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Randy Hopp: Candidate Profile

Kane County Board District 22 (Democratic)

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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: ElginWebsite: NoneTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Kane County Board District 22 Age: 64Family: MotherOccupation: RetiredEducation: Graduated from Elgin High School 1969Graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign B.S. Metallurgical Engineering 1972Graduate School Colorado School of Mines Metallurgical Engineering 1972-1974Graduate School Massachusetts Institute of Technology Metallurgical Engineering 1974-1976Civic involvement: Big Timber Dancers 1961-Present.Song of Hiawatha Pageant 1962-1979.Gail Borden Public Library District Board of Trustees Meetings 2004-Present.Elgin Township Board of Trustees Meetings 2009-Present.Kane County Board Committee of the Whole, Full Board, Redistricting Task Force, and Board of Health Meetings 2009-Present.Fox River Water Reclamation District Board of Local Improvements and Board of Trustees Meetings 2012-Present.Walk with Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain 2014-Present.Elected offices held: Gail Borden Public Library District Trustee 2009-2013. Illinois Open Meetings Act Officer 2010-2013.Questions Answers Do you believe Kane County Board/Forest Preserve District members should have continued access to per diem payments, health insurance and pension benefits?The per diem payments to the Kane County Board Members for the days that they attended committee or board meetings ended years ago. The only per diem payment is for Kane County Forest Preserve Commissioners to attend the optional meetings of one Forest Preserve Committee. It is a useful incentive to encourage participation at a modest $30 per day cost. Board members and commissioners are employees of Kane County and need health insurance and a retirement program as everyone does. Employer provided benefits should remain an option, and members and commissioners may make cash contributions.For decisions that specifically or mainly impact one county board district, should the rest of the board defer to the wishes of the county board member who represents the impacted district?That is the way the Kane County Board currently operates, but that is not the way it should be. The County Board Member of an impacted district should take the lead in educating his/her board colleagues about the facts of the issue, but board members should exercise their own independent judgement about the usefulness of the proposal, the reasonableness of the cost, and the availability of funding for it when voting on a proposal, without feeling pressured to defer to the wishes of the impacted County Board District Member fearing that their future proposals will be rejected in retaliation.Do you support the redevelopment of the former Settler's Hill landfill? What is your vision for the future use of that site?The old growth forest on the west portion of the site should be preserved undisturbed. There should not be any excavation into the former landfill to avoid potential toxic contamination release. Some selective development along the south and east edges of the site along the highways would be acceptable.Do you support the push to keep the tax levies frozen for both the county board and forest preserve district? How long is it realistic for that freeze to remain in place?Yes, I enthusiastically support, more than any other achievement of the Kane County Board since the 2012 General Election, not only keeping the property tax levies for both Kane County and the Kane County Forest Preserve District constant but also keeping the actual amount of money collected by property taxes constant for the last three consecutive fiscal years and for the current 2015-2016 fiscal year which started December 1, 2015. Whether, this objective can be achieved for the next fiscal year will be evaluated in the budgeting process during 2016 and cannot be predicted now.Please list any elected office you have ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?Gail Borden Public Library District Board Trustee elected to a full four-year term 2009.No, I have never been appointed to fill an unexpired term.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?1. New Longmeadow Parkway Bridge over the Fox River and arterial highway north of Carpentersville.2. Additional lanes to existing arterial highways on the West Side of Elgin from McLean Boulevard to the western Elgin Township boundary that is mostly in Kane County Board District 22 for which I am a candidate to serve.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Candidate did not respond.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Candidate did not respond.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Candidate did not respond.