A conversation with Carl Strathmann, candidate for Elgin Township Board Trustee
The following interview excerpts have been edited for clarity and flow with Carl’s approval.
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your professional background.
I grew up locally in Elmwood Park. I was in the military as medic during the Vietnam era. After that I graduated from Devry Tech and worked for AT&T for 30 years, first as a PBX installer and then later as a field supervisor and manager. I left AT&T and started my own business doing project management, additions, kitchens, basements, etc. Now I’m retired.
How did you get into politics?
I was always interested in politics, and I always voted, but never as focused on it until I met my wife, Cherryl. She was more aware of the need to be involved and soon got me interested. We ran a phone bank out of our house weekly, having 30 people over here with their cell phones on a script, all over the country. I became a precinct committee person and soon after was elected as chairman, which I’ve done for about 10 years. I’ve also been Chairman of Elgin Township Democrats for almost 10 years. I’m excited about the many new volunteers who have stepped forward recently and can’t wait to see how their some new ideas and energy help drive the party forward.
I also serve on the Seniors Committee that’s part of the Elgin Township. I’ve served as both the chair and vice-chair.
Why are you running for Elgin Township Board Trustee?
I think during the course of the 10 years I’ve met some fantastic people, and we as a team can make positive changes. We are feeling confident about it, and I think as a team we will do it.
I always use the expression that when everybody lifts a little, nobody lifts a lot. When we’re doing that down at the bottom of the ballot, we’re doing a lot, but we need everybody’s help to do it. We need the community to do it with us. Both my wife and I are big on community building. We like working with the community, and we think it’s very important.
I really appreciate the team at Elgin Township Democrats. Everybody helps each other on it, and that’s where we see success.
We decided early on that we were going to run a positive campaign. I’m proud that we’re just talking about the positive changes we can make in the township.
Vern, who’s running for Supervisor, had an ECC debate between him and his opponent, the person that’s currently the township supervisor. The Political Science instructor and the students at the college developed a set of questions for him, and one of the questions was, “Tell me the best thing about your opponent.” The opponent that Vern had didn’t have anything really – he kind of hemmed and hawed a little bit. But Vern was tuned right into it. Vern came up with an answer, saying that, “Well, the former group has put together some good programs, but I think that you know we can enhance some of that.”
And I think we can too. We all think that.
Are there any programs you would like to enhance in particular?
I feel seniors, that are living in some of the communities, would like more fellowship with their peers, and that there’s a lot more that we can do to help with that good community building.
They made a seniors program called the Seniors Cafe that really worked out. People sit in a cafeteria type setting, and they play board games or do crafts while they’re listening to audio books. It’s been a very popular group, and I think we can enhance it to build even more community there.
There are also a couple of programs where they have a seniors’ pass that provides seniors access to different things – like getting into museums and programs at ECC and other events that are setup for no charge. I think it’s a great idea, and I’d like to enhance that senior pass program.
For example, they inherited a passenger bus, and I think we could be using that more effectively. It often just sits in the parking lot, and we could have it as a delivery system for the seniors. Elgin Township is unique – it encompasses Elgin, South Elgin, and all the unincorporated areas. And a lot of the unincorporated areas are rural, there’s a long driveway to the houses, and the public service is not functional for seniors. I think that by utilizing that bus more effectively, we could help seniors living in those areas.
There’s a lot of things like that that we could make better, I think.
If you’re elected as trustee, what are your top priorities for your first year?
Top of the things that we want to do is to make sure that all of our finances and everything are very transparent. They have their meetings online, but they don’t record them. People want to know what’s going on, but if they don’t make the meeting, they can’t see it. They can join the Zoom, but they can’t follow up on YouTube or anything like that. We want to make that [recording and uploading meetings] part of it. Just open the communication lines better.
Another thing on my to-do list is the facilities that we have at the township building. It’s got 3 rooms that groups can have meetings in, for an annual fee, but they have to bring in their own AV stuff that takes time to set up. Installing a projector system and a PA system, along with good internet is some needed updates. There’s a cost to it, but it makes the building more functional for meetings.
What are your thoughts on the proposed 0.75% tax increase?
I think because my wife is a board member, and I’ve been to several of their meetings, I’m able to track that and understand pretty well. The previous administrations did not increase the county portion for the tax bill for 12 to 14 years. There was no routine maintenance plan. They built a couple of big facilities that have air conditioning systems in them, and there was no scheduled maintenance on it. As in a house, changing filters and follow up warranty requirements are necessary. They went many years without doing any of that, and so now the life cycle of that equipment has been shortened – because they didn’t have a routine maintenance schedule – and now money is needed to replace the neglected equipment.
Basically, when you look at the dollars and cents of it, it’s 75 cents per $100 is what the tax raise would be. And it’s a sales tax. It doesn’t only go to the people in the county. It goes to anybody that comes through the county for any stuff that they buy. They stop and get a McDonald’s Hamburger, or something like that. If you go into the restaurant and eat. So everybody that comes through the county helps support that tax. It’s not just the people that live here. There’s a big shopping center out in Aurora that people come from all over go to. There’s a truck stop on the other side of town that truckers come through all the time. It’s one of these rest stops where they can shower and get food. They can get clothing. All of that stuff would be taxed, and that wouldn’t be paid by people in the county. So I think you know, 75 cents on a hundred dollars. I hear the expression that I’ve got that much running around on my console in my car. You know?
So well, it’s easy to support that
Why should people vote for you?
I’ve got a lot of life experience. I have served in the military, I was a field service person and manager for 30 years for AT&T. I have, with my wife, been in many aspects of politics and campaigns. We, as a team, have some things we would like to make the township function better for the community. Historically Elgin Township had been under Republican rule since almost the civil war. We had a Democratic majority for 4 years, but the next 4 years went Republican, and I think it’s time to bring it back to the Democrats.
Is there anything else that you want to let voters know?
I think the important thing is that people have to realize, more than they have in the past, how every vote is important. I think where we have our strongest point is community building, and community, at the grassroots level, is our greatest resource.
