Meet Your Candidates: Village Trustee Hopeful Mike Bailey

Mike G. Bailey is a Wilmette resident, father of two and has 30 years of experience in public finance. A University of Chicago Law School graduate, Bailey has pledged to be responsible, honest and open-minded to increase transparency in Wilmette's government.

"I believe that a pledge of this nature is particularly important and necessary in a time of financial stress," Bailey said.

Board members serve four-year terms. Three seats are open this year, and six candidates are running—Bailey, Mike Basil, Bob Bielinski, Dan Kaplan, Doug Rathe and Julie Wolf.

Check out what Bailey had to say about pensions and economic development below.

How would you assess the state of the village’s budget?

Mike G. Bailey: The Village’s budget for fiscal year 2011 includes an increase in the property tax levy of less than 4 percent, but that relatively small increase is not a good indicator of the financial position of the Village. One problem is that the Village budget does not truly provide for funding of current costs, but rather pushes the burden of paying some of those costs to future years. In particular, the Village budget does not currently fund all pension obligations and defers needed capital expenditures. Without this deferral of current obligations, the property tax levy increase would have been greater.

The Village Manager has prepared the budget in a professional and thoughtful manner, and some deferral of current obligations may be appropriate in years of unusual financial stress. I believe, however, that the Village Board should more transparently highlight to the public the extent to which the Village is keeping this year’s tax increases small by deferring costs to future years.

If expenses need to be reduced, exactly what would you cut? 

Bailey: I have no current proposals to reduce Village services.

If more revenue needs to be raised, exactly what would you propose?

Bailey: I have no current proposals to increase taxes or fees. To the extent taxes or fees may need to be increased in the future, in general my inclination is to look first to increasing fees in cases where the fees charged for services do not fully fund the direct costs of providing the services.   

What, if anything, does the village need to do to adequately fund police and fire pensions?

Bailey: I respect the contributions of our police department, fire department and other municipal workers, and I believe that the Village should honor its obligations to them. I support efforts of Village officials, however, to seek further reasonable reforms of our state statutes dealing with pensions.

The problem of financial stress posed by state and local government pensions is both local and national in scope. Notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission this past year took an enforcement action against the State of New Jersey for improperly disclosing the real nature of its unfunded pension obligations. We need to learn from developments such as these and take to heart the need for clearer and more transparent discussion of this issue.  

I believe that a lack of complete disclosure on the part of state and local government officials is a large part of what got us into this mess, and that a commitment to honesty in its fullest sense is a necessary part of getting us out.  In that light, I believe it is the responsibility of the Village Board to take steps to “go the extra mile” to actively explain to the public the nature of this issue.  It is not enough for Village officials merely to make public complex actuarial reports without an attempt to explain the problems in plain English, to highlight the key assumptions, and to discuss more completely the short-term and long-term costs and considerations.

I believe that the Village as a whole will need to make difficult decisions to resolve financial stresses, and that the foundation for the broad public consensus necessary to make these decisions needs to be a clearer and more transparent explanation of the issues. I believe that my background and experience well qualify me to help to lay this foundation of greater transparency.

What ideas do you have to make the Master Plan a reality? How will you push forward economic development of the village center?

Bailey: The first and most important step that the Village Board can take is to modernize the zoning ordinances for the Village Center along the lines contemplated by the Master Plan.  The Village Board should be bold in revising the zoning ordinances to encourage the type of development contemplated by the Master Plan, but must also proceed in a measured and thoughtful manner that respects the character of the community. I do not adhere to the simplistic view that zoning changes that increase the values of particular properties are presumptively for that reason in the best interests of the Village.

The Master Plan alludes to possible taxpayer subsidies to push forward economic development. The much preferred approach is to proceed without any taxpayer subsidies, but I would not absolutely rule out their use in a compelling case.  I strongly believe however that, if any taxpayer subsidies are proposed for implementation of elements of the Master Plan, those proposals need to be highlighted to the public for community discussion.

The Village Board should not lose sight of the need to encourage appropriate development of other commercial districts.

If the state of Illinois succeeds in re-establishing the capital bill, would you support video gaming in this village?

Bailey: I do not support video gaming in the Village.

Briefly tell us what, in your background or education, has prepared you to make a contribution on this board. Can you offer an expertise that would be a resource to other board members?

Bailey: I am a longstanding Wilmette resident and the proud father of two children who graduated from the Wilmette public schools.

I am a nationally-recognized attorney specializing in local government finance. My experience and qualifications include:

• 30 years’ experience as a public finance attorney, representing a wide range of municipalities and state and local governments
• One of the chairs of the public finance practice of a major national law firm
• Chair of an important federal advisory committee dealing with local governments
• Past Chair of the Tax Exempt Financing Committee of the American Bar Association

I am a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School (JD 1981) and Stanford University (BA 1977).

My extensive experience working with municipal governments, including completing municipal transactions and authoring important policy reports, will enable me to effectively serve the Wilmette community. I also believe that my background and experience will enable me to help the Village to identify federal and other subsidy programs that can help the Village to move forward.

For more information about my background and positions go to: http://mikebaileyforwilmette.com

How would you assess the public services the village offers residents, including police, fire, trash pickup, snow removal, responsiveness of village hall, etc.? What needs to be improved? Are residents getting adequate value for their tax dollar?

Bailey: In general, I believe that our Village Manager and staff are performing well and are delivering services at a good value. I believe, however, that the Village Board and the Village Manager need to more actively highlight and explain the financial challenges faced by the Village, and the extent to which our current approach is deferring financial obligations to future years.

What else would you like voters to know about your positions on issues or point of view?

Bailey: In running for this position I have come to much more fully understand that the Wilmette community is indeed just that: a community, and not just a collection of households, businesses and organizations.  Although the core of the character of our community springs from our families, individual residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations and houses of worship, the Village government also plays an important role in bringing our community together. In zoning and other matters, the Village Board is often called upon to weigh the competing interests of residents and property owners; I believe it is entirely appropriate for the Village Board to also consider the broader interests of the community in making such difficult decisions.

In running for this position I have also come to realize that it is important for each candidate to set forth a view of what should be expected of a Village Trustee.  In my campaign I have set forth my idea of this “mission statement” in the following pledge.