Kathleen Rahn
When deciding to become a candidate for the Arizona Legislature from LD 25, my motivation was to help preserve and protect the public schools in Arizona.
With budget cuts and the diversion of resources from the General Fund for private school tax credits, I am concerned about preserving and strengthening our public schools. Proposition 123 is just the first step, and we need a long-term solution. I know a state legislator must be prepared to search for lasting solutions for the future of Arizona.
As a member of the Mesa General Plan 2040 Planning Advisory Committee, I learned about the vision for the future of Mesa. The committee was comprised of members from city advisory boards and included many different perspectives. The plan, approved by voters in 2014, serves as a guide for “creating and maintaining great neighborhoods, creating and maintaining stable jobs, and providing rich, high quality public spaces and cultural resources” for the City of Mesa.
The Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) was established to look at the long term and not just the short term for Arizona. The CFA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit do tank working to create a better future for all Arizonans. On their website, at arizonafuture.org/arizona-we-want/citizen-goals/, I found the goals developed from the Gallup Arizona Poll.
As a Democratic candidate, I discovered what matters to me also matters to most Arizonans. As a wife, mother and grandmother, with adult children working in Arizona and grandchildren entering schools, I know education remains at the center of our needs.
Education is the first goal. The other citizen goals include water, forests and open spaces; job creation; community involvement (a deeper sense of community connection); infrastructure; citizen engagement; health care and young talent (quality jobs, a culture of openness and opportunity). We all are encouraged to find others and organizations working on these vital elements for Arizona’s future.
Under Citizen Engagement, we are encouraged to increase citizen participation in all aspects of citizenship, and I believe this includes voting. We all need to be informed and vote in the Arizona Primary, on Aug. 30. The Arizona Secretary of State’s website has information about the candidates for statewide and legislative races at apps.azsos.gov/election/2016/Candidates/PrimaryCandidates.htm.
The goal also includes developing leaders who understand complex issues and work across party lines. I want to be such a leader, and that is why I am asking for your vote.
Please email me any of your questions or concerns at rahnk25@gmail.com. Thanks for listening.