Name as it appears on the ballot: Erik Raudsep
Campaign website: www.raudsep2018.com
Phone number: 919-399-9408
Email: eraudsep@raudsep2018.com
Years lived in the district: 10
1. What do you think are the three biggest issues facing our state? If you are an incumbent, what have you done to address those issues, and what more would you do if given another term? If you are a challenger, what would you do differently to address those issues than the incumbent has done?
The three biggest issues facing our state today are Fair Government, Small Business Development and Education. With fair government we must make sure that we are electing out judges, have an independent commission outside of the political parties drawing our districts so we never endure Gerrymandering again. We must make sure that we have a true separation of powers and not a power grab from the General Assembly. Some of these can be done with simple law some will require new constitutional amendments if they pass in November. Small business development is absolutely vital in North Carolina we do not need to be giving millions to big corporations that bring a handful of jobs to North Carolinians and transfer the rest into our state. Or only help small sections of the state and leave the rest high and dry with nothing to show. We must use these tax breaks to develop the jobs from the ground up with hard working neighbors, friends and ourselves. We must remember that small business hires local starting with friends family and neighbors so it creates the jobs where we need them the most, furthermore small business is 10 times more likely to pay a living wage over a minimum wage. Education, we must broaden our approach to education here in North Carolina we must empower our teachers we must reduce the burdens of state mandated tests that often have the opposite effect on effectiveness. We must ensure that we are cutting the waste inherent in the system so teachers no longer have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets. We must ensure that our teachers are paid what they are worth to an individual with an equivalent degree. All while streamlining and increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of facilities, supply purchasing, and wasteful spending. We must reach out into the world and look at nations like Estonia, Portugal, Austria that pay similar per student but give their teachers a fair wage and receive results in student scores and productivity far higher than ourselves.
2. It seems hardly a day goes by without news of another mass shooting. On the state level, what changes to gun laws, if any, do you support? If you do not support any changes, please explain why you think the current laws are successful.
We must enforce the laws we have today before we expand to new laws. How can we ask for efficiency from new laws when our law enforcement and state government can’t even follow the requests and laws that are currently on the books. According to the FBI the average state only reports about 80% of crimes and criminals to the database to prevent firearm purchase. We must do better this means that 20% of our known criminals can walk into a gun store and make a purchase. I find this unacceptable we must mandate that all individuals that are eligible to be on the database are properly listed. Only then can we look at expanding gun laws if a problem still exists.
3. In recent years, Duke Energy’s coal ash spilled into the Dan River and Chemours’s GenX leaked into the Cape Fear River. Do you think these companies have been held sufficiently accountable? Do you believe the state has put in place sufficient regulations to prevent these problems from occurring again? If not, what more do you propose doing?
Absolutely not these corporations received little more than a slap on the hand for their destruction of the environment. This in my opinion proves the ineffectiveness of regulation today. We must put environmental control in the hands of the courts. We must provide guidelines for the courts that are loose but forward to keep corporations in check. Many of the regulations that exist today are left over from the 80’s and 90’s have disposal methods that we would find unacceptable today. For instance an approved method of disposal of solid waste is open incineration, it is also important to know that tires are considered a solid waste so under the current regulation tire burning is considered environmentally acceptable. Lastly the regulations that have been amended in recent years have the hands of the corporations all over them and it is clear that they are influencing regulation for their own benefit. We must leave the old boys club of regulation and place environmental control in the light of the courts.
4. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, at least six hog-farm lagoons were damaged and more than fifty saw discharges or were inundated with floodwaters as of this writing, according to the DEQ. More than five thousand hogs have died, and right now it’s unclear what the ultimate long-term environmental impacts will be. Since Hurricane Floyd, environmentalists have warned that, in a severe flooding event, the farms’ “anachronistic” waste-disposal techniques could pose a threat to the state’s waterways and public health, while the industry has insisted that its farms utilize best practices and are already heavily regulated. Do you believe these farms, and their lagoons, pose a risk to the environment? If so, do you believe the state has done enough to minimize that risk?
Absolutely these farms are a huge risk to the environment and the state has set up a system of regulation that allows them to get away with all of this as a status quo. Again we must place this in the courts as well as require independent insurance of any environmental hazard site. It is through these insurance companies to dictate risk and in the case of a disaster pay for the entirety of the clean up partnered with the requirement that the insurance companies regularly inspect these sights to manage risk. It is with that in mind that we can hold our farms and in particular factory farms where this issues is so looming that is risking the future of North Carolina.
5. This year, Smithfield Foods—the world’s largest pork producer—has lost three verdicts in North Carolina totaling millions of dollars, after juries found that its farms’ methods of waste disposal infringed on the property rights of their neighbors. But in the last two years, the General Assembly has taken steps to make it more difficult for these neighbors to sue or to recover substantial damages, citing the threats these lawsuits pose to the well-being of family farmers. Do you believe the legislature’s actions with regard to these nuisance lawsuits are prudent? Why or why not?
I would not stand in the way of the courts at all. In fact this is one of the very reasons that I so emphatically support the regulations to be done away with and move environmental protection to the courts. These farms have met all the conditions of the regulations for years and the people suffered. It was the courts that took the issue and made the situation right for the communities not regulation as we have required for almost 30 years. We must acknowledge the effectiveness and efficiency of the courts in this matter and know that our environment will be better protected in their hands than those of the regulators.
6. It has been estimated that special sessions of the North Carolina legislature cost about $50,000 per day. Since 2016, the General Assembly has called seven of them to deal with everything from passing HB 2—the so-called bathroom bill—to passing restrictions on the governor’s powers after Roy Cooper defeated Pat McCrory to, most recently, clean up controversial constitutional amendment language so that it complied with a court order. Under what circumstances do you think it’s appropriate to hold a special session?
The only time to call a special session is in times of emergency or when the courts or federal government demand it. The amount of special sessions that we have seen in the last few years is the proof of the political polarization of politics in North Carolina and one that the citizens must control by voting common sense in November.
7. What are your thoughts on the six proposed constitutional amendments before voters this November? Please explain which you support and which you don’t support and why. What do you think about the process behind these amendments—what critics have described as a limited public debate, for example, as well as the elimination of amendment numbers and ballot summaries, and the lack of so-called implementing legislation, which could be passed in another special session after the November vote?
I will be voting no on all but one of the six constitutional amendments this November. Five of the amendments are a political power grab that is totally partisan and are horrible and all the votes were by party line exclusively. The exception to this is the only one that received support from all parties was written by an independent counsel in California for our legislature. Of course I speak of the Victims Rights Amendment. We have revised and amended the rights of the accused and convicted many times since they were first adopted in the 1970’s. Victim rights were added in the mid 90’s and have not evolved even though there is clear need to do so. It would be a loss to all victims of violent crime from rape or gun violence and so on as well as their families who suffer with them if this does not pass.
8. In May, thousands of teachers from all over the state marched on the legislature to demand better pay, more resources for students, and more respect. Do you think North Carolina’s schools are being adequately funded? If not, what taxes would you be willing to raise—or what services would you be willing to cut—to fund them better?
North Carolina spends a total of 13.1 Billion dollars on education every year, it consumes 57% of our total annual budget. It is not more money that will fix the problem it is smarter money. First we must eliminate many of the mandatory tests that our teachers are forced to be judged by. Second we must eliminate wasteful spending there are many contracts and agreements that our schools are paying more than market value for operating supplies. Third special privileges afforded to board members or administrators such as district cars or travel expenses must be done away with. All of these measures will be applied to paying our teachers what they are worth on the open market. Making sure that never again does a teacher have to pay for supplies out of their own pocket. Making sure that the chairs and desks that are in our schools are fit for our children and won’t do them harm. Making sure that we have the best and most up to date material to teach our children and not use textbooks from a decade ago.
9. Currently, twenty-nine states have minimum wages above the federal minimum. North Carolina is not among them. Do you believe North Carolina should raise its minimum wage?
As a temporary measure yes our currency has devalued and the minimum wage no longer is where it should be. The problem is raising our minimum wage is only a temporary fix. We must look to the systems of Switzerland or Iceland to do away with a minimum wage forever however have other systems to ensure fair pay for the workers outside of government structure.
10. Under current law, toward the end of 2020, municipalities will gain the authority to pass nondiscrimination and living wage ordinances—unless the General Assembly intervenes. Since the winner of your race will be in office at that time, do you believe local governments in North Carolina should be allowed to make these decisions for themselves?
Effective government has to be local if there is any government that should be making these decisions it should be the local government. Higher the governing body the looser and more guideline like the rules and regulations should be. This is evident time and time again throughout the world. What is right for Alaska may not be right for North Carolina just like what is right for Ashville may not be right for Wilmington.
11. Over the last couple of years in Wake County, county commissioners and school board members have battled over local school funding. Recently, some commissioners have made moves to petition the legislature to allow for a pilot program in which the Board of Commissioners turns over school-taxing authority to the Board of Education, as is the arrangement in most states. In general, do you believe the state’s elected school boards should have the responsibility to raise taxes for the schools they oversee? Why or why not?
This has benefits and drawbacks and they can be significant. For larger or wealthier districts this would mean that the schools would receive more money through the property tax system and would in many cases have the potential of making them better. However, in more rural counties the benefits would disappear. They don’t have the tax base or the size to effectively increase property tax to help the district. Often is also the case that state funding would dry up or be substantially reduced do to the tax burden being shifted. While our system has drawbacks and has obvious problems they do not create an uneven distribution of wealth that a localized funding system would incur. My recommendation is to stay with the current funding system however change from within the system to make it better than ever before.
12. Since Governor Cooper’s election, the legislature has taken a number of steps to assume powers that were previously the executive’s domain, including overhauling the State Board of Elections. Do you believe these decisions were merely power grabs, as Democrats have alleged, or that they were made in the interests of public policy?
It is a power grab in the essence that it is centralizing power in the legislature. For the separation of powers to work, as the system is designed, their clear boundaries between the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judicial branches of government. We must maintain these separations of power to ensure a balanced and beneficial system of government. If this is not done one branch will become more powerful than the others and the balance of power so carefully lined out in the beginning will fail and government will no longer serve the people.
13. Over the last year, the state has frequently found itself in court over its legislative and congressional districts, which courts have ruled to be unconstitutional racial and partisan gerrymanders. Given this, do you believe the state legislature of that last several years has acted as a legitimate body? If not, what do you propose as a solution? If yes, please tell us why.
The clear answer is no the legislative process in drawing the lines has failed and has been in failure for a while however, the issue is entering critical mass at this point. We must develop an independent counsel outside of party politics and potentially outside of North Carolina all together to draw our lines in the future. This is the only way to ensure that no vested interest has the power to determine our districts. After all it is our voters that should choose their politicians not our politicians who choose their voters.
14. Give an example of a time, during your political career, when you have changed your position as a result of a discussion with someone who held an opposing view.
I can honestly say that I have never had a single discussion that has changed my view on an issue. However, that is not to say that my political views are not constantly evolving in the modern world and through events locally nationally and globally. A perfect example is my view on unions. I have always in the past been pro right to work. This has changed in the last two years drastically. I support smaller voluntary unions with a passion today. This is after having many discussions with union leaders, workers, and in fact discussing the issue with friends in the Swedish and Danish governments. Coupled with these discussions and going back and reading works from Henry Ford, Adam Smith, Andrew Carnegie, as well as Friedrich Hayek. All combined have evolved my opinion from unions being against free markets to being a vital functioning part of a truly free capitalist economy.
15. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected that you suspect might cost you some points with voters.
My support of cannabis legislation would be a principled stand that I am sure will lose some support for my candidacy. I feel that it is not the government’s job or responsibility to regulate or control what you put in your body. We need open and immediate agricultural growth of cannabis and hemp products here in North Carolina. Furthermore we need to establish dispensary rules and procedures for the public to access cannabis products. This stems from seeing too many people in the legal process for simple possession especially at young ages who now will have a stigma about them for the rest of their lives before they even begin. Also, to ensure the purity of the product as we have seen cannabis products being laced with far stronger and addictive materials that result in death in some cases. Lastly real world data that shows that states and nations with legal and accessible cannabis products have a substantially lower opioid addiction rate. Showing that cannabis, may be in fact more of an exit drug than a gateway drug as we have been told for years.
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