I have lived in the 28th Ward my entire life. The 28th Ward has a broad mix of ethnicities, religions, income levels and social backgrounds. Through my experience as Committeeman, serving on the neighborhood organizations and the neighborhood housing corp, I have been able to work with people from a wide array of backgrounds and to build lasting relationships.
2. How would you approach representing a district as diverse as the 4th Senatorial?
The key is open communication. I will make myself available to hear the interests and issues of all areas of the District. I will rely on my relationships with Democratic committee people and ask them to introduce me to the individuals and groups in their neighborhoods whom I should know. I already have a working relationship with most of them, so I believe that I could utilize those relationships fairly quickly. Over time I will develop more relationships with other interested groups in the District.
3. How will you effectively represent Democratic interests in Jefferson City as a member of the minority party?
I intend to develop relationships with key senators in the majority party. I have an open personality and I can work well with people of different interests and backgrounds. For the issues that I think are most important, this will involve negotiation and possibly holding up some other legislation in order to create an opportunity for negotiation.
4. What is your position on local control of the police department?
I believe it is essential that control of the police department be given back to the City of St. Louis. Most proponents of this position cite the budget as the reason--police represent a very significant portion of the City's overall budget. But important as the budget issue is, I think it's even more important that we make our citizens feel as though they have some input, some ability to exercise influence and control over the Police. This lack of control and lack of input has led to many problems over the years, including disparities in policing practices based on race. Our City will not be the great city we all want it to be until this is resolved.
Would you sponsor a bill establishing local control? Yes.
5. How would you propose to solve the budget problem of increasing pension costs for City of St. Louis employees?
I am open to ideas. A couple of things immediately come to mind. During my career , I served as a Senior Portfolio Manager. I managed several private pensions for local employers. We have to convince the employees that a pension that may be underfunded doesn't mean that the pension is bankrupt. A period of under/over funding of a pension does not effect the ability to pay benefits. In an effort to address the problem in the future, we could reduce the pension benefits for new hires or utilize some sort of cost share.
6. How would you work to foster economic development in the City of St. Louis? Please include your views about historic tax credits.
I would work with developers and civic leaders to determine their needs for development. I feel historic tax credits are essential and would work to be sure that they are not eliminated for budgetary reasons. Saint Louis has some beautiful architecture that we need to save. It is just not cost effective to rehab some of these buildings without the subsidy of historic tax credits.
7. As State Senator, what could you do to improve the educational system in the City of St. Louis? Please include your views on school choice and funding.
We need to work with the Saint Louis Public schools so that they can succeed. They have made significant improvements in recent years and I would hope will continue into the future. We need to make sure that they are properly funded and provide them with the tools that they need. I think we need to give the City of Saint Louis the authority to sponsor charter schools. We need to give parents a choice of which school they should send their children. With this authority, the City would be responsible for the monitoring of charter schools. That mechanism would allow the City to encourage successful charter schools and close under-performing charter schools.
8. Missouri lags behind many states in terms of alternative energy, energy efficiency, etc. What are your views on these and other environmental issues?
I am a proponent of alternative energy and energy efficiency. We need to provide incentives for production and consumption of alternative energy. I am reluctant to issue mandates. I feel mandates in this area merely promote inefficient markets. Through incentives, though the price may be somewhat higher, we can encourage responsible consumption and production of energy for the better well-being of us all.
I am a proponent of alternative energy and energy efficiency. We need to provide incentives for production and consumption of alternative energy. I am reluctant to issue mandates. I feel mandates in this area merely promote inefficient markets. Through incentives, though the price may be somewhat higher, we can encourage responsible consumption and production of energy for the better well-being of us all.
9. As State Senator, what could you do to improve health insurance /care in Missouri?
I can speak to the necessity of providing healthcare for all of our citizens. Preventive healthcare is so much more affordable than emergency care. When a person has no insurance it is usually the preventive care that is ignored. So what happens is that what could have been prevented by a visit to the doctor is transformed to a visit to the emergency room, at a much higher cost to society. We need healthcare reform
10. What is your long-term commitment to this position? Do you plan to seek re-election?
I would like to serve in this position as long as my constituents will have me. Yes, I plan on seeking re-election.
