The Issues
My approach to public policy on both the state and local level is based on the recognition that the realms of public safety and public health are already a matrix, not independent spheres of civic dysfunction. Like it or not, here we are. The escalation in violent crime, property crime, addiction rates, the elevated percentage of the population reporting mental health issues, and deaths of despair are at a point of severity that many of us simply can’t wrap our heads around. I can’t offer solutions, no one can, and be wary of those who do. What I can do is propose, and when elected, initiate the process of addressing these issues in a comprehensive, yet realistic manner.
Public Safety/Public Health Matrix
The criminal justice system, social services, and our health care system are inextricably tied together in multiple ways. Our mental health and addiction services are already the gold standard for the nation. Those systems are already under incredible strain — understaffed and hobbled by regulatory redundancy and interagency communications difficulties. We can do better, and this matrix is my number one priority.
Transportation
Enough with the rail boondoggles, the attempts to limit mobility through emphasis on public transportation, and the resistance to actually allow goods and services to move from point A to point B in a timely and cost-effective manner. In short: roads, road repair, and roads.
Energy
Minnesota needs an “all of the above” approach to energy. We all want clean energy. The reality is, though, that wind and solar are not, and will not be, ready for primetime anytime soon. The cost/benefit ratio in energy use to produce wind turbines and solar panels is skewed to the negative. Any serious discussion of energy policy must include lifting the prohibition of nuclear plant construction. We have some pretty sharp engineers — Trust the Science.
Education
Our public school system was failing students before the pandemic. The last two years have not been an improvement, but it did provide a real time example of how the standard model is not the only model. If funding were the issue, quality and results would have risen with expense over the decades, yet it has shown the exact opposite. School choice, where the funding follows the student, fosters competition, encourages improvement and innovation, and ends the warehousing of our children into the outdated, ineffective, one-size-fits-all educational model of the last half century. I have yet to hear a cogent argument as to how more options, more schools, and more variety somehow damages education and doesn’t reduce class sizes.
Jobs
Business and industry have been fleeing Minnesota for quite some time due to the increasingly hostile business climate in Minnesota. The pandemic has savaged the service industry. Current state laws and regulations make it increasingly difficult for start-ups and entrepreneurs here. There is a limit on the demand for coding, social media influencing, the gig economy, (which I participate in myself and LOVE for the spirit it represents) and moving numbers from one database to another. We need to break down these artificial barriers to innovation, production, progress, and prosperity.
The policies and cronyism that is the DFL Establishment and Machine are destroying the spirit of risk, reward, and innovation that made Minnesota great. The industry, the agriculture, the full creativity and potential of all of Minnesota — THE PEOPLE, not the politicians, not the policies, not the programs. The People and their inherent creative abilities to determine and choose what is good and right for them and their families.
I’m asking you to help me address the challenges we face in ways that make sense and that benefit everyone.