Candidacy: Choice and a Chance
I am Kathy Hartkopf, candidate for North Carolina House. I believe my candidacy represents both a choice and a chance for the people of our new district.
I live with my husband and two daughters in Hillsborough. I am employed by Calvary United Methodist Church as the director of their Parents Morning Out program and am involved in a great number of volunteer and civic organization including being the chair of my older daughter’s PTA Fundraising Committee and the president of my younger daughter’s school Parent Council.
My candidacy represents the first chance northern Orange County has had to have their voices heard in the General Assembly. Those same citizens deserve a representative who will work to help them have a voice on the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Equally, Person County citizens deserve a representative who will be responsive to their needs and wishes. We all deserve a representative whose chief concern is the constituents of their district as opposed to the leadership of their party or the lobbyists who visit their office.
North Carolinians deserve:
The best schools in the nation.
A balanced budget without the additional burden of new tax increases
A return to our AAA bond rating
A taxpayer protection act.
Our farmers, our teachers, and our state employees deserve our protection and our support!
I believe that I am the best candidate to represent the people of northern Orange and Person counties because I have the values, the experience and the passion necessary to do the job. For the past six years, I have been a presence at the General Assembly. Not because it is my job, but because I care, I go to Raleigh to make a difference. My legislative experience shows that I am effective with both legislators and legislation. I have been called instrumental in building diverse coalitions, across the aisle for the greater good of North Carolina.
I am known as a fiscal conservative. I am known as an advocate for families and taxpayers. I am known as an advocate for the average Joe Taxpayer. I was instrumental in forming the Orange County chapter of Citizens for a Sound Economy and I have proudly signed their no new tax pledge for the 2003-2004 legislative session. I was the spokesperson for Citizens for a Better Way, a group that opposed Orange County’s 2001 bond package. While there were some very needed and worthwhile elements included in the package, there was waste, inequitable distribution of monies, and a $ 75 million price tag for a county whose tax rate was already among the highest in the state.
In principle, I am neither anti-tax nor anti-bond. I do however, believe that tax increases need to be wisely considered and carefully implemented.
I have been in Rep. Gordon Allen’s office in Raleigh. I believe that he is a very nice man. He has not, however, been a friend to the average citizens of his district. He has not been a friend to farmers. He has not been a friend to state employees. He has not been a friend to taxpayers.
Although Mr. Allen has bombarded you with mailings, he has not bothered to visit us and get to know the good people of Orange County. In fact, while Mr. Allen’s mailings decry the excesses of big corporations, he has accepted tens-of-thousands of dollars for his campaign from out-of-state corporations and their political action committees. How can he possibly understand our needs and wishes?
Next week, please make the choice for a representative who will listen. Please make the choice to return North Carolina to a state with a balanced budget and a premium bond rating. Please make the choice to cut wasteful spending and put families first.
Please vote – Kathy Hartkopf for N.C. House.
