My name is Brian LeClercq and I'm running for Village President of Oswego. I have lived in Oswego my entire life and I currently serve as a Trustee on the Village Board. I would like to introduce my vision for Oswego.
Smart, Managed Growth
It's time to control our future growth in a smart way, giving our schools and infrastructure time to catch up to current demand and be prepared for future demand.
We can do this by attracting more corporate and selective high-quality industrial companies to our town. This will increase our property tax base, bring the higher quality jobs to our community that actually pay enough to support a family, and NOT increase the demands on our schools, our roads, and our police and fire departments.
Cooperation with Our Neighbors
By forging and maintaining positive relationships with our neighboring communities, we can put an end to developers and retailers pitting one community against another when creating new development agreements. We also need to ensure that development agreements are truly equitable for the Village of Oswego by increasing minimum lot sizes, raising building permit fees for new construction, and having open and honest dialogue with the other governmental agencies that are impacted by the development so that impact fees help keep our taxes lower. It's time to ask the most of the developers and not the least.
Eliminate Utility Tax to Protect Seniors
We need to find ways to end the tax on utilities. I have never supported this tax and never will. Our valuable older members of our community are being taxed right out of their homes because of skyrocketing property taxes. The Village has taken small steps to prevent this by offering tax breaks to Seniors who rent, but what about those who are homeowners? Why burden them with more taxes on utilities like gas and electric they need for heat, and the phone service that may be the lifeline they need in an emergency situation.
Team with Other Local Agencies for Improvement
Everything I support impacts several other governmental agencies: Oswego School District, Oswego Public Library District, Oswegoland Park District, Oswego Police and Fire Protection Districts, and Kendall County. We can no longer pretend to live in a vacuum - we need to be accountable to all residents of our area, and to those who serve and protect us.
