Monee Village Board Candidate 4 Year Term: Scott Youdris

Home Address/years in Monee: 5343 W Orchard trail, Monee, IL for past 8 and a half years

Community Involvement: As a trustee I try to be involved and support as many of the community organizations and events that i can.

Awards and Honors: 2017 United Rentals Safety Champion for the Tool Solutions Region

Professional Background: Student Patrol Officer for Southern Ullinois University, Ordiance Control Officer for Western Springs Police, Firefighter/Paramedic for Western Springs, Pleasantview, and North Palos Fire Departments. Retail Manager for Ace Hardware, and currently Inside Sales for United Rentals

Education: Associates Degree in Business Management

Family: Married to Lisa and father of Danielle and Cody. I am fortunate to also have my sister and two of her kids now living in town and my parents nearby in Green Garden.

Office Sought: 4-year term; I am seeking re-election for the position of Trustee for the vilage of Monee.

                                          GENERAL QUESTIONS

Why did you decide to run for this position? I have always been involved in my community wherever I have lived. From Indian Guides, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and church groups to Police Explorers to serving as a paid on call to full time as a firefighter/paramedic. I have enjoyed being able to help others. I first started thinking about trying to become a part of the fire commission board when I moved into town. After talking to then Mayor Jay Farquhar and Trustee Doug Horn, I decided to try to run for a trustee position. I started attending board meetings and felt with my experiences I could help make difference in Monee.

What qualifications/experience do you feel you possess for this position? I bring experience in public safety, retail, and consteruction from my past and current employment.  These positions have also taught me the importance of being a part of a team. I belive that being part of a team means being able to work with others that have opposing views and respecting each other to accomplish our goals. Listening  and hearing what others have to say is also very important.

What do you hope to accomplish? If re-elected, I hope to continue to improve our community. I want to see us get our pensions fully funded. I want to make sure that our Police and EMA have everything needed to keep us as safe as possible. This includes everything from number of employees to equipment and training. I want to continue to improve our roads and infratructure throughout town. I join everyone in town in wanting to finally get a grocery store for our town. I want to be a part of managing and balancing our commercial/industrial growth with the growth of homes and addition of new residents to our town. I am very proud of the comprehensive plans for our parks and village and look forward to helping make sure they both come to life.

What do you see as issues that should be prioritized in the near future? First and foremost is making sure that Monee is a safe place to live and do business. We need to continue to improve our roads and infrastructure throughout town. We need to make sure we maintain a balance of growth in our town that includes residential, commercial, and industrial. We need to be very mindful of ways to provide savings to our residents throughout this growth as well. We were fortunate to be able to provide a rebate to our residents last year and we all hope to be able to continue that every year going forward. In terms of economic growth, we need to continue make sure that Monee is a place that new busineses and residents want to to come to.

How can the Village of Monee improve the quality of service it offers? One way we are doing this is working toward our own waste water treatment facility to help reduce costs for our residents and businesses versus relying on an outside company. We are currently working to restructure the water system billing to provide greater savings to our residents. We have done away with vehicle stickers and charges for paying online. All of these give savings to our residents. As a board we work very hard to make sure we are providing the best services we can to our residients and businesses.

What would you like people to know about you? One of the biggest lessons I have learned since being a trustee is that this is more about being a team player than an individual accomplishment. By that I mean, as a Trustee we will accomplish a lot more by working together than doing anything just ourself. For me that means being able to use my experience as a guide to help make decisions and work with the other members of the board and different departments in our village. I am always open to listen to anyone with an idea or a question. I am very proud to be a resident of Monee and will work very hard to make it as great a place a I can.

On a personal note, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. in my spare time you can usually find me either in my garage doing some kind of woodturning project or on my deck with something cooking on my grill.

Any additional Comments: I want to thank the Vedette for giving me this oppertunity to tell you a little bit about myself. I want to thank the readers for taking time to read this, and I am asking for your vote to continue to serve you. Thank you, Scott.