Competition is a tenet of capitalism that creates better service and lower costs.

Many mistakes were made during the start of the pandemic. Mask mandates forced many businesses to close or greatly curtail their operations. While I was vaccinated and do sometimes wear a mask, I do not believe in mask mandates or vaccine mandates.

Absolutely not.

I believe that voting is both a privilege and a right. Protection of those rights must be paramount and a photo ID should be required.

We must first be very conservative and choose wisely when budgeting. If there is a deficit I would cut spending before asking for more of a tax burden on our citizens.

I would recommend spending the money on beatification projects. Cleaning up our city not only helps decrease crime, increase desire of businesses to locate in St. Joseph but also builds community pride among our residents.

I strongly believe in equality. Everyone should have the same opportunity, but to achieve that goal everyone must take personal responsibility.

I have a love hate relationship with Kansas City. We are very fortunate to live in a city that has a rich history and friendly atmosphere. That provides many opportunity in the arts, festivals, parks and museums. Kansas City is close enough to commute to work or to enjoy the amenities that St. Joseph is too small to support. However, too much of the crime that exits in KC filters its way to St. Joseph along with people that take advantage of our healthcare and our welfare system which taxes our ability to adequately help our city residents.

I strongly disagree.

The first amendment contains an “Establishment Clause” separating church and state. This was written to keep the government from interfering with the church. As a conservative Christian, I would never agree to stop any recognized church from assembly.