Catherine Zbiegien – City of Cholla
Today we heard six wonderful speeches from our three governor candidates and our three secretary of state candidates. Cholla citizen, Ms. Steenhard, made it all the way to the final election! She ran against Ms. Conologue and Ms. Vogel. All three were concerned with the problems that face our society today, such as discrimination, homelessness, underfunded schools, and over-pollution. For example, when I got to ask the candidates questions in the Whistle Stops, I asked about how they would improve education and lower the unemployment rate. Ms. Vogel said she would improve the virtual and technological elements in schools, and to solve the unemployment problem she would increase programs that would help people find jobs, similar to the career clubs found in schools.
Ms. Steenhard said she would improve the education system by following her Nationalist Party platform: this includes reaching out and using the ideas used in other state education systems, incentives for teachers, and ensuring equal education and opportunity for all children. She said she would lower the unemployment rate by making people more aware of the programs and opportunities offered to them.
Ms. Conologue said that she would focus on improving underfunded schools instead of continuing to overfund schools with good test scores. She had a particularly creative idea of employing people to make and sell masks during the pandemic in response to the unemployment question.
Unfortunately, my internet cut out when the candidates for secretary of state were asked questions, but I got to hear all of their great speeches and ask them one question. Ms. Becerra was our candidate from Supai County, and Ms. Swanton and Ms. Quinn ran against her. I asked these candidates how they would work to protect the beautiful environment and state parks of Arizona. Ms. Quinn said she would increase the accountability of the people, and she would have more people regulate hunting grounds. Ms. Becerra elaborated on her idea of requiring biodegradable packaging and stated that she would create a job that fishes out recyclables in trash headed for the landfill. Ms. Swanson said she would focus on environmental engineering and clean power sources. All these candidates are very promising and I cannot wait to see the outcomes of the elections!
This is my final blog, and it has been a pleasure to write for Arizona Girls State! Thank you to all those who have read my articles throughout the week!