Thanks to the Republicans Women’s Clubs of Clinton County for allowing me to speak at their Candidates Night tonight. The text of my speech is shown below (limited to 3 minutes).
* Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your attention and interest in these important races and thanks to the ladies of the Republican Womens Club’s for giving us this opportunity to speak tonight.
* Since our time is limited I’m going to skip the personal history and invite you to go to my website vanpratt.com to learn about my background and experience. Time will not permit discussing all the issues so I will focus on a few of the issues that are important to the taxpayers of Clinton County.
* Let me begin by saying that my opponent, Mike Curry, is a nice guy so please understand that with all due respect I am not focusing on my opponent's personality, but rather, on his record.
* As Republicans we are supposed to abide by certain principles, those detailed in the Republican Party Platform. This document states, “The American people believe that Washington is broken. Short-term politics overshadow long-term interests of the nation.” I submit the same thing could be said about Clinton County.
* My opponent has been responsible for the county’s budget for over 10 years. The same problems that existed 10+ years ago still exist today. Instead of making the needed changes, the can continues to be kicked down the road.
* My opponent’s budgets have not included the recommended 25% year-to-year carry-over so there continues to be concern about making payroll and there is no emergency fund to cover anything unexpected.
* I will implement a 5 year budget forecast to improve decision making. I will work to protect the hospital funds for the long-term benefit of county taxpayers and I will work to create the proper level of carryover so that the county will not continually face fiscal emergencies.
* This Republican platform states, “Spend only what is necessary, and tax only to raise revenue for essential government functions.”
* Back in 2005 when the economy was rolling along quite well, my opponent raised the sales tax, justifying the increase as needed to pay down debt and get the county budget in order. $12M in new taxes was raised but less than $2M was used to pay down debt. Instead, my opponent increased the average General Fund Budget by of over $2M per year.
* He increased taxes by $2M per year and increased spending by $2M per year.
* This Republican platform states, “Republicans will attack wasteful spending immediately. Government waste must be taken off auto-pilot”. “The problem is too much spending not too few taxes”.
* My opponent has since voted two more times to raise the sales tax. Instead of attacking spending he has increased it.
* It will be argues that all the cost cutting that can be done has been done but when compared to the seven next larger counties my opponent’s budget was $3.3M higher than theirs.
* It begs the question, how can other county commissioners run their larger counties for $3M less than my opponent can?
* The Republican platform says, “Each agency must be able to pass a financial audit and set targets for improving efficiency with fewer resources”. I will use the other counties’ budgets as a benchmark goal and will work with the various county agencies to cut budgets to meet these goals, reducing the burden on the taxpayers.
* Will this require hard choices? Yes it will, but as Ronald Reagan said, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right".
* With bold conservative leadership Clinton County can have a bright future once again, we can thrive not just survive.
* The record is quite clear; it’s time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans. I am your conservative choice for County Commissioner.
* Please visit vanpratt.com for more information.
* Thank you and God Bless.
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