Tonights Leon DEC meeting is a candidate forum for any candidates whose districts touch upon Leon County. I came in late, and missed the beginning of the candidate forum.
Each candidate is getting three minutes to speak.
Jay McGovern, FL-4
Top priority getting SCHIP expanded.
Focus on important things like civil liberties, debt, economy, Iraq.
Would cut funding off for the executive branch to end the war in Iraq.
Our soldiers are flypaper for the terrorists. We need to get them out of Iraq.
The way to fix our problems is to stop the financial bleeding and return our respect abroad.
Suzan Franks, State Senate District 3
Focus on preserving and protecting our water resources.
Homeowners insurance rates are a big thing.
Much like the special election last time, she is focused on unfunded mandates from the legislature to local governments. The Citrus County budget, for instance is almost 25% based on unfunded mandates.
Willie Johnson, State House District 7
His most important issue is education.
FCAT shouldn’t be required for graduation.
Hubert Brown, State House District 8
He wants to focus on community health care throughout the district.
He wants to end the FCAT as a graduation requirement.
Supports Healthy Kids and improve access to dual enrollment programs and increase access to college.
Rodney Moore, State House District 8
He is tired of the lack of representation for Gadsden county. He says that people will come to them for votes, but they don’t get representation in the legislature.
Sean Shaw, State House District 8
Shaw agrees with Moore that Gadsden county needs help, particularly with the excessively high infant mortality rate.
He says these problems could be fixed now if the state wanted to do it.
Education, health care, state employees are his top three issues.
Encourage public-private partnerships to improve technology in schools throughout the District.
Increase funding for prenatal care and increased vaccinations.
People that work certain jobs should get high-risk pay to compensate them for the risks they take on the job.
Anthony Viegbesie, State House District 8
He is committed to making health care affordable to all families.
He wants to create living wage opportunities.
He wants to focus on bringing more businesses (and jobs) to the district.
“We need an economist in the legislature.”
Education is the greatest equalizer in our society, it should be accessible and affordable to all children.
FCAT should simply be a diagnostic tool.
He has been awarded a consumer rights advocate award for his legislative work. He has also been awarded for his civil rights work.
He wants to transcend political parties to get the job done.
Alan Williams, State House District 8
Transportation and health care are issues, particularly in the outlying areas of the district.
People need to be able to live where housing is cheap but still have the ability to get to work in Tallahassee and still be able to get to health care facilities when they need them.
He has lived in District 8 his whole life.
FCAT reform is important to him. Students shouldn’t be penalized by standardized tests. We have to get beyond the FCAT.
Economic development is particularly important in Gadsden county. He wants to work with people on both sides of the aisle to bring infrastructure that will bring jobs to the area.
Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasalinda, State House District 9
Any candidate should be asked: Who are they, why are they running, what is their vision for the seat they are trying to serve.
She is a teacher at TCC and has a strong record of public service.
She is running because she has compassion for those who don’t have the benefits in life that she was lucky to be born with. She was inspired by JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Her heroes growing up were the Founding Fathers and Mothers of America.
The leaders in Florida (Crist, Rubio, etc.) are willing to settle for mediocrity. She’s not. The key is: “Education, education, education.” It is the key to many things and is an economic engine for the state.
Protection of the environment and economic diversity are the other keys. State workers, the people who take care of us, need to be taken care of. We should be judged by how we take care of our children, our elders and our sick and Florida doesn’t currently do a good job of that.
Fred Varn, State House District 9
He worked as a staff director and chief analyst (amongst other jobs) at the legislature for 12 years. He has no learning curve to get started.
State workers deserve better than what they’ve been getting.
Education is a key issue for him (he’s been elected to the school board for 12 years) and the FCAT should only be a diagnostic tool.
Insurance needs reform and he wants to find a solution. There are no magic bullets to fix this or the property tax problems.
Brags that he can win conservative voters in the district and has already done so for school board.
Has focused on health care for children in the education system in recent years
Q&A for Legislative Candidates
Questions are asked of all of the combined candidates.
1. All will support campaign finance limits and public campaigns.
2. State worker pay: Varn would organize more state employees into unions. Shaw agrees. Williams wants cost-of-living adjustments added up. Rehwinkel-Vasalinda thinks you have approach the Republicans in the legislature with this as a issue of fairness — we get more production out of less salary than any state in the country. Franks says the bonus this year was a slap in the face; they should be paid a living wage. Brown says we need more revenue in order to be afford it; we should also work with the unions. Viegbesie agrees with the others and would tie salaries to inflation although deferred compensation may be the way to go (some in the crowd didn’t like that last part). Moore says we need more media exposure to let people know that this is the outgrowth of tax cuts and politics as usual. Johnson worries that state workers speaking up too much could cost people’s jobs.
3. Is Intelligent Design scientific theory? Rehwinkel-Vasalinda thinks church-state separation is important and thinks that legislators are telling teachers too much and they should stay out of the classroom. Franks says this could lead to people teaching the world is flat and this stuff shouldn’t be in the classroom. Viegbesie doesn’t think ID belongs in the classroom. Shaw agrees.
4. How can you deal with the state-high HIV/AIDS rate in Gadsden county. Shaw said that the solution should be community-based and that currently isn’t being done and that the solution should come from Gadsden county (although the state could provide more health care funding). Brown says the adults need to change their mindset to encourage responsibility and we need to get away from abstinence-only education. Williams thinks we need an elected education commissioner to bring back accountability to the education system; we need to have frank discussions with our kids about sex and other issues. Viegbesie says we need to create a positive lifestyle change campaign and teach children and adults safer and healthier ways to deal with those things that are part of human nature; he agrees that parents need to do a better job of talking to our children. Moore says that Gadsden county needs to deal with drug problems, which are a big factor in other problems, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS; he said that HIV/AIDS was a gay white man’s disease and now it’s killing black people. Franks said we need to think outside the box and look around for other resources (even outside the state) to deal with these problems.
Larry Campbell, Leon County Sheriff
He’s been in law enforcement for 47 years and is currently the incumbent.
When he came to office, he put the prisoners to work. He felt that they shouldn’t be sitting there watching TV when the taxpayers are paying for it. He makes them work and makes them pay for their privileges. This has saved over $1 million a year.
Tommy Mills, Leon County Sheriff
He says that what we have isn’t working. It isn’t necessarily Sheriff Campbell’s fault, but we need a new vision.
The mission should be “LCSD will be recognized by its community and peers as creating a safer environment for the residents of the county.”
He thinks we ought to better and our officers ought to be better informed about the department’s mission.
Jackie Pons, Superintendent of Schools
He says that the legislature is assaulting education and he’ll fight that assault.
Akin Akinyemi, County Commission, At-Large Group 1
Our county needs inspiring and accountable leadership. Top issues include education, environment, water, taxation and business.
Favors focus on sustainable energy and smart growth. Wants to strengthen the partnership between the local government and nonprofit organizations.
Wants more accountability and accessibility in local government. Would promote more diversity and openness in contracting.
He opposes privatization and wants to learn from other counties through professional organizations.
Michael Fleischacker, County Commission, At-Large Group 1
He is from Miami and is new to the community (within three years). He works with the Apalachee Elementary PTO and has focused on Green initiatives in the school.
Has worked with health care and wants more discounts for elderly people and prescription drugs.
He wants more unity in the county.
Alma Gonzalez, County Commission, At-Large Group 1
They’ve already knocked on over 1000 doors and they filed the necessary petitions six weeks before the deadline. She says hers is a very organized campaign.
She has completed a listening tour of small businesses in the community. Visited four of Tallahassee’s largest churches already.
She is not a “Super Wal-Mart development candidate.” She doesn’t believe that county government should be for sale and supports campaign finance reform. Local government should be the voice of the community.
Wants integrity and accountability in local government and opposes no-bid contracts. Supports disclosure in lobbying and wants the rules expanded.
She focuses on economic vitality, but it isn’t just development and business at any cost, we need to be investing in our community.
Lower taxes need to be balanced with strong community services and we need to address the shameful infant mortality rate in the area.
Dee Crumpler, School Board District 2
The five B’s of being a candidate (he learned from Andrew Gillum): “Be Brief, Brother, Be Brief.”
He is accessible, you can actually call him on his cell phone at 933-8690.
If you think he’s done a good job, if you think the school system in Leon County is good, he asks for your vote again.
Dee Dee Rasmussen, School Board District 4
She has 22 years of public service, including director of cabinet affairs for Bill Nelson and runs a coalition of universities statewide. She knows what our kids will need to be prepared for college.
Her motto is “Every child, every day.” Every student needs to be taught a love for learning, every day.
We need to not just prepare out kids for a career, we need to teach them how to think critically.
“Democracy needs to be reborn in every generation. Education is its midwife.” — Dewey.
Floyd Self, School Board District 4
Parents want to make sure their children are getting the best education. People who don’t have children need education to succeed because of the costs to society for those who don’t graduate high school with a meaningful diploma.
He says we need someone on the school board who is an experienced businessman. “The schools are a business.”
He has a reputation as a problem solver. He wants to ask the hard questions. He wants to be a team player.
