Express Star Questions and Answers Part 2:
1. What will you do to help rural hospitals that deal with budget short falls similar to Grady Memorial?
Rural hospitals, like other necessary institutions and services (schools, roads, water, etc.) are all dealing with budget shortfalls in these difficult times. Furthermore, working families in Oklahoma increasingly are having trouble making ends meet. As a good steward of your tax dollars I will appropriate monies for needed services. I will work to keep our rural hospitals open, but I will not support tax-payer monies being used to support pet projects that have been erroneously linked to these hospitals.
2. Industry diversification is a major problem in Oklahoma and Grady County. What do we as a state and community need to do to attract a diverse array of industries and how can you help if elected?
We should maintain and improve key infrastructures and services (such as water, roads and schools) and not transfer tax-payer monies to pet projects that don’t serve the public good.
3. Higher education entities such as USAO and OU are increasing tuition to combat budget cuts this year. Is this how education shortfalls should be managed, or should the state's government provide consistent funding to higher education? Why do you feel the way you do?
Whenever possible we should remove emotion and politics from budgetary questions and do what is best for the people of Oklahoma. Before making deep across the board cuts, we should direct the State Auditor to carry out performance audits of all major state agencies and institutions in order to determine where cuts should and should not be made. After performing these audits, legislators will have key data that will aid them in making wise decisions.
4. Chickasha has become something of a microcosm of the country as a whole. People trust their city representatives less and less. How would you work with local city councils to improve quality of life and voter satisfaction in your respective municipalities?
The best thing that I can do to improve people’s trust in their elected officials, and the political process in general, is to set a good example. So as not to be beholden to special interests, I withdrew all of the contributions that I have made throughout my career from my Roth IRA to help finance my campaign. When I take office, I will give up my career in order to devote my energies fully to representing the people of my district. I will travel around the district to visit all of the communities that I represent. I will be accessible and return calls and messages as soon as possible. If other elected officials will follow this example, then I am confident that voter satisfaction will improve.
5. Many think the federal government over steps its bounds in regards to state rights. What issues do you see as paramount for the state legislature to combat in regards to federal government overreach?
We must eliminate our dependence on federal dollars as much as possible, because there are always strings (or chains) attached to federal funding. In addition, the legislature must be willing to assert its 10th Amendment rights when it comes to any federal mandates that are unconstitutional.