me is that with the terrible recession that hit the residential housing market, I want to see the five developers that are still offering homes—including Highland, Lenar, Town and Country, Richmond and Del Webb—I want to see them stay economically sound and that they can weather the crisis and get back to profitability and selling homes again. We don’t have any reason to think that any of them are in such financial trouble that they would cease operating, but that’s always a possibility in this market, and we are very concerned, and we certainly will help them in any way we can to get through it.”
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Sun City?
“I think that most of the Sun City residents would say that they support having a full-service hospital closer to them, but that’s one thing that I think they’re concerned about. I think they’re fully in support of the assisted-living facility that we have, especially the care facility that’s on the planning board right now for Regency Square, and there’s another company that’s anticipating building an assisted-living facility right in Huntley.”
What can Sun City residents expect from you as a board member?
“Continued service that they’ve been getting for eight years. I get many, many compliments about going to serve and in support of my decisions from my residents and neighbors. Of course the overriding, prevailing feeling is in these economic times that they would like to hold the line on all taxes, and certainly that’s my first priority. I live here too, and I don’t want to pay more property taxes and so forth and so on.”
What is your experience working with Sun City?
“I appreciate the support that I’ve had from my Sun City neighbors in the past, and I look forward to enjoying it in the future.”
Leopold is a member of the Sun City Board of Directors, and he and his wife were the third family to move into the community in 1999. Leopold said he is an active member of Sun City’s social community. He founded the bridge club, co-founded the model railroad club, and has served as president of a golf league.
Nick Hanson
What do you think is the biggest issue Huntley faces?
“The first would probably be the village approaching home rule, which has some residents concerned based on the fact that in other communities, when they became home rule, the lawmakers or decision makers have abused it with increased sales tax and transfer taxes on real estate and things of that sort. So that has been a big part of the discussion. I would not be necessarily for a special census that we have done in the past unless it was through a referendum and the residents chose to do so, because the last special census we did, I think it cost approximately $165,000. So if we were to go for a special census prior to the next official census in 2020, I would think that would have to be up to the residents of the village.”
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Sun City?
“I get a lot of questions regarding taxes on property and the District 158 Board of Education, which the Village Trustees really have nothing to do with. We have no input on property taxes, especially with District 158. That’s been the question I’ve received the most. What I do think is important to Sun City, which I think is important to myself as well, is life safety: the removal of the snow during the big snowstorm, emergency medical service and fire protection I think are very important because you want to have a certain level of care for all residents. In any situation, whether it’s a natural disaster like the snowstorm or the blizzard or even just day-to-day, I just try to make sure that all the residents, including the Sun City residents, have the same level of responsiveness and care by the Public Works Department as well as EMS.”
What can Sun City residents expect from you as a board member?
“I would think that they would expect me to be fiscally responsible [and] to promote Del Webb Sun City as I would the rest of the village. We’re all residents of the Village of Huntley. I don’t like to think that there’s any sort of segregation there between Sun City residents and the residents of the other subdivisions or the downtown area, and I would treat them equally as they all deserve the same voice.”
What is your experience working with Sun City?
“With all of those organizations that I participate in [Hanson is a member of the Huntley Lions, Jaycees, the Historical Society, and Chamber of Commerce], a good portion of the members are Sun City residents, so I’ve done a lot of interaction [and] been able to get a lot of feedback from Sun City residents that are in these same organizations.”
Niko Kanakaris
What do you think is the biggest issue Huntley faces?
“I wouldn’t say it’s in Huntley. The economy is turned around, and our building slowed down a lot. But meanwhile, while we’re on the downside of the economy, we continue, as a village, to continue to ready for the growth again. We did all the sewer and water infrastructure throughout town to get ready for the development. For example, we ran the sewer and water lines south of the tollway. So when the interchange comes, we’re going to be ready for development. We’re not going to be behind schedule at all. Anybody that wants to build when the interchange happens, they’ll be ready to go.”
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Sun City?
“I don’t think anyone is facing any issues in town [Huntley]. If they were, they would be coming forward to the village board. And for the last four years, we haven’t had any really big issues at all. So, I think we’ve done a great job and accommodated everybody’s requests. The only request I’ve seen come forward out of Sun City is a lot of homes are putting up those three-season rooms … and we’ve granted every single one. There aren’t any issues that I’ve heard of in the last four years.”
What can Sun City residents expect from you as a board member?
“I’ve worked hard in the last four years for the community. We’re doing the right things. We’re trying to attract more businesses and commercial development to keep the residents’ taxes down. The more sales tax we get from the community, the less we need to try to go pass any kind of referendums to raise any money. But we’re financially strong. We haven’t had to do any special tax on any of our residents. I think they even know we’re doing a good job.”
What is your experience working with Sun City?
“As a local business owner in the same town, I’ve been in town over twenty years, I’m really involved. If there are any special needs or any special fundraisers, I’m always there. I’m always donating to any cause that would help any resident in town or in Sun City. And I would stand behind any one of our residents at any time or for any special need that they would have.”
