Advocate for Better Public Safety
Within a few weeks of purchasing and moving into my first home in East Atlanta, my bike was stolen. A few weeks later, my car was broken into. A few years later, a drunk driver ran into the side of my house. Similarly, my next-door neighbor, who had an alarm system, was burglarized three times before she eventually moved out of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, everywhere I go in the district, people have similar stories.
When elected, I will work tirelessly with residents, community groups, and elected officials to reduce crime in our district. After speaking with police officers and perpetrators, I have learned that many of the crimes committed are the result of an unfortunate confluence: a deep recession and a smaller police force. While part of the problem can be solved by increasing public safety funding, we must also implement creative and effective ways to address the problem from its roots.
Improve Communication within the District
As I speak with people in District 58, I realize that more must be done to inform residents about policies that are being made and implemented at the state level. Likewise, more must be done to engage residents on a regular basis.
When I am in office, residents will receive frequent communication about planning, funding, implementation, and legislation for the district. Communication will be a constant, two-way dialogue enhanced by web 2.0 technology, because the best ideas come from constituents.
As I continue to meet with community leaders and residents of House District 58, I learn what the most important issues in our community are. Below are some of those issues.
Public Safety
Our community must be safe to be successful. Public safety is a major concern in our community, especially during these challenging financial times. There are several ways to tackle the problem, but above all, we need to support our fire and police force by maintaining funding for their services. Furthermore, the value nonprofits provide is crucial. Nonprofits work with 48% of Georgia cities and 76% of counties to plan or deliver public services. And 75% of the partnerships are in three areas: public safety and emergency response, economic development, and social, health, and human services. In this economic downturn with demand for these services increasing and nonprofit and state revenues decreasing significantly, people are not being served as needed. We must find financial resources to ensure the community's welfare.
Education
While there are stories of success throughout the state, overall Georgia is failing its students. When compared to other states in the country, Georgia's high school graduation rate and performance on standardized tests of achievement are unacceptably low. We must better equip teachers with more time and resources to teach basic critical thinking skills, not to focus on teaching tests. Moreover, we must hold education as a top priority as we enter a period of severe budget cuts. We cannot jeopardize the bright future of our youth and expect to produce well-educated and productive citizens of this state. Finally, we must preserve the HOPE Scholarship in its entirety. That includes considering alternative solutions to cutting book allowances and mandatory fees in the event of scholarship fund deficiencies.
Affordable Housing
Despite the great gains our community has enjoyed through rapid revitalization, we must not lose site of the goal of making our community diverse, accessible, and inclusive. With that said, we must protect long-term residents who wish to stay in the community and attract new residents with reasonable living costs.
Transportation
A state without an efficient transportation system is a state without a future. Despite its rapid growth rate-within the top ten of U.S. states-Georgia is almost last in the amount of money it receives from the federal government for transportation. As the population of Georgia grows, especially in metropolitan areas like Atlanta, companies are becoming more reluctant to move to this state. Despite huge tax incentives, a great quality of life, and warm weather, companies that decide not to come to Georgia often cite traffic as a major deterrent. We must work quickly to solve this problem by exploring new projects and solutions like the high-speed rail proposed by the Obama administration.
Small Business
Small businesses are the backbone of this country's economy. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms (firms with payroll). Furthermore, they have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade. Therefore, in addition to making sure that we bring large corporations to the state of Georgia, we must not forget to support and to provide resources for small businesses, which bring jobs and prosperity to our community.
Health Care
We must do more to ensure the health of all Georgians. Currently, about 1.4 million people do not have access to Health Care in Georgia. Every day, millions of working families struggle with the immense anxiety and stress of insufficient coverage or expensive medical bills. We must explore cost effective ways to ensure that all working families in Georgia have increased access to Health Care. Likewise, we must continue to adequately fund Peach Care to guarantee the good health of Georgia's children.
Consumer Protection
We must reward businesses that invest in our community; conversely, we must hold accountable those that do not and seek to take advantage of consumers. A few years ago, Georgia was a national model for implementing strong consumer regulations, limiting predatory lenders and protecting consumers from financial servitude. Since then, companies have become more insidious and the laws have become less effective. We must propose strong legislation to prevent the increase of predatory lending and to outlaw company policies that seek to undermine the merit of good customers.
Arts
The value of creativity is evinced in higher math and science achievement by students. Unfortunately, state arts agency appropriations decline during recessions. However, we must look at the arts as an investment in our youth. Likewise, it should be considered a revenue generator, not an expenditure, for it attracts permanent residents and tourists.
