How long have you lived in St. Tammany (St. Bernard/Tangipahoa/Washington Parish)? 30 years
What is your profession? Engineer – Retired Federal Employee

STATE REPRESENTATIVE & STATE SENATE QUESTIONS

•  1.) What are your arguments “For and Against” term limits for elected public officials?

ARGUMENTS FOR: Term limits mandate turnover, bringing new people and ideas to the table. Term limits help control power centers based on seniority thereby limiting obstacles to change and preservation of the status quo. It minimizes development of cliques and perpetuation of "old boy" networks.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST: Term limits disrupts continuity, limits institutional memory, and gives more control and power to the career bureaucracy. It limits availability of a political career, benefits packages, and pensions and therefore may work against attracting the best-qualified candidates. It regulates democracy by limiting the electorate's choices.

• 2.) Do you support updating and strengthening the law requiring that local governments’ (municipalities and parishes) master plans be adopted by ordinance so that they have the force of law?

Yes. We in the City of Slidell are finishing phase 2 of our master plan, which will be adopted by ordinance as it drives many details in the planning and zoning processes. It is the framework for regulatory, variation, and appeal decisions.

• 3. Experts tell us that we have around ten years before the cost of repairing our coast becomes unmanageable. Scientists have been studying this issue for years. Do you support rebuilding the barrier coastal islands NOW? What other coastal restoration projects do you support and how will you pay for them?

I support rebuilding of barrier islands, particularly the Chandelier chain. The entire process is a systems problem requiring careful integration of barrier island, marshland, levees, drainage, flood gates, and locks. Stand alone projects such as levees only or barrier island restoration only seldom succeed long-term. Committing to coastal restoration, levee construction, etc, is not a one-time event or cost. Commitment to routine maintenance is required from project start. I am committed to defending existing funding and seeking new Federal and State funding to provide and maintain a viable coastal protection system.

• 4. If you were faced with the arguments that many coastal restoration projects will interfere with LA’s petroleum industries’ ways of doing business, where would your personal priorities be set with regard to restoration or industrial operations?

I don't buy an either/or scenario. During my career I have encountered many such conflicts and I have found solutions. I believe the industry understands that we all have a vested interest in coastal protection. Any particular solution depends on existing coastal configurations to be protected and the overall system design. Many entities look only at small pieces of the puzzle, which leads to confrontation. Industry, academia, non-profits, and citizen groups need to work in partnership to solve these monumental problems. I have the career and political experience to bring the various interests together for well-planned consensus solutions.

• 5. St. Tammany Parish has bonded out the 2-cent sales tax (that was to be used to improve and build local roads and improve drainage) and is using most of the money to improve capacity on state highways. What will you do to ensure that St. Tammany Parish receives reimbursement by the State in a timely fashion?

This was a definite gamble by the Parish, yet absolutely necessary to help our citizens in St. Tammany, especially with the existing criteria and formulas basically ignoring capacity issues. I will work relentlessly to insure St. Tammany governments get more infrastructure funding to solve our capacity and safety problems. I will sponsor legislation for more infrastructure funding and require DOTD to partner with local governments to improve our roads and drainage systems, including defining future reimbursement of local funding. I will work with the Governor and U. S. Congressional delegation to get the I-12/I-10 increased to six lanes.

• 6.) The Public Affairs Research Council published a White Paper on Government Ethics and Constitutional Revision in September 2003. They listed twenty-one recommendations dealing with ethics (visit http://www.la-par.org/Publications/PDF/whiteethics.pdf for the complete document). Item No. 9 deals with Personal Financial Disclosure and states “Require full, annual, personal financial disclosure reports from all elected state officials, legislators, and candidates for such positions.”
• Blueprint Louisiana has made ethics reform their number one priority. Will you disclose your personal financial report prior to the election? What specific ethics reform legislation do you support?

I have attached my Ethics Disclosure Form that the City of Slidell requires annually. I will file a personal financial disclosure prior to the election.
I have signed the Blueprint Louisiana contract and will work for its passage. I believe the Ethics reforms must be done so that volunteers serving on boards and commissions are addressed separately because we have enough problems getting volunteers to serve in unpaid positions on these local boards.

• 7.) Many of us have watched the redistricting process with great frustration over the years. The Legislators elected this fall will oversee reapportionment in 2011. Are you satisfied with the current method of redistricting? If not, what changes will you propose that ensures congressional, senate, and house districts are fairly drawn?

Redistricting is complicated by Federal oversight and strict judicial rulings. It is done to avoid placing multiple incumbents in any revised district. When the rules are drawn, I believe we need to: 1) require natural boundary lines such as canals, city/parish boundaries, and main roadways wherever possible; and 2) require districts to be wholly contained within cities and parishes as much as possible. Four Senate districts are partially within St. Tammany, none are wholly within St. Tammany; and only one has a majority of St. Tammany voters. Two Senate seats should be majority St. Tammany districts.

• 8. ) How do you differentiate among actions that are legal, ethical, or moral?

Moral implies conformity to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong, such as the basic moral values of a community. Ethical may suggest the involvement of more difficult or subtle questions of rightness, fairness, or equity, as in being committed to the highest ethical principles. Legal defines what actions are permitted or prohibited, and may not necessarily address ethical or moral behavior. I try to practice non-situational integrity. Denis Waitley states: "Integrity, a standard of personal morality and ethics, is not relative to the situation you happen to find yourself in and doesn't sell out to expediency.”

• 9.) Will you sign on to or initiate legislation that enables the Secretary of State’s office to implement Instant Run-off Voting?

Yes. This approach would save costs of run-off elections by eliminating the primary elections, which should reduce overall campaign costs and reporting requirements. Most run-off elections have a lower voter turn out, thus Instant Run-off Voting increases voter participation in the final selection.

• 10.) What will you do to keep your constituents informed of your decisions and actions during the legislative session? When, where, and how often will you meet with your constituents? Who do you consider your constituents to be?

I will maintain a website, have update emails for those requesting emails, and hold press conferences as required for issues of importance to the district. I will continue attending homeowner group, service club, and public meetings, and schedule town hall meetings.
My constituents are the people of District 76, to whom my door and telephone will always be available, and the two cities and parish governments with whom I will meet regularly. I will meet with the Parish President, Sheriff, Chiefs, Mayors, and Councils each Fall to identify and draft prospective legislation for the Spring session.

• 11. ) Louisiana’s reputation for corruption at all levels of government is well known. What is the current role of the Inspector General at the state level? What reforms do you support? Is there a need for the Office of Inspector General at the parish level? Would you sponsor legislation that authorizes the creation and funding of the Office of Inspector General for ALL parish government offices in St. Tammany Parish? (Visit www.miamidadeig.org for more information.)

The Inspector General's stated mission is to prevent waste, mismanagement, abuse, fraud, and corruption in the executive branch of state government without regard to partisan politics, allegiances, status or influence. Yet, it is an office within the Department of Administration, and its staffing shows it to be primarily an audit function. It was established by Executive Order, and has no statutory authority. Obviously, the Legislature needs to embed its functions in law to make it autonomous and independent. Parish and municipal governments should authorize and fund their own Inspector Generals, without a State mandate.

• 12.) What other governmental reforms do you support?

I will help the parish and cities complete recovery efforts, improve coastal restoration and storm protection, lobby Congress to reform the Stafford Act to speed recovery efforts, increase infrastructure and road funds to parish and local governments, foster economic development to replace jobs lost in Katrina, reform technical training and vocational education, and improve the State’s support of litter abatement and beautification efforts. We should reform and possibly eliminate the Louisiana Recovery Authority to significantly reduce bureaucracy and overhead costs.

• 13. Why do you want this job?

We have a unique opportunity to change Louisiana and redirect many efforts. My integrity, conservative stewardship of public funds, full-time availability, and ability to develop partnerships will help lead a new Louisiana. I am the most experienced candidate to champion positive changes, bringing a technical knowledge of coastal, environmental, engineering, and programmatic issues. My contacts and knowledge of statewide issues were further developed by participation in Mid-Sized City and LMA roundtable discussions and conferences. While term limits brings new people, my professional and governmental experience and my record of positive results qualify me as the best candidate in District 76.