Transportation tops candidates' list
Three candidates running for 96th District House seat
A Naperville City Councilwoman and a commercial insurance broker from Aurora will compete in the Feb. 5 primary for the Republican nomination to replace Rep. Joe Dunn. Dunn will retire from his 96th District seat at the end of his term in January 2009.
Dunn has represented the 96th District in Springfield since 2003. Extending from Highway 88 down to 11th Street, the district includes the western half of Naperville, eastern Aurora and southern Warrenville.
The winner - either 37-year-old Michael G. Bowler of Aurora or 52-year-old Darlene Senger of Naperville - will face retired teacher Democrat Dianne A. McGuire, 61, of Naperville in the November general election.
The Sun asked the candidates to reply to a series of questions via e-mail about why they want to represent the 96th District in Springfield. Here are excerpts from their answers:
If elected to the Illinois House, what would be your top priority?
Bowler: I believe the main issues facing our area are transportation, taxes and the economy. Our local governments are increasing their levies, and on the state level, spending is out of control. We need to look at tax cuts for our middle-class families, who are feeling the brunt of this economy. And we need to take a serious look at what this governor has done to the business climate in this state. By raising fees on business and continuing to think the consumer is not ultimately the one paying it, he has driven business out of the state.
Senger: Hopefully the immediate transit funding issue would have been resolved by the time I would take office. My first priority would be to get to know my fellow representatives. My overall goal is to bring good jobs back to Illinois. In order to allow Illinois to compete globally, we need a good roads, good schools and a competitive business environment. We need to get the funding to widen Route 59, and we need to complete the STAR line.
McGuire: My top priority will be to focus on the practical, bread-and-butter issues that matter the most in the lives of Naperville and Aurora residents. Any capital spending bill I would consider must include provisions for comprehensive improvement of Route 59 and address mass transit concerns of this area. We need to be proactive and make sure our schools remain the best in the state. We need to make sure that our business climate continues to make the Naperville/Aurora area a good place to run a business and find work.
Are you comfortable with the way education is funded in Illinois? Explain.
Bowler: Yes and no. This debate will continue for many years. If higher income taxes for education is the right answer, how would that money continue to stay in the area it comes from? Are property taxes fair to those senior citizens on a fixed income and whose children have already gone through the schools? Not always. We should continue to look at the senior homestead exemption and look at increasing the limits to that exemption. Should businesses bear more of the burden through an increase in property taxes? After all, a prepared workforce will only help them in the long run.
Senger: Our schools do a very good job of educating our children and do so with a lower cost per student than the average in the state. I would not want to see us lose control over how we do things. Switching from a property tax system to an income tax system, which is what is being proposed, means giving our education dollars first to Springfield. How well do you think Springfield will listen?
McGuire: No, Illinois' education system is not adequately or equitably funded. The majority of school funding should come from the state government, not from overburdened local property taxpayers. Any plan chosen to address the funding inequities across the state must not only provide adequate resources for all pre-K through 12 public schools and higher education institutions, but must at the same time, do no harm to any public school entity.
How would you ensure that revenues match expenditures in Illinois?
Bowler: Vote against any increase in funding. I would support a super majority vote in the house for any tax increases in the state. While we know there are good and needed programs out there, we just can't afford them all.
Senger: No. 1, we cannot add new programs, such as health care expansion, without taking care of our current obligations. Too many of the state's proposed bills for things like transportation are filled with plugs to fix things other things such as pensions. We also need to get the General Assembly more involved. This year's budget was over 3,000 pages and was handed to members barely two days before the vote. Instead, each section should be heard before its respective appropriations committee for comment prior to the General Assembly. This would at least give the rank-and-file legislators the ability to comments on each appropriation before it gets approval.
McGuire: Any new program to be added to the state should be adequately funded by either eliminating programs that are no longer efficient or effective or by finding new revenue sources. It is called a pay-as-you-go system, and it's the way many Illinois families provide for their households. Just as it is very detrimental to families to rack up extreme credit card and debt payments, so it is for state government.
What needs to be done to ensure Illinois has clean, honest government?
Bowler: I would support the end of pay-to-play in government and continue to shore up the ethics policies and legislation.
Senger: The government of Illinois should first follow its own ethics rules. If you look at the state of Illinois Web site, you can access the ethics training course. Rules should be reviewed on a semi-annual basis. I also believe we need to pass HB 1.
McGuire: I support the efforts that have been made, including two House bills (HB 3 and HB 1) that create a searchable database Web site with information concerning each entity that receives Illinois funding and eliminate the influence of political contributions on the awarding of state contracts. The new proposals calling for more independent and more stringent oversight of gambling within the state are steps in the right direction as well.
Michael G. Bowler
Age: 37
Residence: Aurora
Family: Wife, Mary
Education: Hinsdale Central High School; marketing, Western Illinois University and North Central College
Employer: McClure and Associates, commercial insurance broker
Political experience: Candidate for College of DuPage trustee; worked on campaign for state Rep. Jim Meyer
Community involvement: West Suburban Irish; Naperville Area Humane Society
Darlene Senger
Age: 52
Residence: Naperville
Family: Husband, Terry; children, Eric, 19, and Michelle, 15
Education: Morton Senior High School (Hammond, Ind.); bachelor of science in finance, Purdue University, 1978; MBA in finance, DePaul University, 1982
Employer: GCG Financial, financial adviser
Political experience: Naperville City Council, 2002 to present
Community involvement: Naperville Plan Commission; Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation, president; Naperville Sunrise Rotary Board; Indian Prairie Parents Council, co-chair; DuPage Children’s Museum Board; Naperville Financial Advisory Board; Naperville Community Television Board; Naperville Township Republicans, committeeman
Dianne A. McGuire
Age: 61
Residence: Naperville
Family: Husband, Fred Greenwood; two daughters, Lisa Brennan and Molly Dickman
Education: O’Gorman High School (Sioux Falls, S.D.); English, South Dakota State University, 1969; masters in reading, Northern Illinois University, 1981; certificate of professional achievement in mediation training, DePaul University, 2006
Employer: Co-owner of The Guilty Party Catering Ltd.; substitute teacher for school district 203; teacher for district 203 from 1979 to 2006
Political experience: Has held elected positions on the Naperville Unit Education Association, the Illinois Education Association and the National Education Association; Naperville Unit Political Action Committee for Education 203, chairwoman; People United for Responsible Education, treasurer
Community involvement: Villas of the Fields Homeowner’s Board of Managers; City of Naperville Fair Housing Commission; Education and Taxation Committee for the Galena Territory Association; Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Program; League of Women Voters Education Committee; District 203 committees, including the Business Education Partnership Committee and Strategic Planning Committee
