Training and Experience
Nearly 30 years as a public servant; Executive Director, Ohio Department of Education; Director, Stark County Care Team; Director, Office of Student, Family, and Community Support for Canton City Schools; Institute for Educational Leadership Policy Fellow, Ohio Early Childhood Leadership Fellow, and a member of Leadership Stark County 35th Class Signature Program
Volunteer/Community Service
YMCA of Central Stark Ohio, Greater Canton Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, Stark County Library Foundation, Crystal Park UMC and Canton Outside of Canton food ministries, Stark County Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority & The Links, Inc.
Ohio should focus on making voting secure, accessible, and straightforward for eligible voters. Laws and policies should protect and expand early voting hours so that working people and families have more opportunities to cast a ballot.
Ohio should allow online voter registration updates and make it easier for voters to track their absentee ballots. The state must provide consistent funding to boards of elections so polling locations are adequately staffed and equipped. Long lines and last-minute confusion are preventable problems.
Finally, Ohio needs a more transparent and fair redistricting process so voters can feel confident their communities are represented fairly. The goal is simple: make it easy for eligible Ohioans to vote and ensure every ballot is counted accurately.
Ohio’s tax code needs to be fairer and make more sense for everyday people.
For example, Ohio should add a higher income tax bracket for the very highest earners.
It should ensure that lower and middle-class families get some real relief, such as easing the pressure of sales taxes on everyday essentials, which tend to hit working families the hardest.
Ohio must take a closer look at corporate tax credits and loopholes. If they aren’t actually creating jobs in Ohio, they shouldn’t keep costing taxpayers money.
Ohio's investment in community small businesses should be systemic, which will also foster innovation and local pride.
Ohio must strongly invest in a fair school funding formula.
As the Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 49th District, one of my primary focuses is helping families facing the rising cost of living. I will advocate, through supporting current bills or introducing new ones, to reduce taxes, especially on life essentials. I will seek to expand affordable, but safe housing. I will advocate for bringing employers to our state, particularly to Stark County, that provide living-wage jobs and positions in high-demand fields. I will continue to work on improving the cost of childcare so that families can afford to work. I will fight to ensure that costs such as healthcare, utility costs and prescription drug costs are monitored and if needed, regulated to ensure access for all families.
As an education administrator for nearly 30 years, I have experienced firsthand what school leaders, teachers, staff and students need. Ohio must fully fund our public schools. This includes bringing back the Supplemental Targeted Assistance. I would scale back the voucher system and reimburse districts for transporting these students. I would seek funds to ensure students have access to mental health support and other non-academic needs. A recent report stated that Ohio teachers' morale ranked lower than that of peers in other states, and 46% said they expect to leave the classroom and work in a field outside education in the next 10 years. We need to listen to teachers and address their concerns before a crisis occurs. For higher ed, SB1 should be repealed, almost entirely.
I am sorry that this question must be addressed. Watching today’s politics, it often feels like a room full of children, shouting over each other, refusing to listen, and throwing tantrums when things don’t go their way. All of us could be reminded to use the lessons we teach kids: respect one another, even when we disagree; show kindness and empathy, remembering real people are affected by our choices; and be fair and honest, own up to mistakes, and don’t twist the truth. To curb this behavior, I’d encourage structured conversations with clear rules, hold people accountable, and create opportunities to collaborate on small shared goals. But most importantly, I would do what I have done my entire career: I would model the behavior I expect and not get caught in the mud.
Training and Experience
Senior Leadership Training, Federal Executive Institute
Volunteer/Community Service
Founding Member of Protect Choice Stark, Member, National Security Leaders for America Member, Women’s Impact, Inc. Member, League of Women Voters - Canton Area Member, Stark Country Junior League Member, Canton Historical Society Member, Etc
Remove all statewide barriers to elections participation, most notably the recent decision to refuse mail-in ballots past the election date.
The State should be centrally funding basic services at much higher rates because the burden is too heavy for local municipalities to carry. For example, the State should fund public schools at at least 50% (instead of 30%) so that property taxes can be reduced while still ensuring public schools thrive.
The State should be offering more services to it's citizens. For example, we should fund free breakfast and lunch for students to not only ensure hardworking parents have more money to pay their bills, but also that Ohio's children are not hungry while trying to learn. The State should also expand childcare subsidies for working parents to help curb the labor shortage in the State and help families bring more money home. The State also needs to focus on increasing housing to reduce the costs of homes and the barriers to entry for home ownership, but also to attract new businesses to the area and therefore more revenue to the Government. These are just some of the critical steps Ohio's Statehouse could take to cost of living concerns.
Public schools need more central funding as previously noted. The systematic erosion of our public school systems is one of the worst things we can do for the future of our state. It harms the children who rely on that education for a bright future, contributes to the steady decline in population we have seen in recent years, and is a key indicator for economic success of any area.
More specifically, the voucher program should end and no taxpayer money should go to private schools without full transparency and accountability for it's use - the same way we do with public schools and all other public funding.
Reducing partisanship and promoting civility is at the heart of my campaign. I spent nearly 2 decades working for the federal executive branch and worked under 4 U.S. Presidents - 2 republican and 2 democratic. I successfully built trust and relationships with people from those parties, as well as all around the world when I was representing our country as a diplomat.
In addition to experience doing just that my entire career and more specifically related to this campaign, I will treat everyone with respect, refuse to hold a grudge or stop pursuing commonsense solutions in the face of obstacles, and hold onto the belief that politics is never the answer - public service is. I will lead with a servants heart day in and out.
