Dan Bailey: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: WheatonWebsite: www.danbailey.orgOffice sought: College Of DuPage School Board Age: 62Family: Spouse Maria 3 Daughters and 3 grandaughtersOccupation: retired RR engineer, RNEducation: Associate Degree in General Studies, COD 1993 Associate Degree in Nursing, COD 2008Civic involvement: â#128;cent;Volunteer, Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization, Chicago's Little Village Neighborhood. 1983-present â#128;cent;Democratic Precinct Committeeman, Milton Township 1988-present. â#128;cent;Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, Past member of Board of DirectorsElected offices held: : Various local union management offices including: the Division President, Treasurer, and Legislative Representative for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers;1st Vice President and President of District 19, Illinois Nurses Association.Questions Answers What can the board do to help improve the relationship between the administration and its employees, including full-time faculty members?The Board must treat staff and faculty with respect and appreciation. They, not the buildings, are our most valuable asset. Assess the low salary paid to adjunct faculty. Hours are kept low for part time adjuncts to avoid paying for benefits. This results in common salaries of $11 to 14,000 K per year for part time adjuncts, many of whom have doctorate degrees. Are their salaries competitive? Are we hiring the best? Meet with staff to get their input on critical decisions about COD. It would make sense to ask for input from the faculty at board meetings, perhaps allow them a seat at the table, like the student board member. It is better to have their input before decisions are made. They have personal knowledge of the day to day needs of students, staff and faculty and the Board needs to hear from them.Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family - spouse, child or child-in-law - employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?No.With enrollment up, what should COD be doing as far as available classroom/lab space, staffing and course work options to keep pace with the growth?They should critically analyze any new building project to insure it is not just renovating but adding capacity for increased enrollment The Napervillle Center renovation cut planned classroom space in half without public discussion. Have separate projections of enrollment by program including best, worst and most likely scenarios to inform space considerations. A lot of conflicting enrollment data has been published. The Board members need to require staff to submit clear and factual information and be critical and discerning about that information. That way they can make the best decisions based on fact and not just be led by the administration. The board must insist on rigorous, regular, and timely evaluations of enrollment projections and overall utilization of COD classroom/lab, and staff resources. The taxpayers, students and staff deserve no less.The board recently agreed to keep the college's operating property tax levy flat for this year. Is the college reaching a point where a tax levy increase is needed? If yes, how do you justify it? If no, why do you believe that?I would first look at the waste and evaluate the apparently excessive reserves. Could we use savings from reduction or elimination of Waterleaf Restaurant subsidy and the excess salary for Dr. Breuder? Or will his golden parachute move us to need more tax income? Until we do a realistic analysis of the current $180 M in reserves and specifically define what risks of revenue loss we have we are trying to hedge against, we cannot tell whether the current balance between state, taxpayer and tuition revenue sources is appropriate. We might also have pension problems and be $15 M short or have 10 years' reserve.According to a recent Daily Herald report, COD board members approved more than $26 million in spending over a 16-month period without seeing what they were specifically paying for. That's because of a long-standing board policy that allows administrators to pay bills of less than $15,000 without providing itemized reports. Should that policy be changed? Why or why not?The Board may not want to see it but the public does: Oct-Dec is now on the website. You can now see that payments are being made in that account over $15,000, some non-bid professional services as well as the operating payments for COD Foundation members. The current Board appears to be asleep at the switch. As a board member I will insist on much closer oversight of spending. Management may have been stretching rules by calling some contracts professional services (like lobbying) , so exempt from bidding requirements. In December there was also a $21,000 imprest payment for cameras, yet another violation of the $15,000 rule. This is unacceptable. Financial oversight is the Board's first and most important responsibility. The Board has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and they are clearly not doing their job.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?1) Reestablish the proper relationship of the Board to the president. With Dr Breuder's promised retirement we have to find a replacement whose goal will be the furthering of education at COD, care for the employees, and efficient use of taxpayers investment in this great local resource. Avoid even any appearance of making the main goal to maintain a source of profits for connected vendors. The board should periodically put professional services out to competitive bid, especially if they have a close COD connection. 10 - 15% savings could be achieved. 2) Transparency is critical. List no bid contracts and show capital project building status vs. budget and change orders. Post many more financial documents on the website to reign in questionable spending. 3) Respond to public questions to avoid FOIAs. The Board must visibly answer queries especially from the press concerning strategic priorities. At the start of each meeting the Board should answer factual questions asked in the prior public meeting. 4) Improve education and service to students including better support for academic advising for students who lack adequate past support and preparation for rigorous academic study. Current wait times for advising are ridiculous. 5) Assess COD's effectiveness by measuring the graduation rate and the jobs found in the field of study and student loan default rate. There must be efforts to insure student loans are understood and minimized to reduce student debt. Involvement of local companies should be encouraged to help define training needs for new employees.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Lisa Madigan is an example of an elected politician who consistently protects consumer TAXPAYERS, unlike the current Board.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?25 Oldest of nine. Children who are treated with respect grow up to be leaders, not followers. Transparency is good. Questions deserve answers, not obfuscation.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Spend more time in school because more education opens even more doors.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?25 Social Studies led to my interest and understanding of politics and the need for citizens to watch over and be involved in our government.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Put time and effort into learning what issues you feel passionately about and do something about them. This is essential to living life fully.