The Palm Valley Community Association and Ponte Vedra Community Association teamed up to host a candidate forum for the upcoming St. Johns County political races for District 7 State Senator and District 18 State Representative.
It is a unique time because both seats will have someone new in them since the incumbents, State Sen. Travis Hutson and State Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, have served their allotted number of terms and cannot run again for those positions.
Five candidates took to the stage in the Ponte Vedra Beach Public Library’s meeting room and answered a series of questions suggested by the local voters pertaining to topics important to them.
Gerry James, Tom Leek and David Shoar were on hand running for State Senate, while Kim Kendall and Nick Primrose are running for Representative seats. Each is a Republican, with a focus on the upcoming primary elections on Aug. 20 and the early voting period from Aug. 10 to 17.
Many topics were discussed on the night, including property insurance, education and public safety as each candidate was given the chance to state their primary goals if elected.
James spoke strongly about an increased focus on tightening down the state’s borders and monitoring who is entering for the sake of public safety.
“My goal is to deport all illegal aliens from this state,” James said.
He also spoke about limiting the role and influence that the state government has at the local level and be less regulating of its people, especially when it comes to home rule.
“There are times when the state has to step in, but only in extreme cases,” James said.
Leek spoke about the property insurance crisis faced in Florida and how to deal with insurance companies leaving the state or limiting their property insurance coverage.
“Rampant litigation is the reason they are leaving,” Leek said. “Florida has 8% of the nation’s property insurance claims, but 80% of the litigation occurs in the state, so only eight cents of it makes it back to the consumer. That system is not about you, but about making everybody rich but you.”
He talked about limiting a home’s risk during a hurricane by working on making houses more resilient so that they are more equipped to withstand such storms, which is a major topic especially in coastal towns.
“It’s about making it, so you won’t have to rebuild but just repair instead,” Leek said.
Shoar took a different approach to the question about property insurance rates.
“I don’t think the insurance companies are going broke and obviously we live in a state where we’re vulnerable to certain conditions, but I think every state has that,” Shoar said. “I think we’ve got to make sure that our citizens insurance fund is there for our citizens, and quite frankly, if an insurance company wants to leave, there’s probably another one coming right behind it.”
Similar to James, Shoar believed that less regulations from the state level and more focus on allowing the local governments to do their part is something he supports.
“What I’ve heard is a lot of government solutions but the fact of it is that infrastructure and growth come from the local level,” Shoar said.
Kendall stated that she fully supports the beach renourishment projects going on.
“What is Florida without its beaches?” Kendall said.
She is also looking forward, if elected, to help figure out how to best handle the transportation issues that exist in the area to keep up with the growing population.
“You have to be good at working together (with other government entities) and prioritizing,” Kendall said. “I’ve done work with this and know firsthand what it takes.”
According to Kendall, she supports the school voucher system but believes that it should change to where the money should follow and stay with those families.
For Primrose, he understands the importance of growth for communities but also said that it is important to not allow coastal towns to build up too much with skyscrapers and other high-rise buildings, to prevent major damage in the wake of a storm.
He also agrees that the state should have less involvement in local school systems.
“I think deregulation of schools was good,” Primrose said. “Get Tallahassee out of local school decisions, but I do believe they should be involved when it comes to creating standards the schools follow.”
The community associations will host another forum for County Commission candidates at Christ Episcopal Church at 400 San Juan Drive from 6 to 8 p.m. on July 9.
