2022 General - Voter Guide Ranking

2022 Clean Water Questionnaire Responses

To read each question, answer and candidate comments click below.

• Question 1 : No
  1) In late 2020 the state of Florida became one of three states to assume the wetland dredge and fill permitting authority previously held by federal authorities. The move, enabled by a rule change late in the Trump administration, was challenged in court by conservationists who said it put 6 million acres of Florida wetlands at risk. Subsequently a federal judge ruled the rule change could cause “serious environmental harm” and the federal Environmental Protection Agency has objected to numerous permits granted by the FDEP. Do you believe wetland permitting authority should be returned to the federal government, and wetlands protections should be expanded and prioritized?

  No

  Candidate Comment:

  Each State has the right to control its own environment and land. Still, in order to prevent the abuse of private entities the Federal conservation ideas and guidelines should be strictly adhered to in order to maintain nature’s sanctity.

• Question 2 : No
  2) Manatee deaths in Florida have captured headlines around the world, with more than 1,100 sea cows dying last year. Many died of starvation driven primarily by the loss of seagrass, a key source of food and habitat that's been decimated by decades of pollution. Any solution must be multifaceted and include significant new spending - but also tougher rules and enforcement. Do you support compelling the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force the state of Florida to upgrade water quality standards to meet the Clean Water Act criteria and thereby make Florida’s waters safe and clean for manatees, as well as people?

  No

  Candidate Comment:

  As a Proponent of state rights, I do not agree with Federal authority over the authority of states. I think that each state must maintain its right to govern its own land without the interference of the Federal government. The only caveat to this rule is if a particular state shares the same resource with another state. Then and only then, should the Federal government have a say.

• Question 3 : Yes
  3) When it comes to Everglades restoration, water storage is key. Storage methods like Aquifer Storage & Recovery (ASR) deep-injection wells pose risks in Florida’s porous bedrock, where contaminants like arsenic can leach into the water, and move water too slowly to be an effective means of flood control. Independent experts, including the National Academy of Sciences, have called for increasing above ground water storage. Will you prioritize funding for Everglades restoration projects with above ground storage and filtration marshes that send water south through the Everglades and down to Florida Bay, the headwaters of the Florida Keys, as nature intended?

  Yes

  Candidate Comment:

  If anything can be done to prevent the degradation of Florida’s pristine water supply, I am willing to invest in it. Of course I am willing to listen to both sides of the argument before making any decision. I must be persuaded by Florida’s environmentalists and scientists and those who have experience in the field.

• Question 4 : Yes
  *4) Special interests like Florida's powerful sugar industry spend lavishly to influence elections, with "Big Sugar," the phosphate mining industry and big utilities, among others, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to aid candidates who then back their preferred legislation - too often, at the expense of clean water. Do you agree your campaign will accept no contributions from any source with ties to polluting industries including, but not limited to, the sugar, phosphate and utility industries?

  Yes

  Candidate Comment:

  Big sugar has done major damage to Florida’s environment and I will not accept any money they should offer to my campaign. It is not out out of the realm that Big Sugar cannot amend its ways and practices. Of course this is a major industry and they should be given the opportunity to come up with ideas in order to secure Florida’s waterways and pristine land.

• Question 5 : Yes
  5) Big Sugar’s clout in Washington D.C. is subsidized by taxpayers. Price supports and import controls in the federal farm bill pad the industry’s profits, inflating U.S. sugar prices an estimated 69 percent above the global price, and providing $1.2 billion worth of support to sugar growers and processors. That means consumers pay more at the grocery store - and allows the industry to spend freely on political campaigns to protect their privilege. The federal Sugar Program is up for renewal in the 2023 Farm Bill. If elected, will you support the growing bipartisan effort to reform and ultimately end sugar price supports?

  Yes

  Candidate Comment:

  Every business must have the opportunity of standing on its own without public subsidies. Of course there are areas where we can limit this practice by not completely eradicating our support but amend the negative aspects of this practice to make it beneficial to the consumer and taxpayers instead of political organizations. I will reject any law that goes against the will and benefit of the people.