Bonnie answers questions about her employment

from Bonnie Alicea

What experience do you have that would make you qualified to be a Village Trustee?

     Most candidates will tout their time serving on boards and their voting records as the reason to vote them into a Trustee position.  I have sat on boards as well, researched the issues before passing votes, and can show that I have never been a rubber stamp member.  I personally think that sitting on boards do not make you a qualified person for office, showing what you can do for the Village is what makes you qualified. 

     Other candidates will tell you what they see wrong.  Not many can point to EXACTLY how to change what is wrong, or show examples of things they have done on the job to fix those problems.  I can, and I intend to tell the residents, that solving these problems are my specialty.

     I have a unique set of skills in my employment history.  I have been interviewed by the Brook Report about my past and won't bore you with these details.  I want to point out what I have been doing over the last five years of my life, and the impact I have made for so many people.  With these examples, you will see that I act on problems, not just talk about them.

     For the past five years +, I have been devoted to changing the lives of millions of people.  I have taken contracts that can better lives and companies, not just my pocket book.  I believe in Corporate change to make the lives better of Millions of Americans.  Here is my story...

     Shortly after graduating from college with my Master's Degree, but before I started my Doctorate Degree, I realized that I had a unique skill set.  I had worked with a great deal of low wage workers throughout my career and saw their struggles.  Homes were lost, food was scarce, and health insurance was nearly impossible to keep, unless it was state funded with low care quality.  Many of these low wage workers worked in more stressful jobs with more physical labor than those with higher paying jobs.  Many were Generation Y, who were being taken advantage of due to their youth.  Even more were minority, whom were treated like slaves in some companies.  I believed that everyone was equal and I could not bear to see low wage workers being treated shamefully when they were no different from you or I.  The way they were treated was based solely on their salary amounts.
    
      I came to realize that anyone, with any level of education, could go from rich to poor, middle class to poverty, just from a loss of a job.  I witnessed executives losing jobs and resorting to low wage jobs, just to feed their families. I realized anyone in the U.S. can falter and be stuck at a low wage job.  Low wage jobs affect children's health, nutrition, and even emotional well being. 

    I wanted to make a difference and I began writing my dissertation.  My dissertation, called "Motivating and Retaining Low Wage Workers", put me in touch with some of the largest companies in the U.S.  My research forged the way to new opportunities for these companies and to helping low wage workers achieve better and more consistent work life balance and on the job growth.  I came up with a cycle of "happy employees means happy profits", and have done guest speaking many times on the subject to the world's top employers.  I have been working in the Fortune 100 for over 5 years now as an Organizational Development Analyst, Trainer, and Change Management Expert.

    A synapses of one contract I held was with Walmart.  Walmart is the "Fortune 1" company with 1.5 Million employees.  Many of their employees earn under $10 per hour.  I joined the team to assist in the establishment of training, job descriptions, routines, offering better service, consistent jobs, and making their jobs easier and safer.  They began to have a better opportunity for growth and stability in their jobs, and the company profited from this.  My efforts impacted the livelihoods of over 1.5 Million employees, their spouses, and their children.  It also impacted stakeholders, CEO's, and shareholders profits.

    Another contract I had taken was with BP during the oil crisis in the gulf.  People were losing their jobs in the South and the business was going through major changes during the crisis.  BP employs 80,300 employees nationally.  Customer service representatives were being slaughtered on the phone, emails and mail poured in from across the country, and during all this BP was consolidating, laying off, and moving offices across the county.  The company was in a state of disrepair.  My efforts to assist with the changes and help them get through this time was a high priority.  BP risked losing so much money that they could have closed their doors, putting 80K people out of work, devastating the already high unemployment numbers and families involved.  This would have also hit the trading community and many people that invest in stocks for their retirement. 

    My track record of saving jobs in a poor economy while cutting costs for organizations has put me in a high bracket of "the most sought after consultants" in the U.S.   I am usually brought into a situation that needs someone strong and experienced, and can get things done.  I believe there is a balance, where both the company and the employees can exist in a win-win situation. I also believe that all work is noble work and it does not matter what your pay rate is. 

     As a professor, I instill this in every student that takes my courses.  This is the same reason I am running for trustee.  Bolingbook workers are being cut, many have to shoulder the work of two other employees due to the cuts.  Some work different hours then they did before the cuts.  They are not secure in their employment, as Bolingbrook's high debt will surely lead to more layoffs next year.  Bolingbrook is still neck deep in debt without anyone on the board offering solutions to resolve this annual problem.  Bolingbrook has cut their services to the community.  Bolingbrook is just like BP in the middle of the oil spill.  Someone has to come in and plug the leak.  Someone has to help the workers (Police, Fire, service) while re-growing the business (Village, golf course, airport, Americana Estates).  I believe that someone is me.  I can use my skills to make Bolingbrook a better place to live for the tax payers, the workers, and the future.

 Frankly, I hold the same views of many other residents.  I am tired of the local officials stating that they don't know what to do while the oil (money) keeps leaking.  My message to them is "If you don't know how to address it, and address it quickly, then step down and let the experts do this." 

To the residents, I bring real solutions to the table and real experience to back it up.   Vote for me and vote to stop the leak. Stop the frivilous spending, stop the corruption, stop the lack of transparency, stop the rubber stamp board from authorizing leaking money, and hold people accountable for their actions.  Just like the CEO from BP stepping down, it is time for the people of Bolingbrook who caused the leak, to be held accountable for their actions and step down.  Voter them out and vote for change!