7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Mike Pollocoff, the village administrator for Pleasant Prairie.

Mike Pollocoff really enjoys spending time with his family. And when he wants to relax he loves fishing, preferably fly-fishing. He says that when his tenure is up in his current position, he would like his legacy to be that the Pleasant Prairie Village Board was advised and guided professionally, without fear or favor, and that Pleasant Prairie is a progressive and safe community in which to live and conduct business.

Mike Pollocoff will now take your questions ...

With the experience you now have as Village Administrator, what would you have done differently?
Asking what one might have done differently over the years is a multifaceted question. Each individual experience from the past has a cumulative effect on both who we are and what decisions we make today. Each individual experience has contributed to how I assess and handle situations that arise today. In that regard, I would not have done anything differently, because it gave me the experience I now have. Perhaps, however, if I could take one thing I've learned back to the beginning, it would be the patience that grows from experience.

How much longer do you expect to serve as Village Administrator?
Primarily, the work of a Village Administrator is to implement the policies and direction established by the Village Board. The Village staff and I have worked diligently to provide the Village Board with sound recommendations and alternatives as they consider the various issues facing the Village. As a community, we have been very fortunate over the years, because the Village Board has established clear policies and a positive direction for the delivery of municipal services. I am, and have been, very grateful for the opportunity to be here to help with some of the larger projects that the Village is working on. Pleasant Prairie is a wonderful community, and I sincerely enjoy serving the citizens of the Village at the request of the Village Board. I hope to continue doing so for some time to come.

What do you still want to accomplish as Village Administrator in Pleasant Prairie?
Our Village has an ambitious and attainable plan to become and remain a well-balanced municipality that provides a high quality of life for our residents. I want to achieve this goal by retaining talented employees who work to develop a balanced, sustainable community with quality workplaces, residential areas and community services.

What would you like to be your legacy?
I would like it to be that the Pleasant Prairie Village Board was advised and guided professionally, without fear or favor, and that Pleasant Prairie is a progressive and safe community in which to live and conduct business.

How would you like the Kenosha News to change its coverage of the Village and of the Board and Plan Commission Meetings?
As long as an account of business conducted during governmental proceedings shows all sides of what occurs and offers enough factual context to avoid leading to incorrect assumptions, I would take no issue with it. Some situations the community faces are quite complex and are not easily addressed with a simple solution. In these cases, it can be difficult to convey an accurate accounting without offering context. Citizens rely on the press for information, and it is a great credit to the media when it is provided accurately and completely.

What is the number one responsibility of the Village Administrator in Pleasant Prairie?
Ultimately, it is an Administrator's responsibility to ensure that high quality municipal services and operations, such as public safety, public works and others, are delivered in a financially responsible way that respects the contributions of the taxpayer.

How do you relax?
I really enjoy spending time with my family. I also enjoy fishing, preferably fly-fishing.

If you had to change jobs today, what would you want to do?
I would like to write a sports column.

How have the attitudes of Village residents changed from before the mass influx of former Illinois residents into new subdivisions to today?
I don't believe growth can be judged based on where it comes from, nor do I believe that residents' core attitudes have changed in response to growth. Village residents have always had high expectations from their local government, and rightfully so. A local government's actions and services have an immediate and powerful impact on residents' daily lives. One shift in attitude I have noticed over time and over the national population in general has been that people tend to look at situations with more of an individual perspective, an "is this good for me" approach, as opposed to a community-minded "is it good for the community" view. Perhaps this is due in part to the hit-and-run, less personal nature of electronic communication channels available through the Internet and fewer face-to-face, person-to-person meetings where people can see the impact of their contributions first hand. Government appears to achieve more common good when people have to deal with each other personally.