The Issues

As I move through District 4, obtaining my 350 -400 Qualifying Contributions of $5.00 each, by the last day of May, some of the questions that are asked, seem to have a recurring theme.
Many of you ask me about Public Safety, yes, this is a concern of mine, as I myself have found a reason to call for our Police Department's help, only to experience a very slow response time or even a dismissal, as though the reason for the call wasn't valid. In my case, it was 2 cars playing chicken in an empty parking lot. Teen's driving at full speed toward each other. I called APD, I was told they'd get to it in order of priority, I sat and watched and waited for APD, as I was told by the Dispatcher - to "stay put", as these young men drove and swerved for 45 minutes, until the teens eventually tired of their dangerous game and left, APD never arrived.
We must increase the response team, yet we can only do that if we have the Police Power, and at this time, it appears that we do not have enough Officers to do this.
Is this a concern of mine?
Yes, absolutely.

Another issue that comes up repeatedly is that of our Education System.
As a mother of 2 young men that have now finished High School at La Cueva, I can attest first hand to some of the missing links that exist.
How can we spend so much money on Education, and yet have such low scores on standardized tests?
Perhaps we should be looking at allocating more money for the classroom, the training of our teachers and less for the Administration.

Before I close today's blog, I'd like to touch on the desire of our current City Councilor who does not agree with our Mayor on lowering the the sales tax. For some of our constituants, a lower tax would mean the difference in the type of bread, milk or cereal they buy, every penny adds up.

Again, I ask for your input, I've got a list of other topics and tomorrow will explore some of them. Our District 4 is teaming with possibility, but we have to plan well in order to reap the fruit of our efforts.
Thank you,
Paulette de'Pascal