- Better Schools
- Stronger Neighborhoods (see video)
- Fairer Taxes (see video)
- Lower Health-Insurance and Prescription-Drug Costs
- Traffic Reduction
- Privacy
- Cleaner and Leaner Government
- A Stronger State Economy
Better Schools. We have to take a no-excuses approach to education in Georgia. We need properly funded schools, a return to emphasizing fundamental skills over a constant stream of standardized tests, rewards for outstanding educators, smaller class sizes and assurances that school tax dollars raised locally will not be unfairly redistributed to other regions. Preserve the HOPE Scholarship.
Stronger Neighborhoods. We must act now to ensure that our community is safe. To protect our families in our homes, we need a legal system that will put and keep career criminals behind bars. To make our streets safe to walk and drive, we have to put teeth into our weak drunk-driving laws. Repeated convictions for driving under the influence should be punished as felonies that carry serious, mandatory jail time. (see video)
Fairer Taxes. No matter where they live in the County, DeKalb taxpayers should be charged a fair, uniform rate based on their homes’ actual values. We must eliminate unfair property tax rates, hiding behind so-called "quality point" rate adjustments and ensure that older residents on fixed incomes aren’t forced from their homes by spiraling tax increases. (see video)
Lower Health-Insurance and Prescription-Drug Costs. Pool state health-insurance purchasing power and provide access to affordable insurance for our small businesses and for hard-working families. Lowering insurance costs protects Georgia jobs. Use state purchasing power to help older adults with prescription drugs.
Traffic Reduction. We need twenty-first century transportation and growth planning, a modern public transportation system and the development of work-live-and-play communities within urban centers. Both the quality of our lives and the continued prosperity of our business community demand a sensible, comprehensive regional transportation plan, which lessens the need for more and more roads and which protects our disappearing green spaces.
Privacy. We must protect our individual liberty from the continuing threat of government intrusion. In this new Information Age, personal privacy is a growing concern, and we demand safeguards against spying on our private lives by government, by individuals and by businesses while we use our computers, visit the doctor’s office or shop at the store. We must never lower our expectation that women alone -- not government bureaucrats -- should control their own reproductive health.
Cleaner and Leaner Government. An ethical and efficient State government starts by trimming waste from government spending (especially spending on wasteful pet projects funded with taxpayer dollars) and cleaning up State purchasing. We need a State "Comptroller" (as 40 other states have) to purchase goods and services for State agencies. Pooling buying power lowers costs. Meaningful ethics reform and enforcement will help protect against special interests and corrupt dealing.
A Stronger State Economy. Stop our state government from "offshoring" jobs, sending our taxpayer dollars overseas to do jobs that could be done here in our community. Support local companies by empowering State government to prefer buying from local businesses that pay taxes here instead of sending money out of state.
