Janesville City Council Candidate Dan Straasburg Answers Our 5 Questions
Question 1: Rock County currently ranks #1 in the state for unemployment. Much of this is due to business closings and layoffs in the City of Janesville. What will you do to bring jobs back to the City of Janesville?
I would try to work within the County, State and Federal Government so that we could try to network and get the available companies that are looking for a place to call their new home and see what we could offer them in tax incentives if they were to hire a laid off worker and keep them employed. What is offered for short term and long term goals as to what we could offer a company that would bring American Jobs Back to America and bring them here within the City of Janesville, WI? To do this not only would it be a full time job, but some of the monies that we have allocated for other projects within the Current Council we could keep one or two or more on hold and use that money to use a local marketing firm or two to actively pursue companies that are looking for a Good Strong Workforce to produce their Product and have the marketing firm try to open the door to sell Janesville to the company. If we were to work together through City, County, State and Federal Officials then we would not only be better educated, there wouldn’t be a communication barrier. We are all in this together, so let’s help each other!
Question 2: Janesville is known for its automotive heritage, however, much of that industry is now gone. If you were to define Janesville’s
I would honestly hope that we as a community starting today would be able to start building a basis of a strong community! East, West, South, North… It doesn’t matter what side of the City you call home. We have all been affected by ALL THE JOBS that have left the area and now is the time for us to get back to the basics for Neighborhood Cookouts, Block Parties, and Community Events. I would hope that we as a City can start and build a stronger community so that when people come into our area to work, and live we will be able to show them we have a lot to offer more than just a place to put their company. We have good ole’ community values that regardless of where you live in the City we all call this home and are Proud of It!! So in 20 year I hope that my son at that time will be 29 years old, I hope that he can say that Janesville, WI back when I was 9 was a victim of Big Business and as a community we all kept each other strong and produced a City that others are copying because they want their community as strong as we have ours. Please see my website www.communitycenteredreform.com there my email address is and I would love to hear the idea’s and concerns that you might have, as well as where you see Janesville, WI in 20 years.
Question 3: During the past year, several projects surfaced and were met with a great deal of public debate: the bike tunnel, the childrens' museum, the aquatics center, and the ice arena. Please explain what guidelines you will use to make decisions on projects such as these.
The projects that are up on the table by the current City Council, in my opinion, are way too costly and some shouldn’t even be offered. I think that we should get more than just one opinion on a topic, let all the information be gathered and put out to the public. Not hold information back, and not let the community have a voice in how OUR tax dollars are spent. We especially today know how hard we work for our money, and today more than ever we need to get back to Community Centered Reform. Where we can all have a say in BIG PROJECTS and we have a City Council that is willing to listen and HEAR what the community is saying. I would love to see a poll put on a website for let’s say the tunnel for example all the information on the tunnel is kept on the website. And a spot on the website we have a controlled vote that the public can say Yes or No as to how they feel. They could only vote once and the information is used during the City Council Meetings so that the Council will know how the Community Stands on Topics and Issues.
Question 4: What steps should the City of Janesville take, if any, in redeveloping the downtown area?
We should go through the State and Federal Grants that are available and try to get the historic area of Janesville, WI back to the Show Status that it use to be. Downtown has a few amenities, but she could also use a lot more. I LOVE THE IDEA of preserving our downtown area and making her a redeveloped area, because what we can’t preserve, well we can build new and not use up precious farm land that is going to be needed by future generations for food. I grew up in the Country, and I remember the hard work it takes to just maintain a Garden let alone a full fledge farm.
Question 5: Explain your approach to budgeting and taxation: do you start with adding the expenses up and then setting taxes based on those expenses? Do you start with setting a cap on taxes and then working backwards? Do you strike a balance in between? Please explain.
I honestly feel that we need a balance in taxation. I do not approve of RAISING TAXES!! But I do want to go to the drawing board and see what we have at our disposal financially, what projects are NEEDS and what projects are just WANTS! What we as a city can afford to replace, repair or fix and what is out of our grasp. But through it all we keep the Community Involved, Informed and Listen to everyone’s concerns on issues not just a select few of individuals that think they can alter everyone else’s opinions and lives. For far too long we have taken the Government decisions away from the people that help fund the projects we decide on through their taxes. Let’s start by keeping the Residence of the City of Janesville, more informed and involved.
