Allegheny Mountain Radio hosted a General Election Candidate Forum on October 26 for House of Delegates, 43rd District and State Senate 11th District candidates. The forum also included Cara Rose, who spoke for the proposed Excess School Levy.
The State Senate candidates were asked four questions by AMR Pocahontas County reporter Tim Walker and The Pocahontas Times reporter Suzanne Stewart.
Candidates Bruce Breuninger and Greg Boso were given the opportunity to answer the four questions, as well as give opening and closing statements.
Due to technical difficulties, the forum was not video taped. Instead, each answer is accompanied by a photo of the candidates.
Opening Statements
Question #1: High speed Internet could provide hundreds of stay-at-home job opportunities in remote locations of West Virginia, including Pocahontas County. In just as remote Highland and Bath counties, Virginia, the average citizen gets Internet connections 10 or 20 times as fast as those here in Pocahontas County. What ideas do you have to increase the speed and bandwidth of the high speed Internet here in Pocahontas County?
Question #2: The West Virginia Budget has been a mess due to an aging and diminishing population, poverty in the state and loss of coal jobs. Do you bring to the table any new ideas or proposals to help solve our revenue problem?
Question #3: The people you will be representing in the House of Delegates are divided on the issue of coal. Some mostly value the importance of coal jobs to the state verses others concerns about the potential environmentally adverse impacts of coal mining to the land and water of West Virginia as well as to perceived global climate change. How do you feel about the coal industry in West Virginia and how do you balance these concerns?
Question #4: Do you feel that taxes need to be raised to help sole the state’s budget problems or do you feel that lowering taxes will increase economic activity therefore raise revenues to the government?
Closing Statements