Elections 2014 Just another Arizona Capitol Times Election Coverage site
Republican – Legislative District 14 House
Phone: (928) 965-7242
Email: susansyfert@gmail.com
Website: susansyfert.com
Facebook: Susan Syfert
Twitter: @susansyfert
Address: 830 S 20th Ave , Safford, AZ 85546
Age: 65. (12/21/48, Vallejo, CA).
Arizona since: 1958
Occupation: Small business owner, Arizona Frameworks, since 2007.
Marital: Married
Children: 3
Education: Did not provide.
Legis exp: Precinct committeeman; campaign manager, Graham County Treasurer Jean Reynolds; campaign IT assistance, Stan Barnes legislative campaign.
Interests: Interests: History, politics, education, human relationships/mental health. Hobbies: gardening, oil painting, reading, handwork (knitting, crocheting, needlepoint), traveling, human engagement.
Two biggest issues: Economy/Jobs: Lower tax and regulatory burden on businesses, support protection and mission increase of military bases, and encourage natural resource and manufacturing jobs in rural Arizona. Education: Free up schools to innovate and allow teachers to focus on student’s learning styles, streamline on-time dependable funding, compensate rural schools for administrative and teacher travel expenses to training and inability to competitively compensate teachers through tax increases and overrides due to local unemployment rates and low-wage jobs.
Budget priorities: Accurate estimated revenues based on projections from industry experts, mandated funding (statutory, & voter mandated), and then the funding priorities as determined by the constituents and current economy with a focus on recovery. We have to know the funding available first. Increase trade with Mexico through cross-border partnerships, enlarge the Douglas port-of-entry and improve transportation (highway & rail) to bring products to market. Encourage public/private innovation in education with joint funding support: charters, CTE & JTED. Defund and/or eliminate any commissions that are no longer relevant, get all agency filings, etc. online and reduce workforce in agencies that have increased performance due to online access, consolidate school administrative costs where geographically feasible.
Fiscal philosophy: Conservative, both personally and publicly.
Debt is a hindrance to freedom. My husband and I like to live free, and I think the government should not be indebted unless there are extraordinary circumstances that cannot be relieved any other way. Then the debt should be eliminated expeditiously.
Common Core: We have been told these are Arizona standards and we will be able to make decisions that fit Arizona needs. If that is true, I can get behind them. If, in fact, they are Common Core cloaked in a different name and then the state must adhere to PARCC assessments and an eventual data transference to a national database, then I believe we will have lost the power of local education decision-making which is fundamental to the American historical view of education. Teachers need to be able to focus on the multiple learning styles for their students. Obama has said this is not a federal program, however, when Indiana voted to back out, the state felt the full force of the federal government to remain locked in through coercion. This has the marks of a federally mandated program and I cannot agree to federal rather than local control of education. I don’t believe we know all there is to know about this matter.
Gifts to elected officials: I do believe in a tight system, however I don’t have an answer to the second part as I am unfamiliar with how the current limitations are being skirted.
Transparency in government: On a state level, I can’t imagine why there is a need for anything but transparency. There would seem to be little security issues except to the personal information of private citizens. Timely public notice through the press is necessary to keep government information before the citizens. Though we live in a digital age, how will the citizens have recourse if the websites are not kept updated and accurate and people have to visit multiple digital locations to stay informed? Where and who would the watchdog be on a local level? There are still many people who rely on local print newspapers for comprehensive local news.
Pro-life / pro-choice: It is the law of the land. Until the culture changes and thus the law, it stands. As a previous family and addictions counselor, I am familiar with the aftermath of participation and therefore believe those seeking an abortion should have full disclosure of their stage of pregnancy, internal view of their condition, and all support services and information, for and against the procedure. That is what we do with all other surgical procedures and this should be no different. There should be nothing to hide.
Public policy advice: I read policy papers from multiple sources, for and against current issues. On a state level there are few issues that should be political. Though I’m a classical conservative, I have been told I’m hard to pigeon hole. I will be judging legislation on the merits not by who is bringing it forward. I want to know who it may help, who it may hurt, and is it necessary for the state to do something about it.
