Election 2013: Mike Benoit

Name: Michael T. Benoit

Position Sought: Frankfort Township Highway Commissioner

Campaign Contact Information: mbenoit@victory2013.com , www.victory2013.com

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

To reduce government spending thus saving the taxpayers money.

Home Address:  1005 Prestwick Drive, Frankfort IL 60423

Family Members: 

Education:

High School: Graduated from Stagg High School

College: Graduated from the IBEW Local #134 Apprenticeship and continued studies in business and finance at UIC.

Current Occupation and Employer:

President and Founder of John Kelley Electric

Political Party Affiliation: Democrat

Why are you seeking office?

Because I feel that the current township leadership has misled the public and has wastefully spent money that did not need to be spent. I felt I could utilize my talents as a successful business owner in helping the township reduce cost and save the taxpayers money.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

I have proven myself as a successful business owner by growing my company in less than two years from very little to an annual gross revenue of nearly 3 million dollars a year. I was also able to grow my company and hire more people in harsh economic times when other more established companies were laying people off and cutting back.  My opponent hasn’t had to survive during the harsh economic times that a lot of us have just endured and are still going through.  He was always guaranteed a paycheck from the taxpayers that has been in excess of $70,000 a year for the past 8 years. Furthermore, he has offered his family and friends the same security by employing them in the Highway Department.  I know what it’s like to not have that security blanket my opponent has enjoyed the past 8 years and I will never become complacent like he has, that is what sets me apart from my opponent.

In your opinion, what are the primary challenges facing the township?

I cannot speak for the Township itself since Highway Department is autonomous from the Township and Assessor’s office.  As for the Highway Department I can think of three major challenges:

1)       The cost to run the Highway Department

2)      Construction zone safety

3)      Transparency in regards to the Highway Department

How will you address those challenges?

1) My plan to reduce the cost of the Highway Department has 3 major phases. First we will address the cost to run the Highway Department by cutting jobs and salaries right away.  My company has an operating budget that is almost identical to the Highway Department however we are able to operate on a third of the office staff.  We are able to do that by hiring more qualified people who know how to do more than just one job at a time and are more technologically savvy, compared to the current Highway Department staff. Secondly, we are going to  reevaluate the current fleet of vehicles used by the Highway Department and find ways to employ new technologies that will make the Highway Department fleet more cost effective. Thirdly we are going to go through each line item of the budget and cut it by a minimum of 20%. We can do this by bringing in more competitive vendors and bid out everything pertaining to the Highway Department from office supplies to fuel.

2) Going door to door the past 3 months I have heard one constant theme from everyone I have talked to, “ Route 30 is a nightmare”, and being a resident of Frankfort, I use Route 30 everyday. I have been in construction for 17 years as an IBEW Local #134 member, and I have been on some very large road projects, and I have never seen such disregard for safety on a road job than I have seen during the widening of Route 30.  It is quite evident that my opponent has no education in terms of roadway safety and is extremely unqualified in this regard.  I will be more vigilant in regards to roadway safety when it comes to the contractors who are hired with taxpayer money to work on our roads and will push for much harsher penalties for anyone who violates the laws meant to protect everyone during road construction.

3) When it comes to transparency regarding the Highway Department we will fix it by making everything accessible without a FOIA request.  In the early stages of this campaign we had to actually hire a lawyer to obtain simple documents such as salaries and the budget.  My opponent was so afraid we would find out how much him, his family, and his friends make that he actually tried to block us from obtaining this information. The taxpayer shouldn’t have to hire an attorney to find out how much his or her elected official makes or what the government office actually spends money on. This should be information readily accessible to everyone at all times and I will make it all accessible the first day I take office.

If elected, what will be your philosophy as a member of the township board? 

My philosophy as Highway Commissioner will be the same as in everything I do. I am very disciplined, so in anything I do in life I start by gathering all the variables, I then evaluate those variables, formulate a plan, and execute that plan. As a taxpayer of Frankfort Township I have a stake in the game and I am the only one on the ballot for Highway Commissioner qualified enough to come up with a plan to stop the overspending that has occurred the last 8 years.

Please add any other information pertinent to your campaign.

I am very proud of our campaign, this started back on December 4th when at our caucus we nominated a very dynamic slate.  We have been out every day since December 5th, knocking on doors and talking to people. It has been one the most fulfilling experiences of my life and I will never forget it but we are not done. We have 2 more weeks and many more people we would like to talk to. If anyone would like to get involved and help I can be reached by email at mbenoit@victory2013.com. It is time for a change in Frankfort Township, when every other Highway Department is cutting back, the current Frankfort Township Highway Department has been expanding.  This needs to end permanently and to do that I need help. So again, I ask anyone who is tired of government overspending and elected officials using taxpayer money as their own private piggy bank to please contact me at mbenoit@victorty2013.com or visit our website at victory2013.com .