FIRST, GIVE A VERY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR PAST EXPERIENCES, ESPECIALLY ANY SERVICE ON ELECTED OR APPOINTED GROUPS OR BOARDS.

1. HOW WOULD YOU PERSONALLY PLAN TO REPLACE OR REINSTATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AID (LGA) FUNDS TO CITIES WHICH HAVE BEEN CUT DRASTICALLY THE PAST FEW YEARS?

To be absolutely truthful, replacing the LGA funds would either be a long term process through city growth, or a very painful process in which the city would either have to cut vital services, or increase our already heavy tax burden. The way I would prefer is to have the funds reinstated, there is already a large disparity between the tax rates in the Metro and rural areas of our state, roughly 10 percent and the LGA exists largely to help the small cities compete for business with Metro areas, you could adjust the LGA cuts to reflect the difference in tax rates, affecting cities like ours much less.

2. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF THE PROPER ROLE OF THE STAPLES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA)?

It is my belief that the EDA should reflect the first two words in it's name much more than the last. It should be an advisory board for the city council with the vast majority of it's time and energy focused on, bringing in new business and retaining the valuable resources that are our existing business members. I am all for improving our city in any way, including beautification projects, but, I am more concerned with keeping a business in it's building, than mandating how it looks on the outside.