The Democratic Club of Queen Anne’s County’s 2012 Membership Meeting, hosted at the Grasonville Community Center last night, served as a forum for First Congressional District Democratic Candidates Wendy Rosen and Dr. John LaFerla.
Moderator Rob Babbitt asked questions to the two candidates on an array of subjects, ranging from energy and environmental policy, job creation and education, to foreign policy and the Straits of Hormuz.
Judging by the way these candidates tackled these issues in this forum, there seemed little to separate them ideologically, despite their drastically different careers prior to running for office.
Both candidates were apprehensive towards hydrofracking, although LaFerla, displaying an extra grain of circumspection, said that as a relatively new technology, there was still much to learn about its environmental risks.
On job creation in the Eastern Shore, LaFerla suggested the need for more vocational tech-schools to create “plumbers and electricians, people who can do work on HVAC systems”.
“Where’s a good plumber when you need one?” he asked. He also stressed a need to “promote” the Eastern Shore’s preexisting higher education facilities.
Rosen, who resides in Cockeysville, invoked the Eastern Shore’s agricultural heritage as one of the focuses for job creation. Later in the forum, she mentioned the destruction wrought to the environment and job market by federal crop subsidies.
“If we use the best practices that we can find in order to create new farming opportunities and revitalize farming on our shore, I think that that would really help to create more jobs. I was over at Cottingham Farms yesterday, and it was absolutely spectacular to see what Cleo Braver is doing. She is a national role model for farming in this country, and we need to take some of her ideas and some of the ideas she has gathered, stop using some of our “100 year old farming practices” and update them into the new economy, and I think there are a lot of jobs there. There is no reason why any of us should eat produce from California when we can grow it on the Eastern Shore.”
When later asked by the moderator what role the federal government has in promoting an educational system tailored toward the math and science related skills required by the market place, Rosen agreed with LaFerla’s need for more vocational schools. She also said it is these skills that will enable Eastern Shore residents to compete for jobs in D.C.
LaFerla added to this by saying that the system needs to be modified to prevent some school districts from receiving less funding than others, based on property tax disparities.
“I would encourage government to work with teachers groups and parents groups to work out ways to improve education across the United States,” said LaFerla.
As for energy policy, both candidates were more or less on the same page, each stressing the need to be less dependent on foreign oil and more resourceful when it comes to developing and investing in alternative energy sources.
“I think the federal government can help with this process by creating incentives and dis-incentives to encourage the public to come up with ideas like they always have,” said LaFerla.
“Also, when we look at our energy independence, we also should look at the energy we use in our homes, focusing on better insulation to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.”
Rosen, a self-described “recovering Republican” has an extensive career as a businesswoman, and is the founder of the Rosen Group. According to her recently published profile in Forbes, she created “50,000 jobs over the past 30 years”. During this time, Rosen has also worked as an advocate for small business owners on Capitol Hill.
Redefining small businesses as having “less than 20 employees”, rather than the current Congressional interpretation as “fewer than 100” was one of her recurring themes and perhaps strongest, most informed conviction during the forum.
Prior to making his Jan. 1 bid for the 1st district seat, Dr. John LaFerla was the chief of surgery for Chester River Hospital Center. Three years ago, he opened a woman’s health clinic in Centreville, and has also served as Deputy Health Officer for Talbot County.
A staunch opponent of incumbent and fellow doctor Rep. Andy Harris, LaFerla praised the more moderate policies of Harris’ precursor Rep. Wayne Gilchrist as being better for the Shore, and perhaps a model for his own campaign to emulate.
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