Dan Bailey: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: WheatonWebsite: http://www.danbailey.org/Office sought: DuPage County board District 4Age: 60Family: I am lucky to be married to Maria and proud of my 3 daughters and 2 granddaughtersOccupation: Registered Nurse at a local free clinic currently. Previously, 3 decades as a locomotive engineer.Education: Associates in General Studies COD 1993 Associates in Nursing COD 2008Civic involvement: Volunteer repeatedly with the Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization in Chicago's Little Village Neighborhood since 1983. Democratic Precinct Committeeman Milton precinct 64 in Wheaton since 1988. Volunteer with the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission in the 1990's. Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health board member and volunteer. Former Religious education teacher and member of the Public Ministry Committee at DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church.Elected offices held: Various local union offices including: Division President, Treasurer, and Legislative Representative for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Currently, President of District 19 of the Illinois Nurses Association. Democratic Precinct Committeeman In Milton Pct 64 since 1992Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 We need to make DuPage County more Fair by - Ending one party rule in DuPage County ? bring back a balanced two party system - Ending political contributions from vendors selling to the county - Ending high salaries and benefits for elected officials for part time work - Ending decision making that allows wasting millions of our resourcesKey Issue 2 We need to make DuPage Healthier - Increase availability of public transportation - Increase our commitment to bike lanes and bike paths - Increase access to health care by all our residents especially the uninsured - Increase educating the public about the importance of proper nutrition and exerciseKey Issue 3 We need to make DuPage County Stronger - Create new jobs by fostering entrepreneurship - Create a business friendly environment by keeping taxes low - Create a better business friendly environment by reduce # of taxing bodies - Create better understanding of the path to the jobs of the future ? ie vocational trainingQuestions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?My name is Dan Bailey. I am a DuPage Democrat who believes that DuPage should be fairer, healthier and stronger. Raised in DuPage, I started life helping my parents care for my 8 younger brothers and sisters. My wife Maria and I, raised 3 daughters in Wheaton. After 30 yrs as a railroad engineer, I went back to COD to become a registered nurse; to fill a life long desire to serve in health care. Now I work in a free clinic. As the oldest of nine, and a religious kid I believed in an America where if we work together and practice the values we talk about we will have better communities. It is up to us. We can make our communities fairer, healthier and stronger. If elected, I will bring this perspective to the county board. I will work for all of us, our families and our neighbors, and our future.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?I would bring to the board a unique perspective. a. 30yrs as a local railroad engineer along with volunteering with the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission for about 8 years give me a better understanding of transportation issues. b. Working as a nurse particularly in a free clinic gives me more understanding of health care especially as I see the effects of this economy and that our county health Dept hasn?t enough resources especially alone to keep up with increased needs from recent economic and demographic changes. c. I bring a different perspective one of front line working people not the usual manager/well to do point of view on the board. I've been a front line worker in factories and railroads for decades. So I may be able to understand and better represent issues of average middle class people who work for a living, the poor and the sick. I would prioritize the interests of our community members in working to enable this area to maintain a healthy economy and quality of life now and for our children.How can the county best manage its growth, growing diversity?To manage growth and diversity the county should increase public transit to increase access to work and businesses. Increase access to health care for all. Increase vocational training to employ all kinds of people. 1, Any new road construction or upgrades should include pedestrian and bike ways or paths because many people could get to work or wherever they need to go if there were safe bike and walking routes. 2. Since DuPage County Gov?t seems to lack resources to maintain the social safety net for our neighbors in this time of extraordinary need, we need to be creative. I would favor increased involvement and investment in public private partnerships that work to address these needs. So more support for some of the non gov?t social service organizations that work on needs that formerly might have been addressed by the county gov?t. Also encourage greater participation by businesses in support of these programs. We all need to work together to keep DuPage a great place to live for all its residents. DuPage County has experienced an extraordinary demographic shift over the last decade which requires continued commitment to effective collaborative partnerships, and new models that prioritize efficient and effective health services for all of our DuPage County neighbors. The Health Department has been an engaged partner in those initiatives, supporting the DuPage Health Coalition with $250,000 in funding in FY12, donating in-kind services supporting enrollment of patients in health safety net programs, and donating space to ensure that patients have geographically accessible health care. We need to continue to support (and grow) these partnerships, and look for new ways to partner that serve our community well. The DuPage County Board, Board of Health, and Health Department can?t solve our current health care crisis without partnerships, but neither can initiatives like the DuPage Health Coalition provide effective solutions without their support. 3. We could also try to match job training at our local educational institutions with the needs of our local businesses. For example the many new manufacturing jobs returning to the US from off shore need high tech training for these higher paying jobs.If incumbent, are you satisied your attendance at county board/committee meetings has been adequate? Describe the rough percentage of meetings you've attended. If non-incumbent, are you aware of the incumbent's attandance record and is it adequate?I will make this a priority and pride myself in my ability to meet my commitments. The constituents pay Board Members to attend meetings. I know that my constituents will judge me on my attendance record; I want to make the citizens of Dupage County proud of our local representation. While I can?t fault the attendance records of the 2 incumbents, I would ask if the current board has been as effective as possible while there. The county chair and board oversee several agencies that have misspent, lost or inappropriately spent significant sums of money. For example the DuPage Water Commission at $69 million, and the DuPage Housing Authority at $5.1 million. I am also concerned about the management of the airport authority as it presides over only one industry in its huge 600 acre industrial park. I want to see more done in transportation and health care, both important issues for DuPage now. Transit may be critical to DuPage?s future.What is your stance on county board members' pay? Too high, too low, just right? Would you propose any changes? Do you think county board members should receive pensions? If not, would be willing to pledge not to take one?The pay is about equivalent to full time pay for a lot of our constituents. It seems that the county board members and some other elected officials are treated far better with better salaries and benefits than the county employees who provide direct services to constituents full time. I would urge that the county board members be paid and have benefits under similar rules and scales as direct service employees of the county. If elected I will take my county salary but offer to continue to work for the free clinic part time without pay. I pledge to forgo any pension benefits until I serve enough time to earn them the same way that a clerk or other front line county worker would.