Four candidates for the state legislature and one surrogate gathered Wednesday night in the Emporia State University Memorial Union Ballroom to talk to young voters, who many think will play a key roll this election season.
The forum was opened by ESU vice president for student affairs Jim Williams, who emphasized the role of students in the community. “As of today, we have logged 29,618 of community service hours by our students” in Emporia and the surrounding area, Williams said. “What we want to remember is that our students are part of the civic environment in which they participate while in Emporia ... and we tend to forget that students vote, the students have a voice in this society. ...”
The first speaker was Don Hill, 60th district Representative, who is running unopposed for his fourth term in the legislature. Hill pointed out that the upcoming session will be a “huge challenge” because of the state of the economy. “I am concerned with how the economy will affect higher education, Hill said. He emphasized that lawmakers will have to be creative and resourceful as they face the challenges of serving in difficult times.
Next was Peggy Mast, Republican Representative for the 76th district, who has served in the legislature for 12 years. “I’m here tonight because you are important to me,” Mast said. “You are the future.” Mast outlined her accomplishments while in the legislature, including bills on ID theft, health care and energy issues. “The legislature is a lot like college,” Mast said, because of the time it takes to learn the particulars of so many issues. “Being a representative means being a good listener.”
James Bordonaro spoke on behalf of Carol Strickland, who is competing with Mast for the 76th district seat. He indicated that one of her biggest concerns is education, and pointed to her 39 years as a teacher, which included being Kansas Teacher of the Year in 1999 and subsequently being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. “Carol believes that the best way to lift the state’s economy is to support education,” Bordonaro said. “Kansas needs new jobs,” he said, and Strickland sees the need to encourage high tech industry to come to the state. As for health care, she knows the importance of promoting prevention and wellness, and on energy policy she opposed the coal plant in Holcomb and wants to stress the importance of renewable resources.
Next was State Sen. Jim Barnett of the 17th district. Barnett opened with his emphasis on education. “The best way to spend taxpayer money is on public education,” Barnett said, noting that the state spends $3.2 billion a year on K-12 education and $900 million a year on higher education. He also noted that he would look for programs to provide scholarships for veterans, to expand autism services and to provide affordable, quality health care for all Kansas citizens. Barnett supports a statewide smoking ban, wants to see programs to help with childhood obesity and stresses the importance of safety net clinics for the uninsured and underinsured. He also said that energy policy is “one of the major failures of this nation.” Barnett also talked about taxes, saying that the state needs to have competitive taxes for business: “We need to stay out of the way and let businesses and workers succeed.”
Last to speak was Kitty Frank, who is running against Barnett for the 17th district Senate seat. Frank has an economics degree from ESU, and her cadidacy has been endorsed by the Kansas Association of Teachers, she said. Her emphasis was on education, and she told the students gathered, “This election is about you.” She stated that she was running because the last legislature was so unsuccessful. “The 2008 legislative session was the least productive session in the history of Kansas,” she said. She described her leadership style one of consensus-building. She said that over the past few years education has suffered in Kansas. “Teachers in Kansas are paid in the bottom 15 percent of the nation.”
The forum was followed by a brief meet-and-greet with the candidates so the students could talk to them face-to-face about their concerns and the issues they care about.