Mark Stricklin: 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: Beach ParkWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Lake County board District 2Age: 56Family: Married, Wife, Susan Two Daughters, four grandchildrenOccupation: Self employed, independent insurance adjusterEducation: Graduate Trinity University with a bachelors in Psychology Microsoft Certified Engineer Cisco Certified Engineer Novell Engineer Certified by FEMA for Emergency and Disaster ManagementCivic involvement: passed involvement with: VIP, Violence Intervention Prevention NHS: Neighborhood Housing Servive South Side Positive Youth program Captain for United Way Day of Caring Captain for Christmas in April Exchange Club of Waukegan Waukegan Township Youth Corp Presently involved in: Serving as commissioner for Beach Park Zoning Board Democrats United for Fairness Coalition to Reduce Recidivism Congressional 10th DemsElected offices held: Waukegan Township Clerk Waukegan Township Highway Commissioner Precinct committeemanHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: noCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Lowering property taxes thru property tax limit (Property Tax Extension Limits), and thru limiting county government involvement in enterprises that conflict with commercial enterprises. i.e. putting golf courses back on the tax rolls.Key Issue 2 Jobs is tied to issue number 1. Encouraging business climate to attract, retain businesses to Lake County.Key Issue 3 Preserving open space for multiple reasons:1. Flood control 2. water purification and filtering 3.Preserving land help Control increase traffic flow in the futureQuestions Answers The county remains in the black, but property taxes across the region are high. Should programs be cut to save taxpayers money? If so, which ones and why?Any program that is recreational in its purpose is non essential and should be reduced or eliminated. I do not believe that it is the core function of county government to spend tax payer monies on programs such as golf courses banqueting facilities, or amenities that compete with local businesses. County governement should stick with providing basic services related to but not limited to infrastructure, judicial,and medical servicesWhat should be done with the Fort Sheridan golf course? If no building or management proposals come back from vendors, do you propose abandoning golf? If so, are you concerned about a lawsuit? If you propose building a course, how should it be funded?This was an issue last time I ran for county board. We should have never made the decision to be in the golf course business. The economics of golf courses are up and down and the whole country was riding a wave of Tiger Mania. I am an avid golf lover and a member of Chicago District Golf Association (handicap of 16), but county government should not be in that business or providing recreational service.I would look for creative solutions to possible sell ThunderHawk and use that money to bring the Sheridan golf course to a place that would entice some business venture to purchase the property. I would look at some initial tax breaks to entice and sell the property and eventually put that property back on the tax rolls.The Winchester House nursing home recently was turned over to a private company for operation. Should other county or forest district departments be privatized to save taxpayers money? Please explain.No, I do not believe in privatizing unless it means selling the enterprise to a private company. Turning over the Winchester House was a simply way of cutting the salaries and benifits of the present employees. This is a issue of negiotation with the unions for creative ways of saving monies.Is there a specific type of service or amenity that is lacking in your district? If so, how do you propose to provide and fund that?noShould the county continue to pursue open space policies' Why or why not?Yes, see answer above:Note:I do have a fourth issue of continuing to pursue modernizing the county government with electronic records to allow access to the records, meetings on line for a fair, honest and open government. I have a strong background in IT and can help provide leadership in that direction.