Arlington Heights Mayoral Candidate: Ron Drake

Arlington Heights Patch wants to help you get to know your candidates for Arlington Heights mayor. 

1) Name, professional background, community affiliations, public and private service, other experiences that you feel qualifies you to run for mayor of Arlington Heights. 

Ron Drake - Business Development Director 

• Mayor of Avondale, AZ 2000-2006 
• 2006 Republican Nominee for AZ Congressional District #7 
• Volunteer for Frontier Days 
• Graduate of the A. H. Police Citizens Academy 
• Board member of Maricopa Association of Governments Board 
• Board member of Maricopa Association of Government Transportation Policy Committee 
• Board member of West Valley Fine Arts Council 
• Board member of the Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce 
• Board member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council 
• Board member of Westmarc 
• Lead Spokesperson of a 22-city and organization coalition in the siting of the AZ Cardinals Football Stadium 
• Spokesperson for the 16 billion dollar Maricopa County Transportation Plan 

2) How long have you been an Arlington Heights resident? Since 2007

3) What are the reasons you chose to run for Arlington Heights mayor? 

Having lived in Arlington Heights now for 6 years, I saw the need for a pro-business leader. My experience in business development and as Mayor led me to run. I felt the amount of vacant office and store fronts were too numerous for a community like Arlington Heights. I believe that someone with my background and record of success in the public arena should step forward and assist the community in turning it around. 

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

Taxes - The tax burden on the residents of Arlington Heights has become the number one issue in this campaign. I have been hearing since I announced my candidacy "why are taxes so high and what can be done to get relief?" Some would offer to give relief once that tax assessment has come which in my mind is after the fact. My belief in creating a less taxing community is to develop the retail and commercial sector into a sustainable economy. If we continue to lose or under-develop our business community, than we are taxing the citizens to support the government. Then the taxing of the citizens leads to less money to support the business we do have so the downward spiral continues. 

Business Climate - As I previously stated, the lack of a strong business climate, is a key issue for many. The numerous vacant properties around the Village and in the Central Business District (Downtown) is alarming. Not that the country has not suffered a serious economic downturn, it has, but what Arlington Heights has not done to quickly improve their situation 

is a serious concern to me. An effort to attract new businesses and retain the businesses we currently have needs to be re-focused, because whatever it is we are doing now is not working. We lack a marketing plan that correctly brands Arlington Heights. Asking people to discover a Village that just celebrated a 125 year anniversary is not the message we want to send. The Village needs to set in motion a new marketing plan that has a strategy, guidelines for success and benchmarks to measure that success. My belief is Arlington Heights should be destination city for business, entertainment and shopping. 

Term Limits - This is not a Monarchy, we live in a Democracy. This Village is abundant with talented people who are already making a difference in so many ways in our community. To offer a specified time on the Board so others can participate is another way to keep the talent in the forefront of our Government. Some argue that to take someone off the Board takes away from the "institutional knowledge" they have to offer. How is that institutional knowledge working for us in Washington, D.C.? The same applies to Arlington Heights. Times change, people change and the influx of new ideas is a good thing for everyone. If it is good enough for the President of the United States, it should be good enough for the elected officials in Arlington Heights. 

5) What improvements, if any, would you like to see in the way that the village of Arlington Heights is run? 

Overall, the Village of Arlington Heights is run well. The Police, Fire and Public Works Department are delivering excellent service to the community and that has to remain the same moving forward. Social services are also well managed and that is evident by the Senior Center and support the Village provides for those in need. 

However, I would like to see changes to streamline the business application process. I believe the current administration has created to many commissions and boards that businesses have to move through during this process. Any business should be able to make application to the Village, have that information moved to a Planning and Zoning Board and then to the elected officials. To have a meetings with any other advisory board is time consuming and costly to our business community members. 

Secondly, the personal communication from the elected officials to their citizens is not what it should be. In my opinion, is if an elected official is contacted by a resident, there should be no reason they do not return that call, letter or e-mail in a short period of time. I personally contacted our Board when I first decided to run and requested a meeting with each member except Mr. Hayes to introduce myself and as of today have not received communications from some of them. That is inexcusable. Too many other people have shared the same story with me. The elected officials work for the people; it appears from the high taxation in this Village, they believe it is the other way around.

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

Married for 30 years to Diane, we have two children and two grandchildren. 

7) Additional comments, any other relevant information to your candidacy you would like voters to know about you.

While Mayor of Avondale, AZ Money Magazine ranked Avondale 3rd of all cities in the United States for job growth. We need that same focus on Arlington Heights moving forward. The slogan I believe we need to send through the business and development community is this, "Arlington Heights is open for Business." Secondly, the focus I lived by and asked all the members in our organization to live by is simple. If it makes our community better, than we should do it. This also applies to our policy-making on the Board. If elected, my focus will always be on what is best for the community as a whole and not what is best for an individual or myself.

In the coming weeks, stay with Arlington Heights Patch as we continue to bring you important information about your candidates, and the April 9 election.