This is the second in a four-part series with women who are running for the Michigan State House of Representatives. With your help and votes, they can win and change the face of politics in Michigan. I believe in all of them and I want you to as well.
When I hear names like Rashida Tlaib, Sarah Roberts, Gretchen Driscoll, and Debbie Stabenow, I think strong, independent-minded strategists. Political forces that have led by example and have bucked the system and the political will of mostly men to not only win in the elections game but also provide amazing insight, voice and SOLUTIONS to problems that have plagued us all. I mention them as an introduction to one of my favorite Democratic candidates for the Michigan House, Kristy Pagan in the 21st District which includes Canton, Belleville, and Van Buren Township.
Kristy is working hard and has been for a long time now (she has been knocking doors non-stop since April 1) to join the women lawmakers mentioned above because when I asked her if she had any political mentors, that was the list she immediately gave me without hesitation.
Kristy Pagan is the daughter of a Union Ford worker and a Union grocery store worker. Dad worked days at Ford Motor Company and Mom worked nights at Meijer so that she could be home during the day to raise Kristy and her two sisters. Many of us in the middle class understand that path and know it intimately.
Kristy was born and raised in this District that she hopes to represent come the election next Tuesday. A graduate of Plymouth Canton Community Schools, her aspirations to become a teacher saw her earn a degree from Western Michigan University where her activism and advocacy took root, and very deep roots at that.
The first thing we have to do is make sure we are funding our public schools properly and to restore the $1 billion cut in public education by Governor Snyder. We have to make sure the School Aid fund is used for what it is supposed to be used for and that will be the first fix I make when I am elected.
While becoming a passionate voice for many groups and constituencies on campus, Kristy graduated with a sense of purpose, a well-earned degree in education, and the hopes of a young professional ready to take on the world. Unfortunately, she could not find employment in Michigan so she began what would be the first of two career opportunities that would force her to leave her beloved hometown and the state. I will suggest that it was those experiences that helped shape her work ethic and her resolve to do something about the lack of opportunities for recent grads in Michigan.
One of those two working stints out of Michigan was working on the staff for United States Senator Debbie Stabenow where Kristy was charged with helping Senator Stabenow shape education policy. Kristy’s numerous meetings with teachers, administrators and parents gave her life lessons and opened her eyes to the problems that were forthcoming. And she knew she had to do something about that. At the urging of Stabenow, Kristy began working for candidates who could help shape, change and protect the education system in Michigan, a system that was working fine until the 2010 elections where the Republican wave crushed the work of many passionate people, including Kristy.
Fast forward to campaign 2014 and we now find Kristy Pagan fresh off a commanding win in the primary on August 5, due mostly to her dedication to knocking doors and taking advantage of any opportunity that would put her in touch with voters in her District. If Kristy Pagan is anything, she is one of the hardest working candidates Michigan has ever seen.
Recently we talked and I asked her some questions to help us to get to know her better. The following is part of a discussion we had the other day in a break she took from knocking doors, where she told me that she is now on her third pass through her District.
Because of her deep background in education, with her degree and working on education policy in Washington, DC, I asked her her thoughts on the current state of education here in Michigan.
Pagan: Education is the number one issue I am running on and the number one issue my voters are concerned about. Charter schools are becoming an issue and in fact they are building a new Charter High School right down the street from where I live (she added that ALL of the Charter Schools in her District are for-profit) and my voters know that and are concerned about it. The first thing we have to do is make sure we are funding our public schools properly and to restore the $1 billion cut in public education by Governor Snyder. We have to make sure the School Aid fund is used for what it is supposed to be used for and that will be the first fix I make when I am elected.
My District is very diverse and we have three different school districts. They are not all providing the same education to all the students and I just don’t feel that is fair. I believe education has to be something that sets children up for success and we need to make sure we are properly funding all the schools.
We then turned our attention to jobs and, although Kristy Pagan understands that she can’t single handedly promise the creation of jobs, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an important focus to her and especially the voters in the 21st House District.
Pagan: We have to do a better job of keeping our young talent here and, being that I was twice forced to leave the state to find work, I want for that to stop. I am proposing a variety of things to do that including investing in and making it easier to start a small business to expand and be successful.
I started a small business here in Canton focusing on community and civic engagement and making sure that political campaigns and non-profits are reaching out to our neighbors. I am a small business so I know first hand what it is like to pat taxes, make payroll, and to stay profitable. An example that I use is the company Groupon. They were started at the University of Michigan and moved their headquarters to Chicago. Young talent wants to live in vibrant communities, walkable communities, and we have to give them that opportunity right here. I see young talent leaving Michigan and not coming back and I want to be that example where I left twice but decided to come back. I want to make sure that any generation has opportunities here and won’t want to leave the state. And, here we go again, but education is the key and we have to make sure they are getting the best education right here.
I have proposed a few things to help like raising the weight limits on out of state trucks that use our roads and guaranteeing that our gas taxes go to fixing the roads and not be placed somewhere else. We ultimately need a long-term plan to fix the infrastructure in this state.
I asked Kristy if part of the problem in public education is what I call government overreach. Her response?
Pagan: The simple answer is yes. I see it every day. I hear it when I talk to parents and parents feel like their children are being left behind and teachers have been demonized by the current legislature. We have to return to funding levels that work and making sure that EVERY (emphasis added) school is properly funded.
Higher education needs help as well and right now I am working at Wayne Sate University on helping students finds ways to make it more affordable.
We also talked at length about the “War on Women”, and I asked Kristy Pagan her thoughts on this.
Pagan: First of all I think much of the anti-women legislation and conversation has been a distraction. We should not be so focused on women’s reproductive health that we are not looking for solutions to creating more jobs or fixing our roads. I will be a strong and vocal leader that women’s reproductive health is not something that needs to be up for debate.
My entire career I have worked to make sure that women have full access to health care and that we have a voice at the decision making table. That is why we need more women in politics.
Kristy Pagan also told me the voters in her District are VERY concerned about roads. Her solutions?
Pagan: I was surprised to learn that it takes a billion dollars a year just to maintain our roads. So having a long-term plan to is a definite must. I was further surprised to learn that the gas tax we are currently paying does not necessarily go to roads but to the general fund. Even though our residents think they are already paying taxes to fix the roads, [that money] is not all going to fix our roads.
I have proposed a few things to help like raising the weight limits on out of state trucks that use our roads and guaranteeing that our gas taxes go to fixing the roads and not be placed somewhere else. We ultimately need a long-term plan to fix the infrastructure in this state.
Kristy Pagan is also very much in favor of repealing the retiree pension tax and, for her, it is personal as her father’s pension is being taxed. She said it is horrible that the Governor and the legislature thinks they can balance the budget on the backs of our seniors. As many of us are aware, that money was already taxed once.
Kristy Pagan is what I call ready for prime time. I have often said on my radio show that Democrats have to do a better job of deepening or building our “bench”. That’s another way of saying that we have to identify and teach a new generation of men and women what it means to serve and how to serve. Kristy Pagan is that example for me.
She is curious. She is focused. She is hard working. And she is ready for prime time. For more information you can find her on-line HERE and on Facebook HERE.
Tomorrow we continue with the third part of our series with Stacey Dogonski. A rare find with courage to burn!
