Candidate Flyer

Like the rest of you, I am tired of getting the same thing from the same group of politicians. I offer Tangipahoa the opportunity to elect a Representative that is here to work for the needs of our region instead of my own self-interests. As a distinguished graduate student of Southeastern’s MBA program, I have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of our local economy without an allegiance to any one particular business sector. I graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a 4.00 GPA, earning the President’s Medal and a BA in International Business with minors in Economics and Management. I’m also a graduate of the SLU Honors Program. As a student, I was an active member of the Student Government Association and participated in many community service events. Civic activities have always been a passion of mine, and I’m especially dedicated to improving the quality of life in my region. As a native of Ponchatoula it is important to me to see this region flourish both culturally and economically. Though our region has developed a relatively vibrant economy, there is still a great need for the expansion of opportunities for our citizens to advance economically. After much prayer and discussion with my friends and family, I feel led to represent the people of Southern Tangipahoa Parish.

Education The future health of our economy depends on a skilled workforce. Effective educators are the backbone of our educational system. Thus, it is essential that we strive to keep educators’ salaries above the Southern Regional Average so that our competent educators will remain in the state. I also support the expansion of Pre-K services which will promote the healthy development of at-risk youth. Also, we must institute a financial planning component to the curriculum of all high school to help all students, especially those from underprivileged families become better equipped to improve their own economic standing by making wiser financial decisions. Health Care Studies from the Louisiana Health Insurance Services have shown that improved awareness of programs such as LaChip has decreased the number of uninsured. We need to make more low-income workers aware of this program. Also, helping businesses pool their funds (and providing them with tax incentives to do so) will give them the opportunities to provide adequate health care coverage for all working families, which is essential when statistics have shown that the number of uninsured has actually increased since 2003. Transportation I will fight to ensure adequate funding for better roads and highways, making the expansion of I-55 and I-12 a primary concern. This is necessary to reduce congestion in times of emergency evacuations, ease commutes for local residents who work in other areas and increase the capacity for transportation throughout the region, which will foster economic development. Also, by creating a regional system of public transportation, we can reduce traffic, pollution, and transportation costs for area residents, especially the elderly and the disabled. Economic Development To foster economic development, it is absolutely necessary to expand options for tax credits to businesses and to work to expand the interstate system to ease the flow of transportation throughout the region. Our tax dollars need to be spent more wisely to preserve funding to afford more tax incentives for businesses. Fiscal Responsibility Wasteful spending on useless projects that serve the interests of lobbyists and self-serving politicians should be eliminated. This will ensure adequate funding for our primary necessities such as education, transportation, health care and cultural institutions. Coastal Restoration I’ll work to support those experts working to restore our coastline by ensuring that funds for restoring and preserving our wetlands are not diverted away from these projects as our government has done in the past.