North Aurorans vie for new Kane board seat

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Sal Abbate is a Republican candidate for Kane County Board District 2.

Kane County REpublican District 2

Sal Abbate

Party: Republican

Age: 49

Hometown: North Aurora

Job: Regional software sales manager

Previous elected office: Precinct committeeman

Family: married, two teenage children

Website: Citizens4Sal Facebook page

Will Passalaqua

Party: Republican

Age: 44

Hometown: North Aurora

Job: Field engineer

Previous elected office: Precinct committeeman

Family: married, one daughter

Website: Will Passalaqua Facebook page

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Updated: March 24, 2012 11:25PM

NORTH AURORA — No matter who wins the March primary election, the Republican nominee for the newly redrawn Kane County Board District 2 seat will hail from North Aurora.

Both candidates, Sal Abbate and Will Passalaqua, said they feel now is a good time to throw their hats into the ring, even though cutting two County Board seats could tighten the competition for the 24 seats that remain.

“Actually, it’s a good time to run,” Passalaqua said. “Everything’s getting rearranged. That will make it easier to step in and make a difference. It might sound cliché, but I do want to make a difference.”

“I was approached by (9th District board member) Jim Mitchell because there’s no incumbent running in the new district,” Abbate said. “It’s a good opportunity to bring in fresh ideas.”

Passalaqua, a 44-year-old field engineer and Air Force veteran, said he’d like to focus on finance and ethics.

“I’m really big on fiscal responsibility,” he said. “I want to make sure we don’t spend more than we take in and that we don’t spend money on unnecessary things. The public presentation of the budget doesn’t include line items, so it’s difficult from the outside to see what expenditures might be unnecessary.”

He also said he wants to preserve the county’s borrowing power.

“We have a better bond rating than DuPage County, Cook County and the state. Making sure we pay our bills on time will keep that rating high so we don’t spend extra money on interest,” he said.

Passalaqua said he would like to participate in drawing up proposed new ethics rules for the county.

“If the ethics bill doesn’t have teeth in it, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on,” he said. “Politicians are not above the law. They should be treated like anyone else in a responsible position.”

Abbate said he wants to help keep county finances on an even keel.

“For the most part, the county has been fairly prudent,” he said. “I’d like to look at the budget to see where it could be cut and not take the easy way of raising taxes when revenues fall.”

A regional sales manager for business software company Carwoo, Abbate also said he hopes to save the county money by updating its computer systems.

“I’d like to bring the county up to speed technologically,” he said. “There’s a lot of paperwork, paper shuffling and duplication of documents now. I understand that the systems are old and that different offices can’t talk to each other electronically. For example, the circuit court clerk can’t talk electronically to the Animal Control Department, so whenever someone comes in to pay an animal control-related fine, the clerk has to get the documents from the department instead of accessing them online. That sort of inefficiency costs an incredible amount of money.”

Both candidates said they would look long and hard before approving more open land purchases by the Kane County Forest Preserve Commission. County Board members also serve as forest preserve commissioners.

“We need to scrutinize (proposed purchases) much more carefully,” Abbate said. “The Forest Preserve District should continue to acquire open space, but only if the price is right and it’s the right kind of open space. Buying land just because it’s empty isn’t fiscally responsible.”

“Everyone says now is a good time to buy land because it’s cheaper,” Passalaqua noted. “But you don’t buy something just because it’s on sale. I’d like to see the Forest Preserve District spend more of its resources on maintaining its existing facilities than on buying more open space.”