Elizabeth Coggs: Advocating for Milwaukee from Madison
ElizabethCoggs said her 22-year stint as a MilwaukeeCounty supervisor will help theresidents of Assembly District 10 and Milwaukee Countyas a whole. “Many of our county services are mandated by the state and we’vehad some challenges through the years,” Coggs said. “I thought this [runningfor Assembly] was a good way for me to advocate very strongly for the Milwaukee County constituency.”
Coggs,currently serving as the chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, said her topissues are transportation, health and human needs, and roads. She said thatauthorizing a regional transit authority (RTA) and dedicated funding source forMilwaukee’s bussystem is a priority.
“We want toget people out to jobs and activities,” Coggs said. “It’s hard to do that withall of the costs going on around us and not having the authority for an RTA ordedicated funding source.”
She saidthat while the county voted in favor of raising the sales tax to fund buses andother county services, she is willing to look at other revenue sources for thetransit system.
Another topissue is health and human needs programs, Coggs said.
“Duringthese economic times the need is even stronger,” Coggs noted.
Coggs saidshe opposed the mayoral takeover of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) andwould like to form a task force to study and reform the state’s educationsystem. But she said MPS’s problems go beyond the classroom and are rooted in Milwaukee’s anemic jobmarket. “When mom and dad don’t have jobs, that family is not stable, it’s nothealthy,” Coggs said. “And that child is going to school every day with theburden of problems, a multitude of issues.”
Coggscurrently does not live in the district, but would move if she wins inNovember. She said she would resign as supervisor to become a staterepresentative.
For moreinformation about Coggs’ campaign, go to www.elizabethcoggs4state.org.
Stephanie Findley: Community Involvement
StephanieFindley, a business and public relations consultant who also works as theoffice manager and assistant to the director of AFSCME District 48, said sheknows what it takes to grow a business.
“Thisinformation is key for a legislator because there are different tax incentivesand tax credits that you can offer businesses that are in the process ofhiring,” Findley said. “And that’s important in these tough economic times.”
Findley saidher business background, which includes a master’s in business management from Cardinal Stritch University,would be an asset in the Assembly.
“I’m one ofthose people who can go into the budget and see where there is some wastefulspending so we can cut it and then come up with how to add other revenuesources to cover the budget gap,” Findley said.
Findley saidshe would like to add clean energy jobs in Milwaukee and offer incentives to innovativeemployers who hire people from the community.
Findley saidshe did not want the mayoral takeover issue revived and wants to raise theperformance standards of MPS students and those in the voucher program.
“We need toestablish more reading programs because they’re not getting that at home,”Findley said. “If you don’t give kids a bar to reach for, then they’re notgoing to do it. We have to set the standards and bar high.”
She said abetter education system would encourage business owners to locate in Milwaukee.
She said shesupports high-speed rail and raising the sales tax for Milwaukee buses, which was approved by countyvoters in a 2008 referendum.
“If you arenot going to provide people with transportation to get to jobs, then how arethey going to be employed?” Findley said. “You can’t keep squeezing theservices and keep charging more. That impacts the low-income community whoactually takes the bus to work.”
For moreinformation about Findley’s campaign, go to findleyforassembly.com.
Sherman L.Hill: It’s About the People
Sherman L.Hill, the recently retired executive director of the Harambee Ombudsman ProjectInc. (HOPI), said he is running because “there are so many issues that arevital to the people within the 10th Assembly District. This election is aboutthem. It’s not about me.”
Hill said heshares the concerns of the community, such as quality care for seniors,returned veterans and the homeless population, access to quality education,foreclosures and health care reform.
“I amtotally for the new health care bill and the residents are, too,” Hill said.“If we do more preventative medicine, then people won’t have these large billsto pay.”
Hill saidthat programs for youth and young parents are critical to the district’swell-being.
“Right nowwe have programming for young people, but there’s not enough of it,” Hill said.
Hill saidthat he would address the district’s high unemployment rate if elected to theAssembly.
“Fromworking at the Harambee Ombudsman Project I knew that the unemployment rate forpeople from 16 to 65 was 50%-plus,” Hill said.
Hill said itwould be premature to talk about which programs could be cut to eliminate thestate’s $2 billion budget deficit. But he suggested raising revenues byfollowing the examples of Illinois and Indiana and adding tollroads.
“I’ve alwayswondered why Wisconsindoesn’t have toll roads,” Hill said. “I’m sure that there are ways that thiscould be handled so that people who live within the state wouldn’t have to paythose large fees. But if you’re from out of state, you should pay.”
Hill said hesupports the voucher system, but said that more attention needs to be focusedon voucher teachers’ credentials and qualifications.
“The samecriteria MPS teachers have, that’s the same criteria that voucher and charterschool teachers should have,” Hill said.
