2022 Candidate Survey
Describe your personal experience with skateboarding.
I dreamed of being a skateboarder as a child. "Gleaming the Cube" was one of my favorite movies growing up! Thing is, once I got on a board, I was horrible and didn't take the time & PAIN that it takes to learn this sport. I absolutely love seeing kids out there giving it a go though! My general perception of skateboarding is that it is an extremely difficult sport to learn and to master. There definitely needs to be a place for skaters to practice.
Can you do a kick flip?
No
Do the communities you would represent have quality, accessible, visible skateboarding spaces?
Oakdale has a great skate park section of Richard Walton Park. I play softball right next to it and every time I walk by, I see more young kids doing stuff I could only dream of!
Do you see the connection between skateboarding and social, racial, gender, and economic equity? If so, please share a few thoughts.
I think skateboarding, just like ALL sports, is a great way to see how we can be interested in common things and smile TOGETHER! I am really tired of all this talk about race and gender. It is not relevant whatsoever when it comes to...anything! I would love it if we could look past these dividing 'factors' and just be kind humans. I have always watched the Xgames whenever I can. All of those extreme sports are fascinating to watch!
How will you support youth and community health with new ideas and infrastructure?
I am all for local (City/County) governments providing these outlets for their residents. The best way the state legislature can achieve that, in my opinion, is "Local Government Aid". I am more of a proponent to lower/eliminate as many taxes as possible but I would certainly be willing to divert funds to local governments, instead of having the State government spend on frivolous items that do not help Minnesota.
Will you support fully funding the Minnesota Skate Park Grant Program (SF2502/HF2876) in the 2023 Legislative session and beyond?
There are a lot of nuances in that agreement (as there ALWAYS is...) that make me weary of how this money is handled or distributed. If we have learned anything from the last couple years, the more government does, the more things get worse. I feel like the efforts to persuade government officials to pass a bill can be put towards raising the money from voluntary contributions. There are much better ways of accomplishing goals like building skate parks, that don't need the help of the government. Now, the other side of that coin is the liability the state puts on anyone building or having public people on private property...I know this is the catch 22 of privately funding something as awesome as a skatepark. I want to change the way the state government 'regulates' its citizens. We should have the freedom to build a skatepark and allow ANY of our friends to enjoy it, at their own risk. Just like ANY other sport that keeps humans engaged in physical activity and healthy! Thank you for this opportunity.