People Over Politics Candidate: Sean Kampas

ORLAND PARK, IL — Meet Sean Kampas, the Village Trustee candidate running with the People Over Politics Party in the April 2021 Consolidated Elections. The election is April 6.

Kampas recently filled out the Patch candidate survey, and his answers can be found below.

If you are a candidate for the April election, and would like to answer our Patch candidate questionnaire, please email yasmeen.sheikah@patch.com.

Sean Kampas

Age (as of Election Day)
45

Town/City of Residence
Orland Park

Office sought
Village of Orland Park- Trustee

Party Affiliation
People Over Politics

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
No

Education
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science (Magna Cum Laude)

Occupation

Solution Architect / Consultant

Campaign Website
https://people-op.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office
Technology Commission, Chairman

Ad Hoc Ethics Committee, Member and co-author of ethics ordinance

Emergency Services Disaster Agency (ESDA), member

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do
about it.

The fiscal stability of the State of Illinois is ranked dead last in the country. For decades, leadership in our state has continuously failed to address the reality of mounting debt and unfunded pension liabilities. 2020 census data shows that Illinois is one of only two states in the nation to lose population. With Springfield’s decades-long track record, I see little indication that our General Assembly will focus on meaningful cost cutting. That means that the rest of us remaining here will carry an even larger tax burden.

I cannot solve our state’s challenges as a trustee, but I can do everything possible at the local level to mitigate as much of that burden as we can. Orland Park can still thrive and be an example for the rest of the state by incentivizing business growth, ensuring the highest quality of public safety, and reducing wasteful spending. I am proud that our village, amidst significant financial challenges, has reduced property taxes by 3%. When Mayor Pekau took office, our debt was over $111M and our reserves would have depleted by 2020. Over the past 3 years, we have reset our course cutting our debt by $37M with reserves back up over 20%. This course must continue if we are to have any success against the mismanagement of the state.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I do not know enough about my opponents yet, so I can only tell you about myself. Over the past 3.5 years, I have been present and actively engaged in our village. I regularly attend our village board meetings and have gotten to know our village leadership and staff. I have proactively sought more ways to contribute my time and effort to make our community better through volunteering for the technology commission, which I now lead. When a poorly designed ethics ordinance was pushed through one meeting before the 2019 election, I volunteered to craft an ordinance that I believe to be a great model for other municipalities to adopt. When I saw the increased demands placed on our law enforcement officers over the past year, I joined our police department’s Emergency Services Disaster Agency (ESDA). Throughout all of this, I have felt incredibly rewarded by community service and getting to know more of the residents of Orland Park. For me, being a trustee is the next step I can take to dedicating more of myself to the community if Orland Park will have me.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform
While the past board was taking on debt for the triangle and planning to spend $23 million more purchasing a golf course, our roads were deteriorating. A professional assessment categorized 40% of our roads as being in poor condition. When the new board members moved to increase road work in 2019, they faced resistance from the 20+ year trustees. Our infrastructure is a paramount responsibility to our residents and businesses and should not be allowed to decay again.

During this past economically challenging year, we have still seen many new businesses come to Orland Park. Business leaders recognize the value Orland Park offers. With the failures of the state around us, our board must prioritize economic development and continue to encourage growth through performance-based incentives.

As both a technology professional and volunteer, I have gained a better understanding of our village’s technology footprint. Investment is required over the next 2 years to get us to “good” and I will apply my experience to find ways to further improve our village’s effectiveness and services through technology innovation.

Why should voters trust you?
For over 20 years, my career has focused on addressing complex problems, first through recognizing and properly defining them, and then crafting tailored and effective solutions. I do not bend to emotional pressure and seek to find rational, win-win answers where possible.
With all the divisiveness at the federal, state, and local levels, good people with a focus on community service can easily be passively discouraged from running. I was. However, I felt that the most consistent thing I could do to increase my service was to set those concerns aside and put myself out there. I have NO ambitions beyond being a trustee and the only benefit I see from serving in this office is the good that I could do for our community.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?
Diversifying and growing our local economy; diligent upkeep of our roads, parks, and facilities; ensuring a highly effective police department, and continued debt reduction.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?
I am fiscally conservative. Government spending must be efficient, transparent, and limited wherever possible to minimize taxes

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

I support the First Amendment and the right of the people to exercise free speech and peaceful assembly. In today’s culture of 24/7 news and social media virality, I wish that more would take the time to allow all facts to come to light before taking actions that create more harm in our communities. We have seen far too much of that from all sides of the cultural spectrum. By that same notion, no group should be wholly generalized by the actions of bad actors. We need to return to a shared belief of personal accountability and hold those that violate our laws accountable. I support measures that increase the transparency of our law enforcement (e.g.bodycams). Police officers that act beyond the scope of the law must be held accountable. Conversely,want on violence and destruction must also not be tolerated and cannot be culturally justified. Those that cross the line from protestor to criminal must also be held accountable for their actions

Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

Throughout my time directly observing the board and volunteering, I have seen the board (all parties) act in a manner that is consistent with racial equality. I know that I can only truly know my own circumstances and welcome conversations to address any issue.

What are your thoughts on the national and local coronavirus response? Do you favor measures such as limiting operation of non-essential businesses and restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a local mask mandate?

Human nature can drive all of us to jump to solutions before we fully understand the problem. That is also typically coupled with an over-simplification of the problem itself, often resulting in potential solutions being viewed as a polarity (e.g. good vs evil) rather than on a spectrum considered with downstream impacts. Adding fear into the mix will further exacerbate this tendency.

When we first became fully aware of the coronavirus, I supported measures to “flatten the curve ” However, after nearly a year, we have not seen as much as we should have in continuous improvement on the solutions employed by the government. I believe the term “non-essential” by the government’s standard is subjective. To the business owner who works to keep themselves and their staff employed and insured, their business is absolutely essential to their lives. I know firsthand the fear created from unintended consequences as I was laid off due to economic contraction caused by the government’s responses.

As mortal beings, we live our lives with inherent and continual risks from more than just the novel virus. In almost all circumstances, we apply personal accountability and respect for others in mitigating those risks. I support fact-based mitigations from the government but insist on full transparency on the data and methodologies used to create those policies. Science is a methodology, not a belief, that must be allowed to work through continuously challenging hypotheses and testing. Too often it is presented publicly as though the outcome, not the process, is resolute and unassailable. The state and county owed it to the citizens to be transparent in how they came to their conclusions and the supporting data.

I read the local mask mandate proposal and directly observed the debate. I now also have some experience in writing ordinances and found this one to be poorly crafted and incompletely considered. For starters, the ordinance aligned a lack of action, without consideration of intent, as disorderly conduct. All other infractions of disorderly conduct require an intended action (not an absence of one) and include riot, animal abuse, destruction of property, and pulling a false alarm to name a few. It would be a misdemeanor with fines for both the actor AND the business of $1,000. If residents thought this would be closer to a parking ticket, this wasn’t it. The ordinance also failed to provide language determining how logical exceptions may be made and can be found in many other examples around the nation. There was also a misconception, even by a trustee, that businesses could not currently enforce the state mandate. This is untrue and Chief Mitchell clarified during the meeting that businesses are encouraged already to call the police who can and will remove someone from the business property.

What are your thoughts on the state and local coronavirus vaccine distribution, and how do you think local governments should work together to handle vaccine rollout?

The village has a vaccine distribution plan for events like this and has performed exercises with staff in coordination with the county to practice the plan. That plan has not been activated by the county. I agree with prioritizing distribution amongst those with the greatest risk or most potential exposure to the risk. However, our state and many others have thus far fallen down on effective distribution. I hope this will be addressed quickly

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?
No.

The best advice ever shared with me was:
Be kind. We cannot control how others’ treat us, but we can control how we respond. Deliberate kindness, especially under stress, is a powerful salve.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I believe that those with differing opinions than my own have found me to be reasonable and fair in discussing those differences, even if we do not ultimately align. I would like to be a force in reducing the polarization and pressure towards group-think we all sometimes feel through media. I welcome thoughtful, polite discussion and can be reached at citizensforseankampas@gmail.com or on Facebook.