VOTE411 Voter Guide

I am running for the South Carolina House of Representatives, District 113, to improve the economic quality of life for the constituents of 113. After serving four years as a Trustee in the Charleston County School District, I recognize that a major contributing factor to the lack of progress for our students is the lack of progress for families. I want to work with other members of the assembly to push funding and policies that will help families move forward. I am also running to continue elevating people in the district. We are growing and developing and that is wonderful, but I want to ensure that the people who already live here get the opportunity to participate. I see my previous work on the school board and this endeavor as inextricably linked. We must improve the quality of life of our children and families by increasing access to jobs, child care and attainable housing. Then, the families who most need our education system to work for them can gain the time and agency to become stronger advocates for their children’s schools and their communities.

I have extensive executive experience that has given me perspective regarding systems and people. As an early professional, I supported the CEO of a then $560 million organization and reported to the Executive VP of Sales, Planning and Administration. In that role, I observed various business operations and coordinated projects between departments, developing my understanding of the whole. In my current role as Executive Director of Teach For America South Carolina - a state funded organization, I have learned much about the South Carolina Legislature and how it functions. I understand how our state’s budget is generated, who the impact players are and what is important among members of the assembly. While my values differ from the majority, I understand what matters to them and have learned how to work collaboratively to get results even at a disadvantage. Further, my time on the school board has given me a line of sight into managing complex budgets and the policy landscape.

The diversity of experience I carry makes me prepared to serve on day one. I am seeking a position that I understand for an intentional purpose, and that will enable me to be effective. I am clear about the fundamental steps I need to take and have the capacity to learn and adjust as my perspective grows from experience.

The lack of attainable housing, the lack of quality child care options, a weak education system and poor infrastructure place heavy burdens on families in North Charleston.

Far too many residents in 113 spend more than 35% of their income on rent and many homeowners are struggling to keep up with property tax increases. I will continue the work of former Rep. Pendarvis, alongside several others in the State House to push for subsidies for attainable housing. We need to make more units available and must incentivize developers to do that. There are funds that go unused that are intended for affordable housing and we need to create better access so that more organizations use those funds for projects. Our next legislator must prioritize getting access to that funding to push it into the communities where it is needed and can be used.

To improve child care access and affordability, we should provide subsidies for child care agencies that incentivize pay increases to their workers and we must legislate higher tax credits to families. There are already bills in both the House and the Senate that I will support alongside others who are working toward this end as well. We also need to expand early childhood programs like head start. There has been progress on this front, but the expansion costs fall on school systems when the state and federal governments could do more. Finally, I would advocate for employers to provide child care benefits. This is done in some areas in the same way that employers offer healthcare benefits. Since childcare is a necessity and an enabler for people to participate in the workforce, it should be considered.

North Charleton is home to some of the lowest performing schools in our state, but also has some of the highest performing schools that few of our community’s children get to access. That should not be. My vision is that we have an education system that supports the dreams of all of our families. Public schools need to be funded better. We need more of an investment from the state and a higher expectation than “minimally adequate”. We need to reform laws like Act 388 that distribute dollars away from our children and fund the system to support the broader needs of all children. Wrap around services must be more extensive and we need to recruit a diverse teacher workforce to better identify with the kids they teach. We must invest more in our technical college system by funding it fully to provide access to more world-class workforce training and better align it to our local school systems so there is a purpose that children and families buy into when they enter our schools.

In terms of infrastructure, I continue to hear concerns from citizens about roads, traffic and environmental issues that could be addressed through more intentional advocacy. While many of these issues are the responsibility of municipalities, they have to work alongside state agencies to get work done. As a State Representative, I intend to add an extra layer of support where needed to push projects forward. I am also in favor of allocating more state resources to improving and expanding our transit systems. We are so often lagging far behind the rate of progress and that reduces the quality of life for our citizens.

As a Trustee on the Charleston County School board, I advocated for deeper and more meaningful community engagement throughout my tenure. I also engaged in it as a way to set district priorities. I spoke with students, teachers, parents, community leaders, government leaders and more to understand what they wanted out of the school system, then worked with other Trustees to set a strategic plan. It was the most beneficial endeavor of my time in that seat. I will take this same approach as a State Representative. I will engage the community through neighborhood meetings, council meetings, community events and one on one.

I cannot set an agenda without understanding what my constituents need and how they view the issues. I believe elected leaders should strive to be as much in alignment with the people as possible and where there are disagreements or minority perspectives, I should be informed about their view of the issue, understand how issues impact citizens disparately and be transparent about why I take the positions I do.

I believe South Carolina needs comprehensive, universal health care. Far too many South Carolinas cannot access a doctor when they need one, do not have insurance or are underinsured. SC law also lets healthcare providers refuse nonemergency care that conflicts with their religious, moral or ethical beliefs so even when there are doctors available, patients can be turned away. That should not be.

We need to expand Medicaid so that all children and families can get the healthcare they need and not be afraid to go seek medical services for fear they will blow their budget or rack up bills they cannot afford. We also need to encourage more students to enter the medical profession as we are in a shortage nationwide of doctors. Beyond that, we need diversity among all healthcare professionals so that people can get access to healthcare workers with with whom they identify.

I fully support the recent version of the hate crime bill. South Carolina is one of the last to sign a bill into law and we need to set the tone that hate crimes are unacceptable. To be one of the last two states to pass a bill, we are doing the opposite, sending a message that hate crimes, domestic terrorism like what happened at Mother Emanuel come with little penalty. As a state with a history steeped in racial discrimination and race-based violence, South Carolina needs to establish a positive standard. I will stand with Rep. Gilliard and use my voice and my vote, if elected.