Address: 202 Clubhouse Lane, Oswego, IL 60543
Campaign contact information: Cell Phone: (630)220-4690; E-Mail: mike4coroner@aol.com
Age: 52
Family: Married 29 years to wife Kathy. We have two children – Emily and Scott.
Education: High School Graduate (West Aurora High School), Graduate Waubonsee Community College (Degree – Criminal Justice)
Candidate Questions
1) Why do you want to be coroner?
After signing on to be a Kendall County deputy coroner, the realization came to me that my life’s experiences could serve not just my local friends, and relatives, but my fellow citizens of Kendall County. After my combined 33 years of service in the Kendall County Coroner’s Office, the Oswego Fire Department, and the Aurora Police Department, these eyes have seen the toughest sights that a person could have ever imagined. Should my election be successful, my goals will be set to creating a total caring atmosphere in the Kendall County Coroner’s Office, not only for the grieving families, but also for the struggling taxpayers of Kendall County. My chosen life’s path has been towards the betterment of my community.
2) What experience do you have interacting with grieving families? What would your approach be to working with families who have lost a loved one?
As a patrol officer, detective, crime scene investigator, firefighter/paramedic, and deputy coroner I have dealt with the deceased and their families on numerous occasions. The approach when interacting with a grieving family member is of compassion and sympathy. One needs to know and understand that there are steps to the grieving process for a person(s) that have lost a family member, companion, or even a close friend. The family and friends who are grieving need to understand that they will have some or all of these feelings. It is important to listen to the family and friends and be able to guide them if they need assistance. I would always make sure that they have family, friends, or a clergy member that is available to be with them. I have personally experienced the loss of family members and close friends and understand the importance of providing support.
3) How would you characterize the current management style in the coroner’s office? What changes, if any, do you think should be made in the next four years?
I believe there is a documented lack of management controls (as noted by county auditors), and an unusual sense of self-worth (as noted by the newspapers), that has created a sense of entitlement, not service, in the Kendall County Coroner’s Office. As a former deputy coroner, my witnessing of the current coroner relying on his deputies to do almost all of the tasks in the office was mind boggling. There is an atmosphere of entitlement and questionable spending in the current coroner’s office. Changes in the next four years should be to reduce the budget by 20% or more and provide the public with the necessary services without thinking of entitlements and what’s good for the individual in charge. The person in charge should be frugal in spending and faithful to the community.
By eliminating the full time deputy position, having two part time deputies (not 6) to cover the weekends, and having a part time administrative assistant for ten hours during the week, the coroner’s budget can easily be reduced by 20% or more. Simply stated, I’ll show up to work, and process the lion’s share of the paperwork, no matter how important, or mundane. Of course my availability for calls, outside the office, will be greatly expanded upon, as compared to the incumbent coroner. Running for office just to get a paycheck, fringe benefits, and a title is not my way of conducting business. You will not ever read about my getting in the newspapers for complaining about how supposedly little the position pays, as the incumbent has done recently. The incumbent says it’s his last term if re-elected. What is his motivation to clean up his act?
Other changes included in the next four years would be to continually monitor the budget and reduce costs wherever possible. The county credit card would be eliminated from the coroner’s office. I would expand on the current public education program to include CPR classes and child safety seat installation. I would also take the time to listen to the community through a forum to understand their needs and make the necessary adjustments satisfying the requirements of the community.
Understanding this is a public position, it’s the community who should provide the requirements of the job and expect that those requirements are fulfilled and carried out by the person elected, without any issue or concern about how the budget of this job is carried out on a day-to-day basis. Knowing all this and how the community feels with budgeting issues, I am the person who can listen, act, and be responsible for the job!
Not being able to handle a budget is something the taxpayers care quite a bit about.
And you listen to a radio program from the guy who used to be the head of the NRA. What exactly does that have to do with this election?
Hultgren v Hastert - Win Wheeler v Hatcher - Loss Lea v Randall - Loss Hultgren v Foster - Win Giles, Michel, Johnson - Win Wass, Barocio - 1 Win, 1 Loss Ali Swanson - Win Barnhart v Kim - Win Koukol, Cullick, Gryder, Swanson, Vickery - 4 wins, 1 Loss These are all races that I sent out flyers, walked precincts, etc. Thank you for asking.
Phillip Smith - Loss Me v Hoffer - Loss Auditor Referendum - Loss I'm over 50%, can't pick all the winners, but getting the voters the information is important. Terry Michel beat Amanda Mancke by 17 votes village wide, however he beat her by 30+.in my precinct. It may not count in many elections, but you never know.
Anybody can run as an Independent, there is no primary for Independent Candidates; it is not a last minute affair. The rules for a run as an Independent are set by the IL. State Board of Election. Those rules are written to discourage one from campaigning as an Independent. Mr. Toftoy needed around 160 signatures for his Republican Candidate petition. Mr. Dabney needed over 1600 petition signers to get his name on the Ballot as an Independent Candidate for Coroner, a significant amount of work and accomplishment just to follow those written rules to have one’s name on the ballot. Mr. Toftoy and his team of Deputy Coroners have chosen to discredit Mr. Dabney, instead of choosing to campaign on his Record of running the Coroner’s Office. Mr. Toftoy is a Manager of a Fleet of Deputy Coroner’s, Mr. Dabney has said he running for Kendall County Coroner to be the Coroner and do actual coroner duties, do his own investigations instead of farming all that work out to others, like Deputy Coroners. By doing that workload himself, he can reduce the Kendall Coroner’s Budget by over 20%. We had 256 deaths in the county last year, less than 25 deaths required On-Call/ On site Investigations, We do not need all the Deputy Coroner’s we have now, nor do we need a fulltime Administrative Deputy Coroner with County Benefits. The Dabney “Spending Reduction Plan’ scares the Toftoy Campaign and they have chosen to attack Dabney’s creditability, not run on the issues.
http://nodabney.com/2012/10/15/dabney-lost-oswego-home-to-foreclosure-in-2011/ Amy, above, articulates this election very well. It will be over soon. Now that the voting public knows Dabney, it will be NO Dabney.
http://thefirstward.net/2012/10/16/why-cant-kane-county-republicans-just-get-along/ Here is someone who states that he supports good Republicans only, and then he goes (or his wife allegedly)and works for a Democrat? Can this man's information be trusted?
On the job performance speaks volumes, much more than any political rhetoric. I have seen them both in action. I truly wish I never had. No one wants to call 911. No one wants to meet the Coroner. But since I have done both, for me the choice is clear. I don't care if Mr. Toftoy gets a steak. He deserves it, and I wish I could buy him one myself. He deals with death every day. It is his job to tell parents that their children will never come home. You can't imagine what it is to be in that situation. Shame on all of you who diminish the enormity of his job.
nuff said
You have struck a nerve with the system... CYA mentality... There were other paramedics there too... excuse, excuse, excuse after excuse.. Dabney is damaged goods.
other repugnant toftoy comments, looking for a raise
Hey Harry, See you at the polls and please don't waste your vote on Dabney. It's a lost cause already.
Good job Ledger Sentinel and Record, keep up the so so work on reporting the whole story, but hey what do you expect when you have Chicago Liberals running the only paper in town or the county?
http://www.kcchronicle.com/2012/11/01/conservative-coalition-backs-democratic-coroner-candidate/adfg7pf/?page=2
Steve, you have the order of things wrong. I decide who I am going to support and then I decide who I work professionally for. I have that ability because there are more people who want to hire me than I can possibly work for. I have a great deal of respect for Ken Toftoy and his record of service over two decades. And his opponent is such an embarrassment with his disciplinary record and his personal finances. This is documented at www.nodabney.com.
Could not say the same for yourself.
Have they said stuff about Dabney? I bet they have because if it was me having a joke of a person confronting me on nonsense, I would make comments to each other about the clown too. Milliron wants people to believe there are thousands of deputies for the Coroners office running around with guns shooting up the place. Well ask yourself, are there any news stories displaying this issue? No What is a "Fleet of deputies" and define fleet? If Dabney says he can do training via the internet, has anyone asked him where this training online is? Remember he cannot operate computers very well that's what one of his discipline reports points too. Does Milliron understand state statutes of Illinois that well? No, the Coroners office is well within the law of allowing deputies from the coroners office carry firearms. Why is this a concern when law abiding people carry firearms to protect the public. Milliron must hate the 2nd amendment because no one who backs the 2nd amendment would never even argue about this issue.