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(R) Brett M. Petillo
~Endorsed by the GSBA~
Video Interview:
Question #1: Describe your management style and what do you believe are the strengths and weaknesses of that style?
Question #2: What is small business to you, and if elected as a legislator, what value can you add to small business today?
Question #3: What do you do in your personal life to support small business?
Question #4: What do you see as your primary function as a state representative, and how does this job allow you to impact small business?
Question #5: What legislative inequities do you see between large and small businesses, and what role should government play in the competition between large and small businesses?
Question #6: If elected, what measures would you advocate to lessen the time and expense that small businesses spend complying with important government regulations?
Question #7: Many businesses view politicians as an obstacle to creating or implementing innovative technologies, products or procedures. What will you do to get government out of the way?
Question #8: Have you ever held a transaction privilege tax license and made the monthly tax filings?
Extra Questions
Candidate Questionnaire:
1. Have you ever owned or operated a small business?
Yes.
2. Small business provides the economic lifeblood of many communities. How will your agenda assist and encourage small businesses in supporting their communities?
First, I think it is imperative that we use our clout as legislators to find local money to invest in local businesses. We also need to lower both the business income and property taxes.
3. What will you do specifically to help the government reduce its spending?
We need to start by having the courage to live within our means. Whatever we take in is what we spend. I propose a taxpayer bill of rights that does not allow spending to increase beyond population growth and inflation. Also, we need to completely revamp the state’s school district system, consolidating many of the well over two hundred that exist today, thus eliminating unnecessary bureaucracies. Further, we need allow an outside audit of all agencies to insure that they are accurately reporting any and all numbers that are tied to receipt of funding, i. e, AHCCCS.
4. Jobs are a huge issue for families in Arizona. What can the Arizona legislature do to encourage job creation and job retention?
Decrease the business tax burden and eventually eliminate the state personal income tax.
5. “Creating green jobs” is a popular thought today. What does this mean to you?
Creating green jobs means overreaching, overbearing, unconstitutional government intrusion into the private sector. I am a proponent of taking care of our environment; however this cannot be done without a thorough study of the costs verses the rewards. The REST standards are a great example of mandating certain environmental performance without regards to economic impact. This sort of regulation is unacceptable.
6. What government regulations do you believe are unnecessarily imposed on small businesses and should be changed or eliminated?
The REST Standards.
Candidate Bio:
8490 S Power Rd, Suite 105-245
Gilbert, AZ 85297
Phone: (480)603-9284
Email: brett.petillo@gmail.com
Brett grew up in the conservative bastion of Orange County, California where he can remember as a child, his dad talking about how excited he was when he met then Governor Ronald Reagan in an elevator in Downtown Los Angeles while doing construction work in his building. Brett’s father was so impressed with how much time (over ten minutes) and genuine interest Governor Reagan took in him that he came home and shared this with his family. He remembers the childhood fear of the Cold War when hearing terms like guaranteed mutual annihilation, but feeling safe in knowing the man that his dad swore by would protect him.
After attending the University of Southern California, Brett began working in the commercial construction industry, where he has been over the last thirteen years. He has had many successes and a few failures, all of which contributing to the man he is today. As, Brett moved up the corporate ladder, first as an estimator/project manager for a now billion dollar per year company, then as a vice-president/ branch manager in an $80 million per year company, and eventually as a small business owner, he learned, through actual, relative real world experience how to deal with many of the issues that face our government today.
When the current economic crisis really began to take hold, Brett and his family, were faced with a very scary set of circumstances. Customers stopped paying, credit line commitments were rescinded, existing lines reduced over night, and the value of their properties lost half of their value within a couple of short months . All of these eventually led to Brett and his family losing everything they had worked for over a decade.
Now Brett is not the type of person to stay down for long and without any government assistance, he and his family picked themselves up by their boot straps and began the process of building their life back up. In fact, Brett was told by his lender, encouraged in fact, that the Federal Government had a program that would allow them to stay in their home with a reduced payment, but when learning it was taxpayer funded, while he and his wife Nicole would have cherished that opportunity, they did not feel it was the proper role of government to be using your tax dollars to help them keep their property. So, they made all of the necessary adjustments to live a lifestyle on over 75% less income and they are stronger for it today!
Brett and his beloved wife Nicole have two children, Coral, 7, and Brett, 4. Brett’s family is the reason he is taking on the responsibility of running for the legislature. After discussing it with Nicole, although it meant again changing jobs to accommodate the time demands of participating in a campaign (which was accompanied by a 60% pay cut) and taking time off from his studies as a Masters of Divinity program at Phoenix Seminary, they both agreed, that Brett had a unique set of life experiences and skills that would serve his community greatly. By working for a multi-billion dollar per year organization, he understands the bureaucracy of overhead (the government) and the strain they put on the revenue producers (the people). He has dealt with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars and understands what is necessary to take organizations that are hemorrhaging money and returning them to the black. He knows how difficult it is to be a small business owner and uniquely understands what the government needs to do to get out of their way. And finally, Brett and his family understand the fear that is gripping many of you right now. But, because they have been through the cuts and changes personally, not theoretically, without government assistance, they can assure each of you that we will be just fine and while the process of fixing our state and country will not be easy, we can do it together
