21B candidates answer queries on JOBZ, education, experience
By KURT NESBITT Journal Staff WriterArticle Photos
NEW ULM - The two candidates vying for the seat that represents House District 21B participated in a League of Women Voters candidate forum at New Ulm City Hall on Monday evening.
Viewers who tuned into New Ulm's two public access channels at 7 p.m. got to see DFLer Bob Skillings of New Ulm and Republican Paul Torkelson of St. James field questions from a League member.
As with just about all League candidate forums, the forum started with short introductions from both candidates.
Skillings went first. He thanked everyone involved with the debate. He said he and his wife Colleen decided to move back to New Ulm after college because they feel it is a special place.
Torkelson reviewed part of his resume. He said he is a fourth generation farmer and is still farming the same land his family settled on in 1878. Torkelson is a St. James High School graduate and a Gustavus Adolphus College graduate.
The first question of the debate, which lasted 40 minutes, dealt with economic development. Torkelson said he thinks economic development is a "critical issue" to this area. He said the state's JOBZ program "worked well" and "needs to be reactivated and fine-tuned."
Skillings called the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development "an excellent department" that has "a good foundation we can build on", including mnworks.net and Positively Minnesota and revolving loan funds. He said he would support DEED and would look to it for solutions to economic development questions.
Torkelson said the business climate in Minnesota "needs to be competitive" and regulations need to be "fair and balanced and not burdensome."
Skillings first responded to a question on educational priorities. He ranked early childhood development, special education and post-secondary education as his priorities, first to last. He said testing also needs adjustment because there is "too much reporting and not enough teaching."
Torkelson began his rebuttal by admitting he had many of the same points as Skillings, adding that he thinks school funding formulas are too complicated and that rural Minnesota schools are "not getting their fair share." He said he thinks No Child Left Behind is "valuable, but it has problems."
The candidates were asked what, if any, changes they would make to the JOBZ program. Skillings said JOBZ has been valuable to New Ulm and Springfield, although abuses have taken place in other communities, and JOBZ shouldn't be discarded because of the abuses but should be "reformed and tightened" instead.
Torkelson said the biggest issue with JOBZ is the competitive wage requirements.
In response to a question about supporting SAM, an advocacy group for adults with disabilities, Skillings said he would meet with them if he were elected to the House. He said he thinks people who work with people with disabilities are "shortchanged."
Torkelson said the state is facing a similar issue with people who work with the disabled in nursing homes, which are losing employees to private industry, which can offer better pay and benefits.
The candidates' state budget priorities were the subject of one of the last questions of the evening.
Torkelson said it would be difficult to look forward and difficult for him to say where he'd make cuts, because the state's economic future is unclear, although he hopes to maintain taxes and not raise them.
Skillings said he would look for an area where the state could prioritize capital improvement projects and would consider pay freezes or cuts to free up more revenue, which would help get the economy back on track.
Torkelson rebutted that in the 28 years he's spent farming, he's had to trim his own budget a couple of times.
The last question came from a television viewer who was described as undecided. The viewer wanted each candidate to make a statement on why he deserved the viewer's vote.
Skillings touted his past experience as a New Ulm city councilor. He specifically pointed to his involvement in the construction of the New Ulm Community Center and Civic Center as an example of what he accomplished during that time.
Torkelson said he wouldn't raise taxes. He said that while his opponent is pro-life "I come from the pro-life party."
Skillings replied that his is pro-life "and a Democrat". He said he recently attended a meeting of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life in Sleepy Eye.
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ddjemj
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10-14-08 12:51 PM
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For the record, some of us are Pro-Choice.
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