Published: October 28, 2008 02:24 pm      

Tommy Cosgrove

The Duncan Banner emailed some questions to all the candidates running for political office that members of Stephens County will be voting on Nov. 4. What follows is this candidate's responses to these questions.



Questions for Tommy Cosgrove, Democrat candidate for State House Rep. District 51:



1) What qualifications do you have for running for Oklahoma's House of Representatives?



Not only have I been an educator, teacher and principal for the past 37 years, I have also been involved in the community my entire life. I come from a rural background and understand the issues facing rural Oklahomans. As a former director of my local Chamber of Commerce, I recognize the importance of economic development for our citizens. For the past 14 years as a high school principal, I have realized the value of excellent education for our youth. As a member of the Stephens County Board of Health, I have witnessed the need for affordable health care for our citizens and worked to provide basic medical service and vaccinations to our citizens.



2) Why are you running for the Oklahoma House of Representatives?



I want to provide quality, fair representation to the citizens of House District 51. I have worked with our local legislators, Democrat and Republican alike, to better serve the needs of our citizens and I would like the opportunity to serve in this capacity. I want to continue the strong leadership we have seen at the State Capitol and provide solid representation for Cotton, Grady, Jefferson, McClain and Stephens Counties.



3) What is the most important issue to you and how will you work to alleviate the problem if elected?



The stability of Oklahoma's economy is vital to the advancement of our state. While we have not seen the downturn that has hurt the rest of our nation, we cannot sit idly by and wait for problems to arise. We must work to be proactive in job development, recruitment and training for our citizens. We must attract a wide variety of businesses to our area using the many benefits of rural Oklahoma: a strong, educated work force, job training through our career tech system and affordable housing and property values compared to the rest of the nation.



To alleviate the problems we see with economic development, I will work to make our educational systems more affordable and accessible to rural Oklahomans. I will work with the Department of Commerce and local economic entities to help promote the district for greater job opportunities.



4) With the ever increasing costs for construction materials, road construction/maintenance costs are increasing exponentially, what can be done to alleviate the problem? In other words, can the number of road projects remain steady or will the number of projects need to decrease yearly unless taxes are raised?



After visiting with the officials at the State Department of Transportation, the numbers on road estimates currently remain accurate. The eight year plan determining our road projects in Oklahoma depends on a combination of state and federal dollars and based on estimates with increasing costs for materials. The state dollars are secured through appropriations and bonding, while the federal dollars come through their appropriations process. DOT officials feel the state legislature will honor the commitment on funding, but the worry comes from federal appropriations. If the federal government does not provide adequate funding, road projects will likely be cut unless the people of the state vote on a road tax as the legislature does not have the power to raise taxes without approval by the voters unless by a 3⁄4 vote, which realistically will not happen.



5) Do you stand with your party affiliation on the issues of abortion and marriage? Why?



No. The Democrat Party has long been considered a tent where all views are respected and persons are allowed to voice their beliefs. Each convention, delegates vote on a platform with many issues that define the official beliefs of the party. Like many within the Democratic Party, I do not agree with every single issue that is promoted by that platform. When it comes to the issue of abortion, I believe in the sanctity of life and feel abortion is the most horrible thing that can happen. As far as marriage, I feel that this is a religious institution dictated by the church with constraints set by the law and should be between a man and woman.



6) Would you every cross party lines in a voting session? Why?



No political party has a guarantee of always being right on the issues, nor does a political party always take the wrong stance on a subject. I will vote on each issue based on the merit of the issue and will work with any legislator, no matter what party, to promote ideas that will benefit Oklahoma and my district. I fully expect to cross party lines to work on ideas that will move our state forward and I will encourage those legislators around me to do the same.



7) Are you for or against Tort Reform? Why?



I support making our legal system more accountable, just like I support making our judicial system fairer in how awards are given regarding lawsuits. I will support any legislation that is fair to all parties and does not give advantage to one side of an issue.



8) Oklahoma has a prison capacity of about 25,000. We stay filled at between 96% and 98% yearly, which is well into overcrowded status. What is the answer for prison overcrowding in Oklahoma and how will you work to alleviate the problem? Do you think taxes need to be raised to solve the (any) problem?



I do not feel we need to raise taxes in Oklahoma. The situation we face with prison overcrowding will take time to fix. It has taken years to build up the prison population and it cannot be fixed overnight. We must increase programs, such as drug courts, to find innovative ways to rehabilitate offenders and still hold them accountable for their actions. We must look at other forms of specialty courts to deal with specific problems and seek to reduce the prison population to only those prisoners that are a threat to others.

Education is the key to reducing the prison overcrowding problem over the long-term. If we provide students with a quality education with greater opportunities, such as career tech training for jobs, they are less likely to resort to a life of crime.





9) Recidivism is measured as the percentage of all prisoners within a given year who return to incarceration within three years. For fiscal year 2005, the recidivism rate is 27.8%. What will you do to lower that percentage?



It has been said well over 90% of prisoners will eventually be released from prison. The main problem is we have gotten away from “corrections” in behavior when it comes to the Department of Corrections. We must find ways to reach the first-time offenders currently in prison to keep them from resorting to a life of crime, but still allow for accountability for their actions. Too many prisoners grow accustomed to life in prison. They have little to no chance of succeeding once released because they return to an unstructured lifestyle. If our goal is to help offenders become productive citizens, we must find ways to educate, rehabilitate and find employment. We must provide programs to rehabilitate them prior to their release and invest in opportunities for job training to give them a chance to succeed outside the prison walls. We must also allow successful programs, such as prison ministry, the chance to operate. These programs provide a source of guidance and a sense of purpose. I would also like to see a personal mentor similar to those in twelve step programs work with newly released offenders to help them survive outside the prison walls.



Last two questions are from a reader of the Duncan Banner:



10) What have been some “positives” that have happened during your campaigning?



The greatest positive that has happened during this campaign would be the many friends I have made while knocking doors and visiting at events. I appreciate how much my friends have helped me during this campaign. After this experience, I will be a better friend to those that have sacrificed their time and efforts to help me win this election. I will be a better husband to my wife who has been by my side throughout this race. I will be a better father and grandfather since I have had the chance to take the grandkids to many fun events around the district and have treasured that time together. Another would be the many great places, events and people right here in District 51 that I have never before had the chance to experience. I will treasure the experience of this campaign for the rest of my life.



11) How can we make public schools better?



The best way we can make our public schools better would be to reduce the many mandates we have placed on our educators. We have seen the politicians pass laws that they feel will help, yet all they do is force our educators to teach to tests rather than teaching students. Worse yet, the mandates are many times unfunded by the government and that burden falls to the local school. We must also work to reduce the size of classes in our schools to allow the teachers more time for personal instruction for each individual student. I believe fundamentally schools should have local control on most issues. The level or degree of accountability we hold our schools to should be reasonable and we should always consider the needs of the students first.