Hoogendyk at ERC

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="044005a0exvipq.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC33" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eastside Republican Club"><U><B>Home</B></U></A><B>  </B><B> </B></FONT><B>  | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" ><B>Eastside Republican Club</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="erc_meeting_dates.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U><B>Events</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="eastside_republican_review_summary.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ERC Review"><U><B>ERC Review</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="michigan_s_13th_district.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congressional District News"><U><B>Congressional District News</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="civic___governmental_links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="erc_officers.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B>About Us</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Hoogendyk at ERC</B></div> <div> <A HREF="link_to_michigan_gop.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michigan Republicans"><U><B><IMG SRC="05358580.gif" border=0 width="88" height="88" ALT="Michigan GOP" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="michigan_s_13th_district.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congressional District News"><U><I><B>Congressional District News</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="erc_testimonials.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What Theyre Saying About Us"><U><I><B>Read what they've said about us</B></I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="erc_meeting_dates.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U><B><IMG SRC="81b871f0.gif" border=0 width="135" height="31" ALT=">>Events" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div>  <A NAME="top_of_page"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <I><U>Gaffney Endorses Fellow Legislator for U.S. Senate</U></I></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="169b2c460.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="326" ALT="ERC chairman Julie Corbett with March Forum speaker, Jack Hoogendyk of Kalamazoo" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="6" VSPACE="4">State GOP Leader Jack Hoogendyk</B></div> <div> <B>Calls for Increased Government Efficiency</B></div> <div> Stepping to the microphone on March 18 at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, Jack Hoogendyk read to the ERC Forum the latest endorsement he has received in his bid for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate: Representative Ed Gaffney, Grosse Pointe Farms.</div> <div> The Kalamazoo state representative said he was pleased to receive Gaffney's backing.</div> <div> According to a report in the <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.ourmidland.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19079488&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=578054&rfi=8" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ourmidland.com/site/index.cfm"><U><I>Midland Daily News</I></U></A></FONT>, Bill Ballenger's <I>Inside Michigan Politics</I> newsletter rated the two Republicans poles apart on the political spectrum. Both Gaffney and Hoogendyk presently serve as representatives of their districts in the Michigan legislature and both are now term-limited.</div> <div> Hoogendyk, 52, was in town campaigning for the nomination and the opportunity to challenge Sen. Carl Levin, 73, who is seeking his sixth, six-year term. To gain an official place on the August 5, 2008, primary election ballot, Hoogendyk is presently circulating nominating petitions. >><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://jackformichigan.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://jackformichigan.org/"><U><I>Visit jackformichigan.org</I></U></A></FONT><I>.</I></div> <div> Considering the challenges of the campaign and demands for service in the U.S. Senate, Hoogendyk said, “I'm the right person for the job.” </div> <div> <I><B>Advocate for Efficiency in Government</B></I></div> <div> “One thing I learned from my years working in sales is that the private sector is a lot better at running things than the government--it is much more efficient,” Hoogendyk told the audience.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="204" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 278 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1696c8100.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="272" ALT="Jack Hoogendyk outlines campaign positions on March 18 at the ERC Forum" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=BOTTOM HEIGHT= 246 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1698c8f00.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="240" ALT="Jack Hoogendyk shakes hands with potential supporters on March 18 at the ERC Forum" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 186 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="169ac8b40.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="180" ALT="Hoogendyk meets potential supporters on March 18 at the ERC Forum" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Pointing to his record in the legislature, he reported that he'd never voted for a tax hike or budget increase greater than the rate of inflation.</div> <div> He decried others that “put on the cloak of conservatism, but vote to support the liberal agenda.”</div> <div> Hoogendyk said that what sets him apart from the incumbent are his conservative stands for less government, more freedom, lower taxes, the Second Amendment right-to-bear-arms, and his a pro-life position.</div> <div> Citing his legislative background in Lansing, Hoogendyk said, “I want to be a watchdog of government, and it needs watching!”</div> <div> He cited specific examples of the waste in Michigan government and his plans to further publicize the need for improved management oversight.</div> <div> In a bid to adopt greater efficiency in Lansing, Hoogendyk said, “I have introduced the bill for a part-time [Michigan] legislature.” He said that the legislature's primary function is to adopt a budget, yet this is seldom accomplished until the 11<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> hour.</div> <div> Hoogendyk said, “A part time legislature would come to town with a job to do.” A full time lawmaker himself, he said, “It's time to get us out of town.”</div> <div> Although paid for 52 weeks of work, he noted that the Michigan legislature spends only about 92 days per year actually voting on issues, not all of them critical.</div> <div> As an example, he said that full time legislatures take the time to author more bills than legislatures in the 39 states with part time legislatures.</div> <div> Hoogendyk also said he favors giving Michigan employees the choice to decide whether or not to pay dues to a union without fear of losing their job. He observed that States with this “right to work” status have seen increases in their labor force at the expense of states like Michigan that suffer from growing unemployment.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="208" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFF80 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=BOTTOM HEIGHT= 444 WIDTH="202"><div> <B><IMG SRC="1692c8fa0.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="250" ALT="John G. LaFond, right, pictured with ERC member Georgiana Richner" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>LaFond Seeks U of M Regent Post</B></div> <div> John G. LaFond was presented at the March 18 ERC meeting and announced his candidacy for the University of Michigan Board of Regents.</div> <div> He is a 1968 U of M engineering graduate and lives in Plymouth.</div> <div> LaFond spent his professional career with Ford, where he was a leader in Ford's development of industrial gas turbine engines and established the first Ford computer graphics-based exterior design system.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <I><B>Candidate Contrasts</B></I></div> <div> He stressed that as a result of Levin's decades of living and working in Washington, “He has lost touch with the residents of Michigan.”</div> <div> To prove his point, Hoogendyk listed issues on which he said voters of Michigan are on record in direct opposition to positions taken in Washington by Sen. Levin.</div> <div> He cited Levin's record in favor of increased taxes, larger federal budgets, greater national debt, bigger federal government, and taxpayer funded benefits for illegal aliens.</div> <div> Commenting on immigration, Hoogendyk, himself the son of an immigrant, said, “I am a supporter of immigration, but it needs to be done legally.”</div> <div> Hoogendyk said that when offered the opportunity to deny Social Security benefits to illegals, Levin voted “not to deny” those benefits.</div> <div> He said that his own late father, a legal immigrant to the U.S. after WWII, would be shocked to know that Carl Levin voted to permit Social Security benefits for illegal aliens while voting against national defense and intelligence funding.</div> <div> Hoogendyk believes Levin's votes on these issues do not endear Levin to voters, and will help him to defeat the incumbent in the November General Election.</div> <div> <I><B>Past Public Offices And Affiliations</B></I></div> <div> Hoogendyk was first elected to the Michigan House representing Kalamazoo County in 2002. He has served on the House Appropriations Committee. In addition, he has served as vice chair of the Family Independence Agency subcommittee as well as the Higher Education; Economic Development; and School Aid and Department of Education Subcommittees.</div> <div> Currently, Hoogendyk serves as minority vice chair of the House Government Operations Committee, and as a member of the Education, Family & Children Services and the Tax Policy Committees. He also serves on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.</div> <div> In 2000, Hoogendyk was elected to the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. Prior to that, he was on the Portage Zoning Board of Appeals and the Kalamazoo County Public Health Advisory Board.</div> <div> Hoogendyk is a board member of Partners in Ministry, a faith-based community organization that helps churches and non-profits promote life and health-affirming services to those in need around the world.</div> <div> <I><B>Professional</B></I></div> <div> Jack Hoogendyk spent 15 years in sales and marketing, eventually working as a national manager with a Fortune 500 company. He joined Alternatives of Kalamazoo, Pregnancy Care Center as executive director in April 1996. Alternatives is a faith-based nonprofit organization serving young women and families facing unplanned pregnancies with a variety of services including clothing and shelter.</div> <div> <I><B>Personal</B></I></div> <div> The legislator was born in 1955. Jack and his wife of 29 years, Erin, live in Texas Township and have five children, Jacob, who is married to Jennifer; Isaiah, who is married to Elise; Maria, who is married to Phillip; Caitlin, Benjamin, and five grandchildren.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="Hoogendyk at ERC"><U>back to top</U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>