Dave Barry: 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: BartlettWebsite: http://www.electdavebarry.comOffice sought: DuPage County board District 6Age: 63Family: Christy and I have been married for 23 years, we don't have any children ourselves, but we have some 18 nieces and nephews who come in and out of lives on a regular basisOccupation: I've practiced law in DuPage, Cook, and Kane counties since 1992, I assist clients when they seek bankruptcy relief and foreclosure defense. I have my own legal practice in Wheaton.Education: Juris Doctorate Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 1992 Bachelor of Arts St. Mary's University of Minnesota, 1971Civic involvement: I'm a member of the Barlett Lions Club and the Bloomingdale Roselle Kiwanees Club.Elected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 I want to use the authority of the county board to create more jobs for local residents. The best way to create jobs is to create new businesses. The county board needs to aggressively pursue every state and federal grant or subsidy to rebuild our infrastructure for needs of the twenty first century. I would concentrate our efforts to develop new business incubation centers. Lastly, the county board needs to promote and develop a means to favor local businesses in the bidding process, I don't understand buying supplies and services from outside of our county when we need the business at home.Key Issue 2 We need to reform our bidding process, too many personal services contacts are awarded without any bidding. I understand these contacts may be legal, but legal isn't a very high bar to climb over. I believe voters deserve more than legal, they deserve the best. I will remain engaged with the voters after the election, voters will be able to interact with me on my elected official facebook page and website. I keep track of my time spent on my clients' needs so I will keep track of my time spent on county business and post these monthly time records to my website.Key Issue 3 The failure of the county board to really implement an open and honest government. It seems that the county is always responding to a scandal, i.e. the Water Commission scandal where county officials spent $69 million dollars from reserve funds without authorization, the federal investigation into the DuPage Housing Authority where $10 million dollars went missing, and the current federal investigation in the bidding process at the Dupage County Forest Preserve. As a former internal investigator with the Illinois State Police, I investigated state employees and their accomplices for bribery, forgery, and theft of government funds. I can bring these skills to the county board where we can develop a proactive program to avoid these situations and costs to the government.Questions 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?I'm running for office because we need an open government, an honest government, and a government willing to create jobs. The current board closed our award winning juvenile detention center and cut good paying jobs, even though they had a reserve fund of almost $49,000,000.00. I'm afraid that water commission and housing authority scandals are only the tip of the iceberg. I applaud the current attempts to bring openness to the county board, but there's still a long way to go before DuPage residents have full trust and faith in their government.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?As a challenger, I would bring my skills that I learned as an attorney for the past twenty years, such as analysis and listening to my client's concerns, and my investigative skills, to the county board. It would be my priority to create jobs here in DuPage County with rebuilding our infrastructure and giving county business to DuPage companies.How can the county best manage its growth, growing diversity?If the county wants to manage its growth and the diversity of its residents, it can't be a top down policy. With no disrespect to the members of the county board, they mostly represent only one of the many cultures in DuPage County. So this new policy must be developed from the bottom up with imput from the members of all cultures, in fact some of these members should be the driving force in the new policy.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 don't think that it's not so much how many meetings a board members attend, but their involvement in county board business. Over the past twenty years, I've kept track of my time for my clients so I pledge to keep track of my time spent on county matters and post this information on my website. By posting the time spent, everyone can learn what a board member does and how much time it takes.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?I'm willing to make a pledge not to take pension. I don't have any questions about the current level of the members' pay, but I have serious doubts whether county board members, a part time position, should receive a pension that pays 80% of the highest pay after eight years of service. Our reserve military forces have to wait to retirement age to receive a pension.