Election 101 Voters Guide: State Representative: Jim Tuomala
Hometown: Ely
Family: Single, relatives and siblings scattered around the region
Profession: Mining equipment operator
Favorite spot on the North Shore: All the good trout and salmon spots
Q Why do you seek this office?
A I was born, live, and have worked in northeastern Minnesota my entire life. Election after election for the last several decades we have been promised jobs, and all we have gained are pork products and higher taxes. We need to build for the future, not keep running our local economy into the ground.
Q What is the most critical issue facing the state? How do you plan to take it on?
A I feel that the state government is setting us right on course with California’s problems with a combination of over-regulation, growing state government, and tax-and-spend cycles which are becoming increasingly harder to balance at budget.
We should be modeling our Dakota neighbors by attracting business rather than yet another futile attempt to create jobs through higher taxation. It hasn’t worked well yet for our area and nothing has changed.
We need to run the state efficiently in its day-to-day operations but we also need to reign in state agencies like the Department of Natural Resources, which has outgrown its margin of return value. In short, we must grow business, not government.
Q Is there one thing you can promise North Shore residents from your term in office?
A I can promise that I will listen to the people who have voted me in. I believe I am elected to serve the constituency of 6A in their best interests and wishes, not to sell out to party politics from other parts of the state. I can make a better listener than talker, and, although this may seem elementary, I will read all bills before voting on them.
Tags: election 2010, elections
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