President hopefuls talk SSA
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com
JOHNSBURG – While a McHenry County judge decides whether a group of petitioners had enough support to halt a Johnsburg sewer project, the April 7 election results will indicate where voters stand.
The candidates for village president disagree over whether a proposed $10 million sewer project should be funded through the establishment of a special service area, or SSA, in which residents would pay more on their property taxes for a period of years to fund the project.
Longtime trustee and lifelong resident Ed Hettermann has defended the project and its funding mechanism since its proposal. Lorrie Filippone, a financial trader who moved to Johnsburg in 2000, has led the effort against the SSA both in town and in court.
“I’m opposed to the SSA concept. I’m opposed to the wording, I’m opposed to the concept,” Filippone said.
Hettermann said that although he supported funding the project through an SSA, he wouldn’t immediately move forward with the project if he were elected because the economy had soured. And he would pursue grants to bring property owners’ costs down.
“Nobody could project two years ago ... that we would be in the times that we are,” Hettermann said.
Hettermann and Filippone were interviewed by a Northwest Herald editorial panel Thursday. As Filippone gathered her things at the end of the meeting, Hettermann presented documents showing that she had only registered to vote in October 2008.
The McHenry County Clerk’s office confirmed Filippone registered to vote in McHenry County for the first time last fall, although Hettermann has voted in elections dating to 1974 when he registered.
Hettermann questioned Filippone’s quality as a municipal leader given her sparse voting record. Filippone responded by asking Hettermann why minutes from the committee that he chairs, the Development & Government Affairs Committee, weren’t updated on the old Johnsburg Web site.
Among Hettermann’s chief priorities, he said, was to maintain village services while the economy caused revenue to decline.
“Our village, like others, must continue to find ways to cut costs and operate more efficiently, while maintaining a level of service our residents have come to enjoy and expect,” Hettermann wrote in a candidate survey to the Northwest Herald.
Filippone positioned herself as better suited to tackle tight finances because of her accounting and financial background, and fresh perspective as a non-government official.
“I think I will bring a fresh view, a new voice,” she said. “The village is a bit stagnant right now.”
