• Please list civic, professional, fraternal or other types of organizations to which you belong.

    Puerto Rican Lions Club, Wicker Park Lions, 31st Ward Democratic Organization, Elks, Old Timer’s Baseball Association, Lane Tech Alumni Association, Northwest Real Estate Board, University of Illinois Alumni Association, Polish American Club, Fundraising Board for the Puerto Rican Cultural Museum, Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican Parade, Treasurer for the Hurricane Hugo Relief

  • Have you held elective or appointive political office or have you been employed by any branch of government?

    State Representative of the 3rd District, 1983 – 1988
    Commissioner, Cook County Board of Review, 1988 – Present
    31st Ward Democratic Committeeman, 1986 – 1988; 1992 - Present
    Chairman, Cook County Democratic Party, February 2007 to Present

  • If elected, what would be your immediate priorities in office?

    The following initiatives will be accomplished in my first term in office as Assessor:

    1. I will shift the focus of the office to the taxpayer. I will institute a hearing process so taxpayers will have a voice in correcting their assessments. I will create an Outreach Program similar to the enormously successful program at the Board of Review which will increase taxpayer resources and provide access to services to tens of thousands of homeowners. There will be a true Taxpayer Assistance team in the office that will be responsible for working with community and business leaders to realize issues specific to an area and to help taxpayers navigate the appeal process. I will re-allocate employees to meet the demand of having direct contact with the citizens that pay their salaries. Finally, I will re-open all suburban offices to bring services closer to the people.

    2. I will work in Springfield to clarify, de-mystify, and simplify the homeowner’s exemption; reinstitute the 7% cap; and remove the artificial definitions of “household income” which serve to deny some exemption relief to our seniors.

    3. I will completely revise the reassessment notice to provide a total picture of not only the property’s assessment history, but will also include tax payments, sales, assessments of comparable properties in the area, appeal history, and other data to give a complete picture of the government’s record.

  • Many taxpayers have complained about their homes going down in value, yet their tax bills going up. What would you do to remedy this situation?

    I would create assessments that reflect true market value. The outreach program I will implement will be responsible for recognizing economic trends in the residential property market and also for working with business leaders and communities to understand the commercial and industrial markets.

  • By using technology, the current assessor has increased accessibility to assessment information for taxpayers. A taxpayer can compare his home’s assessments with his neighbors’. Still, many critics of the Illinois property tax system say it is still too complex and lacking in transparency. What will you do to increase transparency and accessibility?

    My number one priority for the Assessor’s Office is to create a process that is centered on taxpayers. I plan to institute hearings so taxpayers are involved in their appeal and can speak to staff responsible for analyzing the case. I also plan to create an outreach program throughout the County that will work within the community to keep taxpayers informed and also help the Assessor’s Office to make decisions informed by true economic conditions within communities.