By Jo Ann Hustis
As a lifelong independent businessman, 11th District Congressional candidate Marty Ozinga believes people today are frustrated with government.
“With our federal government, and with our state government,” he said. “Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, it seems like things are just going from bad to worse, and people are really, really frustrated.”
Ozinga, 59, a Homer Glen resident whose Ozinga Brothers Concrete business is headquartered in Mokena, was unanimously selected earlier this month to run on the Republican ticket for the seat being vacated in January by retiring Congressman Jerry Weller, R-Morris.
He will face State Senator Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, and Jason M. Wallace of Normal, the Green Party candidate, in the November election.
Halvorson is winding up eight years in state government, where she is the Senate's Democratic majority leader.
Neither Ozinga nor Wallace have prior political experience, which Ozinga believes is not all bad.
“I've always thought people in government should not all be professional politicians,” he said earlier this week during an interview with the Morris Daily Herald.
“They should be out of the communities and have some responsibility, success, and demonstrated wisdom over the years. Then at some point, they should have the time to try to help serve the people of the district and the country.”
For him, he says the run for Congress is all about service.
“I don't need another job and fame and fortune,” he said. “I've got hundreds of trucks driving around the metropolitan area, and the name is very well known.”
With about 1,500 employees, Ozinga Brothers Inc. is one of the nation's top 10 family-owned ready-mix concrete companies.
Ozinga has six adult sons involved in the business.
He finds the transition from businessman to Congressional candidate exciting.
“Thankfully, it's the time in life with my kids in the business where I can seriously consider leaving it to them and getting involved full-time in this,” he said.
Basing his observation on his not-for-profit work in Third World countries, Ozinga said Americans live in the best nation by far.
“We're so blessed,” he noted. “However, No. 1 is we dare not take it for granted. No. 2, for me anyway, is I'm at a stage in life, and a situation in life, where I can literally work full-time in the process of giving back. That's what I want to do.”
Ozinga believes it hard to see how people would be disappointed in someone such as he coming into Congress fresh, but with a lifetime of business and community service.
“I'm not a politician,” he said. “I'm different, and I would like to serve the people of the community. I think that's going to resonate well.”
Ozinga believes Halvorson is quite different from himself.
“Her being a more liberal person, and me more conservative, I don't think we're going to spend a lot of time (during the campaign) trying to differentiate on finer points,” he said. “It's pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum between me and her.”
Ozinga says he is much more conservative on social issues, whether it be abortion or marriage, family values and similar type things.
When it comes to government's role and relationship to the private sector, Ozinga believes less is better than more.
“Lower taxes mean more opportunity for business creation and small business development, which translates into more jobs,” he said.
“Most of the jobs in the country and in this district are basically created by small business enterprise.”
He believes government should be sensitive to what is beneficial to creation of new enterprises, which leads to more job creation.
“Instead of setting taxes, government should set rules and regulations that help foster the creation of more businesses and jobs. That will lead to more people with good jobs, and, therefore, more taxes paid, not higher taxes,” he said.
“It goes from bad to worse if you take the opposite approach. A lot of businesses and industries avoid Illinois right now, and it's a shame. We have a great location, and tremendous people resources.”
He cited the difference be-tween Workman's Compen-sation in Indiana, where he also has a business, and Illinois.
“Workman's Comp claims in Indiana are one-tenth of what it costs in Illinois,” Ozinga said. “People in Indiana try to get back to work as quickly as they can. In Illinois, the Workman's Comp benefits are so generous they're not in a hurry to get back to work.”
Government can raise tax rates, but the less people have good jobs, the less taxes the government will collect, he said.
Although he's running as a Republican, he's also running as someone looking for ways to improve the community and the situation in the country.
“I don't care if it's a Republican idea, or a Democrat idea - I don't care whose idea it is. All I care about is whether this is going to help or hurt the future of our district and our country,” he said.
“I'm Ozinga. I have no political history at all. Why don't you give me a few years of it and see what I can do.”
At this time in Illinois, the Democratic Party is in total control, he noted.
“Things aren't getting any better, they're getting worse. And, my opponent happens to be in the leadership of that whole mess,” Ozinga said. “You talk about Republican and Democratic baggage and all that stuff, I think she's got more of a problem than I do.”
Ozinga says he will not conduct a name-calling race, in which he doesn't believe. He does, however, believe it very fair to highlight someone's record and distinguish it from his beliefs and his record.
“I don't have a problem with that, at all,” he said.
“But, to speak in derogatory terms about a person as a person, I don't believe in that. Whether it's someone you agree with, or don't agree with, I think you can always be respectful.”
