Palatine Township Trustee Candidate: Vince Farina

Palatine Patch will be helping you get to know the candidates for the upcoming special primary for Palatine Township. Meet Palatine Township Trustee candidate Vince Farina, who is running alongside ten other candidates in the February 26 special primary election. 

1) Name, office being sought, professional background, community affiliations, experiences that you feel qualify you to run for this office.

My name is Vince Farina, I am a Palatine Township Trustee seeking re-election. I have served my community for over twenty years including:Palatine Township Human Relations CommitteChairman-Palatine Township Intergovernmental and Transportation CommitteeVolunteer for various Palatine Township activities such as Angel Tree8 Years Rolling Meadows Plan CommissionRolling Meadows Human Relations ComissionRolling Meadows Home Rule ComitteePalatine Youth Baseball and Basketball CoachSmall Group Leader and also a Coach for 2nd and 3rd Grade Promiseland-Willow Creek Community ChurchFounding member of The Rolling Meadows Jaycee's and held VP positionsPalatine Township Precinct CaptainArea Coordinator overseeing the grass roots campaign for U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald for six local townships and also help campaigned for numerous local candidates.My background is in business sales and business sales management. I also have experience as a 6th grade teacher and run my own commercial cleaning business.

2) How long have you been a Palatine Township resident? 24 years.

3) What are the reasons you chose to run for office? (for the upcoming election)

When I first took office we inherited a serious budget deficit that limited some of the initiatives that we could provide to the community. However, our constituents have elected and re-elected me because I promised to run Palatine Township in an ethical, business like and fiscally sound manner, without losing sight of our ultimate goal of helping those in need. There are many projects that are still incomplete or in the planning stages that we have started such as improvement of building infrastructure and township roads,cemetary improvements, expansion of the food pantry, and technological initiatives to help the citizens of Palatine Township, whether they need help in crisis or day to day business.

4) List 2-3 top issues-and how you plan to address them-that you believe are important to residents living in Palatine Township.

1) Palatine Township is the lowest taxing body, with a balanced budget. It is due to the boards continued vigilance on spending in all area's, and through thoughtful business planning, with community input that I would like to see continued. I will not vote to pay for a project unless it is in the budget and fully funded. Most project's brought before me must be bid on and then the transaction must be transparent to our residents.

2) I want to continue to bring innovative idea's, policies and planning to the township. For example, through partnerships in our community we have been able to increase senior services and social outreach services, without increasing taxes. In the past, I have presented a plan to the board and implemented trial programs or technologies. Have all of my/our idea's worked? No, but I would rather take a risk on a trial for innovative solutions to make our govenment work better for our residents.

3) Working in the technology sector,I want to continue to pursue new technologies as a means to continually improve our services to our constituents whether it be to maintain our excellent township roads, improved efficiencies in the assessor's or clerk's office, general assistance or our State of Illinois Award winning website.

5) What improvements, if any, would you like to see in the way that Palatine Township is run?

I have never settled for an answer to a problem that says this is the way that something has been done in the past, and it is is business as usual. I have always been open to finding a new, unique solution to a project, problem, or outreach program. I am always open to new ideas from my colleagues and expect the same from them.With the economy in recession and more families in need, I would like to take a harder look at general assistance advertisement, funding, partnerships and technologies that would help more residents, eliminate fraud or purchases of unnecasry goods, and duplication of efforts between funding agencies. I want to expand local partnerships.We have had great success in working with community organizations who have generously donated their time such as YHOP, Blue Star Banner, local churches, and the Eagle Scouts to name just a few that make Palatine Township successful in helping all residents in need.

6) Biographical information, family, children, upbringing, religious beliefs, etc. (optional).

I have been married to Lyn for 24 years, and we have three children. Tim is a 3-2 pre-engineering major and baseball player at Illinois College and will be transferring to the University of Illinois. Leigh is a junior at Fremd, an All State softball player, and just verbally committed to play softball for the University of Illinois. Her twin John is in drama, group interpretation. Vince has a B.S. in Business Management from Northern Illinois University, MBA from Roosevelt University and teaching credentials from National-Louis University.