Tuesday you'll need to vote for either Tammy Anderson or Tom Taylor to represent our area in the GA House. I don't think there has been a lot of information out there comparing the two candidates. Part of the 'problem' is that both have fairly similar opinions and values. There are some differences, obviously. One is male, one is female. One has held public office; one has not held public office. I don't think those two 'issues' make a difference to the average voter in the district.
I sent each candidate the same list of questions and asked that they respond to each question, limiting said response to 30 words or so.
1. Do you favor keeping the GA 400 toll in place?
Taylor
No. The initial agreement between the toll road authority and the people was that it would be used to pay for GA-400, then stopped. Of course that is not what happened. The revenues were directed to other areas.
Anderson
Absolutely not. I believe that a promise made to the people must be kept. Trust in the government needs to be restored by not electing a career politician.
2. Should taxpayer funds be eligible for use by taxpaying residents for private school vouchers?
Taylor
In any of the proposed voucher legislation, only the state portion of the school budget would “follow the child”, not the county portion. As businesses compete, so should schools based on performance.
Anderson
Yes. Educating our children is vital to the future prosperity of Georgia. We need to elect candidates not afraid to take on the local power structure.
3. Would you support an immigration law for Georgia that is similar to the Arizona law?
Taylor
Yes. The State of Georgia now spends $1.8 billion annually on services for illegal immigrants. That is over 13% of the ENTIRE state budget. You have entire counties, such as DeKalb that do not participate in the ICE 287-G program, which allows local law enforcement to hold for immigration authorities, persons who are determined to be illegal in the normal course of law enforcement duties.
Anderson
Yes. Congress has the power “to establish a uniform rule of naturalization” and the 10th amendment empowers the States to enforce those laws. Further, the cost to taxpayers is astronomical.
4. Do you think the DeKalb County School System should redistrict Dunwoody’s elementary school attendance zones, going back to all k-5 schools? Or, do you feel the new 4th & 5th grade school and having three K-3 schools is a better option?
Taylor
As a State Representative, you can enter opinion on this, but the legislature does not have policy-making decisions on that. At the end of the day, that is an issue that will be solved by the DeKalb County School Board and the officials that we elect to that body, not the State of Georgia or the City of Dunwoody.
Anderson
I believe in local schools and local control of those schools.I fought to keep Austin a local K-5. Although, Dunwoody Elementary turned out to be a fine school and my daughter had a great year there. The fact
remains we moved into our house to be able to walk to our local K-5 elementary school.
5. Why do you wish us to vote for you vs. your opponent?
Taylor
Experience and proven results in delivering for constituents. From the organizational level with Citizens for Dunwoody, to the city level as a Councilman, to the state legislative level where I had lead responsibility for both CFD and later the City of Dunwoody for legislative matters, I have spent 5 years operating in the State Capitol. With Tom Taylor, there is no learning curve.
Anderson
I am not a politician. The only interests I have are to improve and protect the community in which we live. Grant local control of schools, zero based budgeting, pass again the jobs bill, and demand accountability and transparency.
6. What is your #1 goal, if elected?
Taylor
It is difficult to narrow that to one, but I would give these equal weight and priority this legislative session.
1. Reduce state spending 2. Settle the water dispute. 3. Education policy.
Anderson
Gain Control of our schools by any and all means.
MY NOTE: I asked candidates to keep it to 30 words or so. In an effort to be fair, I trimmed down some responses by Mr. Taylor. I encourage you to email directly the candidates if you want clarification or additional information regarding their stance on a particular position.Also, part of Anderson's response to question 4 was not copied correctly but I have since added the missing text.
