Campaign Phone
2694141468
Education
B.S., Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale College; Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Experience in Leadership and Management
ELECTED 3 TIMES AS WEST LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCILOR--AT LARGE, SERVED 2016-PRESENT
Extension of the voting hours. A nonpartisan state redistricting commission that uses the principles of Equal Population, Compactness and Contiguity, and Respect for Existing Political Subdivisions and Communities of Common Interest. A ban on mid-decade redistricting. More public information sources on candidates. Candidate forums. I have been advocating for these policies for decades.
Local communities should control economic development and natural-resource management, although there must be uniform standards that guarantee at least a baseline of environmental protections.
No. I believe that public funds for education should fund public education.
I believe that referendums can be a significant tool for direct participation of voters in governance, which I support. Having worked together with other organizations when I founded and was the Chair of the Stop the Water Steal organization I embrace the power of popular sovereignty and citizen participation in government.
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Campaign Phone
(765)761-2168
Education
Masters of Public Administration with an emphasis in public policy; Bachelors of Arts in Communications
Experience in Leadership and Management
Former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the President at Purdue University
Campaign Video
The most significant obstacle to higher turnout is apathy.
The best cure for apathy is knowledge. Our teachers and schools need more support and encouragement to effectively teach civics. No reform would do more to increase turnout and promote well-run government.
In fact, historically, the justification for public education was to prepare citizens for self-government. Citizen preparation should be the primary objective of our schools and how we measure success.
I am a strong believer in preserving property rights, protecting natural resources, and in allowing for local home rule. The default approach should always be to allow the government closest to the people to govern first. It's easier for local governments to respond to unique needs and for the people to hold them accountable.
Only when local governments are inadequately suited to protect natural resources or when one local group of citizens violates the rights or interests of another group of local citizens should a larger form of government step in.
I don't believe enough dollars are reaching our teachers and our classrooms. With some exceptions, such as in rural schools, it is less a problem of funding and more a problem of priorities. Almost 50% of all tax dollars are spent on K-12 schools. We need less of that funding to go to administration, overhead or other distractions and more of it to go to student success.
I support allowing elected officials to put questions to the public, but I do not support a system like California’s, where citizens can place a wide range of questions on the ballot.
Our founders learned from the failures of Athens. They recognized that a pure democracy, in which the people vote on everything, is inferior to a system in which the people elect representatives to study issues in greater depth than the typical citizen has time to do. A republican form of government that elects people of wisdom and integrity will always lead to better public policy.
That said, some issues are close calls, and I support putting such questions to the people at the recommendation of elected officials.
