Dan Gott: 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: Des PlainesWebsite: www.gott4change.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: 55th State House District Age: 72Family: I am a lifetime Illinois resident currently living in Des Plaines, IL for past 11 plus years with my wife Rita. We have been married for 47 years and have 2 adult children and 2 grandchildren.Occupation: RetiredEducation: AS, Electronics Engineering, DeVry Technical Institute, Chicago, ILCivic involvement: I first joined the Republican Party in February 2014 just prior to the March 4th Primary Election. After the election, I stayed active in local community politics until June 2014 when I was appointed Captain for 34th Precinct located in downtown Des Plaines. Six months later in January 2015, I was nominated and elected as board member and appointed chaplain for the Republicans of Maine Township Organization (ROMT). Eight months later in August 2015, both my wife and I were nominated and elected 2015-16 Committee Chair Members responsible as team chaplains for Republican Women of Park Ridge Organization (RWOPR).Elected offices held: None, No Political offices heldQuestions Answers What needs to be done structurally to make the legislature more effective? Will you vote for your current legislative leader? What is your position on term limits in general and specifically for legislative leaders? Do you support the ongoing drive for a constitutional amendment on redistricting? What will you do to promote implementation of any changes you recommend?The most important campaign issue for me is to continue stressing how important it is to pass a balanced budget with structural reforms for state government. Illinois has a spending problem and not a taxing problem. We have greater than 6,800 units of government with redundant services. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on serving the people of Illinois, rather than creating a bureaucratic political system weighed down by financial mismanagement and wasteful spending. Illinois needs to be more efficient, productive and transparent. This means looking at our entire tax code, our sales tax, fuel tax and other taxes too numerous to mention. This can only be done through careful study, cost-cutting, less spending and special emphasis on reducing the number of government units from around 7,000 to less than 3,000.I will not vote for Illinois House Speaker, Mike Madigan (D-Chicago). I support Term-Limits and Fair maps to upend the culture of corruption in Springfield and return state government to the people. What's the path to assure a bright future for Illinois? We need to break the political chain that gives House Speaker Michael Madigan absolute power over Illinois I support the ongoing drive for a constitutional amendment on redistricting. If elected, to promote implementation of any recommended changes, I am willing to cross the aisle to negotiate with the opposing party to establish and pass a balanced budget with needed reforms.Would you vote for an increase in state income taxes or sales taxes? Would you vote for new taxes, such as on services? What is your position on a graduated income tax?I support Illinois tax relief and oppose any and all tax increases. We need to eliminate wasteful spending, freeze and lower property tax. I do not support a graduated income tax.What changes, if any, do you support in education and education funding in Illinois? Please be specific.School Choice is a better alternative compared to Common Core. I believe it's more appropriate to give parents vouchers and tax credits rather than give tax dollars to bureaucrats far from the classroom. Schools should compete for tax-funded tuition paid by parents who choose their children's schools. It's widely acknowledged that students attending private schools, where school choice is practiced, outperform public school students on most measures of academic achievement. On average, the cost of private schools is significantly less than the cost of public schools and their students go on to a higher level of academic achievement. I believe the falling productivity of government schools can be traced to three developments widely viewed inside the public school establishment. The first is the vast bureaucracy of non-teaching personnel. The second trend is the fall in average class size. The number of teachers rose faster than school enrollment since 1970. The third reason for falling productivity is a dropout rate that has not fallen despite large increases in spending and personnel. School choice has a proven track record. It's time to say yes to school choice in Illinois and no to government bureaucrats and special interest groups. School leaders would be free to create the required curriculum and programs they believe will be the most attractive to students and parents. School choice would free teachers from their current dependency on teacher unions, allowing them to act as true professionals.On Illinois' budget, specifically, where do you believe cuts need to be made?The key priority is to form a task force at all levels of government to study how we can reduce spending that helps drive efficiency higher and transform our state government through all the layers and to do it comprehensively. Greater efficiency means lower taxes.What approach do you support toward fixing the public pension systems?Illinois' pension system is famously underfunded; full funding of the pension system should be the highest state objective to initiate reforms. A report by the Civic Committee of Chicago, states "Illinois will face $145 billion in higher taxes over the next three decades" just to pay off the pension debt. Current data seen on the Illinois' economic landscape include $111 billion in total pension debt and $72 billion in assets to cover an accrued liability of $183 billion.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Being endorsed by Family-Pac makes a strong statement about my character, integrity, and ability to play a constructive role in making a real difference for Illinois in the General Assembly. When elected, I will remain steadfast to represent the hardworking taxpayers and families of district 55 in attempting to solve the many serious problems now facing the state. It is my goal to bring common sense conservative solutions to Springfield and shake up the career politicians.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.I'm inspired by Rev. Billy Graham. He preached the message of Christianity for forty years. He was adviser to several American Presidents.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Remain faithful in your Christian belief and always give people the dignity and respect they deserve.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Being dedicated to promoting core family values would be my highest priority, teaching others what I learned through life experience.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Learning high-level mathematics taught me how things work in the physical world. It helped me to achieve great success throughout my engineering career.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?I would tell them to put God first in your life. Everything else will follow and you will be blessed with good health and prosperity.