Photo courtesy of Gene Goss, click to enlarge
Gene Goss
Election/Seat Sought:Regular Election, one of two 4-year seats
Campaign web page: www.GeneGoss.com
Campaign Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GeneGoss2012
Campaign Kickoff Party: Sunday, Feb. 26th from 2 to 5pm at his home, 208 Ramona Ave.. RSVPs requested, www.geneforsierramadre.com
Bio:
I was born at St. Luke in Pasadena and lived in Altadena until age three. At that time my father decided to pursue a life dream and bought a small cattle ranch in Oregon. That is where I was raised. I learned at a very early age how to shoulder responsibility. We had little money and no hired hands, so the work was done by my Dad, my younger brother, and me. If the barns needed cleaning, we cleaned them. If the fences needed fixing, we fixed them. If the tractor broke down, we figured out how to fix it. I remember at age 10, on the cold winter mornings before school, I would have to take an ax and literally chop holes in the ice on the top of the cattle’s water tanks so they could drink. It was not an easy life, but I am thankful for it nonetheless. I learned at an early age how to brainstorm and solve problems, how to truly pitch in for the welfare of the larger group (in this case my family), and I learned how to see something through from its beginning to end, no matter how daunting it might be.
I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science at Linfield College. After a few years of working at different jobs in the automobile, power equipment and truck rental businesses, I went back to graduate school at the University of Southern California in 1987. I earned a Master’s Degree in Political Science in 1988 and spent two more years there pursuing doctoral studies in political science. While at USC, I worked as a Teaching Assistant for two years and I served as a Research Assistant at the Citizen’s Research Foundation.
In 1991, I was hired for a tenure track position teaching political science at Long Beach City College. I am now a full professor there and I chair the History and Political Science Department. In essence, I have spent the last 21 years of my life teaching undergraduates about government. In that 21 years I have held a variety of faculty leadership positions including technology committee chair, faculty association president, and my current job as department chair. As chair of the college’s first technology committee, I was successful in organizing and directing the development of the college’s first ever comprehensive technology plan. As part of that effort, we were able to change college fiscal priorities and computerize and link to the internet our entire full time faculty. We were one of the first community colleges in the state to accomplish this. As the president of the faculty association in 2001, I had the honor of directing negotiations with the college that produced a significant raise in salary for our full time faculty. That raise was the largest the faculty at that college has received from 1984 to the present. This was done at a time when the state education system still had significant fiscal flexibility.
I have been married to my wife, Lisa, for 27 years. She is an elementary school teacher working with disadvantaged children in Highland Park. We moved to Sierra Madre 17 years ago. My nine-year old son knows no other home. Since he was born, we have become intimately familiar with the library and every park in town. I’ve learned just how important these public places really are to our town. For the last five years I have been active with my son’s Little League teams. I coached on his team the past three years and I am Co-Managing his team this spring. Heasley Field seems like a second home to me. The setting and the people involved are very special. We have made so many friends there. These experiences have made me a strong supporter of essential public services which include parks, the library and senior services.
The people of this town have been good to my family. This is our home and I want to preserve its amazing small town character with every fiber of my body. Sierra Madre cannot become just another suburb in the foothills. I am running for City Council because I feel a deep responsibility to serve Sierra Madre. I have no pre-formed policy agenda and bring in no baggage from previous political squabbles. If elected, I will judge each issue that comes to the council on its merits, always remembering that everyone involved are my neighbors.
Please contact me at 626-434-9595 or at
ggoss2012@yahoo.com . My campaign web site is at www.genegoss.com (Will be up by January 22nd.)
Responses to SierraMadreNews.Net Candidate Q and A Questionnaire
Q. What’s your favorite type of music?
A. Rock
Q. In or out of that genre, what’s your favorite album/CD?
A. A Decade of Steely Dan
Q. What’s your favorite movie?
A. Patton
Q. Who’s your favorite actor?
A. Clint Eastwood/Jeff Bridges
Q. Who’s your favorite actress?
A. Debra Winger
Q. What’s your favorite book?
A. Cold Mountain
Q. Who’s your favorite author?
A. Patrick McManus
Q. What’s your favorite TV show?
A. Hawaii Five O
Q. What’s your favorite meal?
A. Sauerkraut and pork chops
Q. Who’s your favorite comic?
A. Rodney Dangerfield
Q. Your favorite sports team?
A. Dodgers/Raiders
Q. Who is/was your favorite president (living or dead)??
A. Lincoln – have a bust of him in my office
Q. Who’s better — Mel Torme or Vic Damone?
A. Mel Torme
Q. Beatles or Rolling Stones?
A. Stones
Q. U2 or Rush?
A. U2
Q. Beach Boys or Jan and Dean?
A. Beach Boys
Q. Paper or plastic?
A. Both – we recycle the paper
Q. What are your hobbies?
A. Flyfishing (especially the West Fork of the San Gabriel), fitness, hiking, reading
Q. What’s your favorite sport to watch?
A. College and pro football
Q. What’s your favorite sport to participate in? ?
A. Basketball/softball/table tennis
Q. If you could meet a famous figure from the past, who would you choose and why?
A. President Lincoln – He is one of my heroes.
Q. If you could meet a famous figure from today, who would it be and why?
A. Bill Belichick – He is a football genius.