Mark Kirk
Mark Kirk for Hesperia City Council
To view Mark’s Rapid Fire video: click here
Transparency - Mark Kirk
As the 2008 local election cycle starts to heat up, voters need to start doing their homework about which candidates they plan to support. November 4th will be here before anyone knows it. Taking a few minutes now to research candidates will pay off dividends down the road.
As I hear issues or questions from voters, I plan to write posts trying to answer those questions or direct voters where they can find that information. You’re about to be pummeled with all kinds of information, some of it complete nonsense, you need to be prepared.
The first issue I’d like to comment on is campaign contributions. People are often confused about who is giving to whom and what that exactly means. Where that information can be found, and how best to investigate claims being made.
Two forms that help to answer such issues are the Form 460, detailing candidate committees’ expenditures and revenues, and the Form 700, detailing investment interests of the candidate/official. Using these two forms one can determine if personal financial interests motivate an individual’s decision making or if others with financial interests are supporting a particular candidate’s campaign.
Both forms are public documents are can be obtained by a quick visit to City Hall or the Registrar of Voters office. In Hesperia, Vicki Soderquist is the City Clerk and the steward of all such documents. Vicki is an extremely nice person and always willing to help.
However, many times people are intimidated by city staff or just simply do not have the time to swing by the office and obtain such documents. This is why I’m an advocate for online posting of financial information.
Recently the County of San Bernardino placed these documents for all of it’s officials online, and the result has been overwhelming. The year before they were placed online, just under 300 people visited the county clerk’s office, requesting this information. The year it was placed online, that number grew to over one million.
In this election, like most elections, you’re going to hear a lot of comments about how much money different candidates have raised and who their supporters are. This is an age-old tactic that candidates and their supporters use to debase others. It is even more commonly used when detractors have nothing else to defame a candidate on.
Knowing this would be a common theme used in the elections in Hesperia, I am sending out a challenge to my opponents, as well as all sitting elected officials in Hesperia. Post all of your financial and conflict of information on the internet. This can be done through individual websites, like what I’ve done at www.mk4council.com, or through municipal websites such as a city’s or district’s site.
In this election every voter deserves to have this financial information at their fingertips. Every candidate running for Hesperia City Council should take the time, honor the voters, and place their Form 460 and 700 online. The public deserves access to this information online. The public deserves full transparency.
Jessica’s Law - Mark Kirk
During my tenure in Government, fighting sex offenders has been a constant theme. The issue boiled to a head when I worked for the Runners, out in Phelan when the State tried to place several mentally handicapped sex offenders in a residential neighborhood. Having taught at Pinion Mesa Middle School, right down the street from the proposed location, I knew first hand the numbers of children who walked through that neighborhood on a daily basis. We rallied together with the residents of the community and eventually convinced the State to change their plans.
From that point on it seemed as though we had our mission. Fighting to protect our communities, and specifically our children, from sexual predators. This mission continued when I went to work for Gary Ovitt. We placed Megan’s Law information on sex offenders on the County’s website, and we started researching how we could use GPS technology to track County probationers of high concern. Shortly thereafter we created a program to place probation sex offenders on GPS tracking devices. A program completely funded by offenders, not taxpayers. This solved the problem with probationers, but it wasn’t until George and Sharon Runner introduced Jessica’s Law that we had an opportunity to use this technology to track those not on probation or parole. Needless to say we worked hard to qualify, and eventually pass, Jessica’s Law on the ballot. In addition to GPS tracking, Jessica’s Law also gave local jurisdictions more flexibility to restrict where sex offenders can live. At the County, I worked with other leaders to draft a new ordinance enhancing Jessica’s Law. 300’ Predator-free zones were created around schools and parks, ensuring that Law Enforcement had the tools necessary to protect our children.
If elected to the City Council, I’ll fight to enact a similar ordinance in Hesperia. Unfortunately, the County Ordinance only applies to the unincorporated areas of the County, but most of our schools and parks lie within the cities. As a councilman, I will take the same strong approach against sexual predators that I have my entire life. I will work to create ‘predator-free zones’ that protect the most vulnerable of our society. I will make sure our law enforcement officers have the tools they need to ensure our children receive the highest level of protection.
More Property Tax Revenues - Mark Kirk
Recently one of my opponents posted a lengthy comment about bringing more property tax dollars back to Hesperia. Fighting for more local dollars is a constant theme that many candidates repeat in order to get elected. But what does it really mean and how can you trust a candidate to deliver on that promise?
First, the issue of more property tax dollars is a simple one that often gets confused. People who own property pay taxes each year equal to 1% of the assessed value of the property. Now, you may pay more than that based on local school bonds, water bonds, etc., but the portion we’re talking about, property tax, is fixed at 1%.
That 1% is then split between School Districts, Redevelopment Areas, Special Districts (like Parks or Sanitation Districts), County and City. The split between the County and City can be difficult, if not impossible, to change.
“Why should the County have any of those tax dollars,” is a question I’ve often heard in this debate. It’s important to remember that although cities are responsible for most municipal services, the County is responsible to fund the District Attorney, Public Defender, Jail facilities, Probation Department, Regional Parks, Museums and a whole host of other departments and programs that residents in every city take advantage of.
Of course I believe that more money should be returned to the local level. And in the case of Hesperia, a lot more. In fact, that same opponent I referenced pointed to the city of Chino Hills as a case study in which the County did the right thing by voting to return more dollars back to the city.
I’m glad my opponent referenced this problem and the solution presented to Chino Hills. I agree with him that it was an equitable agreement that was in the best interest of the residents of the city. I’m especially happy that he brought this up because I was one of the architects of that agreement. In fact my work on that agreement is one reason my candidacy is endorsed by a majority of the Chino Hills City Council, including Mayor Curt Hagman.
What my opponent failed to point out however is how that same agreement that benefited Chino Hills, benefits Hesperia. It was specifically written to significantly increase Hesperia’s portion of property tax on property within the city limits.
I’m proud of the work I’ve done to bring more dollars back to Hesperia for traffic congestion and law enforcement. I’m proud of the innovative ways we’ve been able to improve the quality of life for those who live in Hesperia. If elected to the City Council, I will continue working on new strategies to bring even more dollars back to the city. Dollars that will continue helping to improve our roads and keep gang members and thugs off our streets.
Mark Kirk has politics in his blood
Son of school board president wants to bring experience working with Runner, Ovitt to Hesperia
September 12, 2008 - 7:57PM
By BEAU YARBROUGH
Staff Writer
Mark Kirk has loved politics for a very, very long time.
“I remember being six years old in 1980,” the 34-year-old Kirk said, “Arguing with members of my first grade class that anyone was better than Jimmy Carter.”
Despite that love of politics, he initially pursued a career in education like his father, school board president Robert Kirk, receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology and later a master’s of education.
“I always thought that I would teach, but after five years, I decided I needed to make a change.”
He worked on the campaign to elect Sharon Runner to the state assembly, and landed a job working for her after her election. From there, he’s advanced through the ranks, finally becoming the chief of staff for Fourth District Supervisor Gary Ovitt.
“I want to do what I can for my community,” said Kirk, a Hesperia High School graduate. “I want to do my part to make this a good community.”
He originally considered a run for first district supervisor against Brad Mitzelfelt before setting his sights on the empty Hesperia City Council seat being vacated this year by councilman Tad Honeycutt.
“They’re going to have a new person there and I think I bring some new things to the party,” Kirk said. Specifically, he brings experience working in government to a city council currently including a retired fireman, a retired fire inspector and two small business owners. “I have a great understanding of … government, having worked for the state and worked for the county. … I’ve seen some really creative ways of governance and seen some really great ideas.”
Kirk emphasized that he’s not running against the current city council.
“I really think that the current city council has done a great job,” he said. “But I do think we can do a better job when it comes to bringing more tax revenue to the city, more jobs to the city.”
He believes both of those can come to pass through “smart growth.”
“It doesn’t have to be helter-skelter, it doesn’t have to drive itself,” Kirk said. “You can’t plan for today. You have to plan five years down the line.”
Kirk said when he talks to business leaders around the county, they praise Hesperia’s possibilities, even if they don’t always see them coming to fruition.
“This city has more potential than any other in the county,” he said. “It takes leadership to get it from potential to realization. … You have to do that in a smart way, so that the quality of life [residents have] come to expect is protected.
“These are the same issues I’ve heard people talking about since junior high.”
If elected, Kirk said he would add more firefighters, police officers and pave more roads — goals shared by most candidates since the city’s incorporation — but he’d do it by tightening up on spending even further.
“Where can we make the city government more efficient?” he asked. “Our job is not to grow government; it’s to make it more efficient and shrink it.”
He also hopes to see the city’s still-forming downtown center an important aspect of life in the city.
“I think it’s a great idea and I think people want [public spaces] in their city,” he said. “Other cities in San Bernardino County have done this … and really increased the quality of life for people.”
Kirk, Kirk & Blewett
But it’s not only Sharon Runner’s and Gary Ovitt’s political careers that Kirk is associated with: Kirk helped his father get elected to the HUSD school board and is a regular at school board meetings, especially during the failed recall attempt that ended earlier this year.
“Early on, people are going to talk about my dad and me,” the younger Kirk said. “I love him dearly, but we’re two different people.”
He stands by his father, who has borne the brunt of the criticism of the ruling three-member bloc on the school board, and his father’s vision for the school district.
“We believe, not that he’s perfect, but that he’s doing the best he can,” Kirk said. “I really believe that most of the anger towards him is from a small group of people who had things the way they wanted, and they got changed, and they hated him for that. … I’d love to sit down and talk to those people but I don’t think I’m ever going to get the opportunity, so I’m talking to the other people.”
But school district politics and the attempted recall have followed Kirk into the city council race: One of his six rivals for the two open seats is Russ Blewett, the father of the woman who spearheaded the recall attempt against Kirk’s father.
“I’ve decided to put that behind us,” Kirk said. “It doesn’t benefit us in the election. It doesn’t benefit the city.”
And if both men were elected, any bad blood that still existed would stay out of the council chambers, he said.
“His [political] issues sound awfully familiar to my issues. … You have to be discerning enough to know when to fight.”
Both Kirks have been the targets of criticism and outright attacks in the letters to the editor in area newspapers and on local newspaper Web sites, and Kirk said he’s prepared for more of that, even as he hopes other voters come to know him a bit better, as distinct from his father.
“People who want to discourage Kirks need to understand us a bit better.”
Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.
