Article Contributed on: 10/6/2008 10:10:03 AM
Joe Miklosi is running for State House District 9 and answered a questionnaire for YourHub.com. To read all of the candidate questionnaires,
click here.
Name: Joe Miklosi
Seat you are seeking: Colorado State House of Representatives - District 9, southeast Denver.
Age: 38
Family: Married to Jennifer.
Occupation: Nonprofit Management. I work for PROJECT C.U.R.E., a nonprofit organization in Centennial that provides donated medical supplies and equipment to needy hospitals in over 120 developing countries. Before working for PROJECT C.U.R.E., I worked six years in the information technology sector, where I helped start a software company and 10 years in public policy and politics, where I worked for bi-partisan leaders like Andrew Romanoff, the Colorado Speaker of the State House.
Hometown: New Boston, Michigan, a small, rural community 40 minutes north of the Ohio-Michigan border.
Your Web site:
www.joemiklosi.com
Favorite local place to hang out: Jogging on the High Line Canal. It runsright by my home.
What do you like most about living here?: The sunshine and the friendly people!
Interests & hobbies: Golfing, jogging, reading, spending time with my wife, and traveling to England every four years to watch the best golfers in the world play for pride and country and no money in the Ryder Cup golf tournament.
Favorite TV show: The Amazing Race
Favorite Web site:
www.politicalwire.com
People who inspired you (and how): My mother, Roselle's incredible sense of determination, which helped her overcome numerous obstacles in her life, including spending years in an orphanage, inspires me to this day. I learned from an early age from her to never, ever give up even when the odds seem insurmountable. With enough courage, compassion, and determination, you can achieve almost anything in life.
How you have contributed to the community: During the past six years, I've been active in Rotary. I've helped raise over $100,000 for both local and international charities, such as the Colorado "I Have a Dream Foundation", which helps at-risk youth stay in school and an orphanage in Rwanda, Africa.
What are the biggest issues facing your constituency now:
The biggest issues confronting my constituency and all Coloradoans is growing our economy, creating jobs, and investing in more educational opportunities to prepare and retrain our students to compete and win in an ever-changing, global economy. One of my ideas is to partner more closely with our research universities, such as the School of Mines, the University of Colorado, and Colorado State University's research departments and view them as job incubators as well as places of higher learning. If we invest more state dollars in our most promising, emerging industries, such as solar, wind, and geothermal technologies, we will attract more business investment, stimulate the economy, and create jobs.
Colorado is in a unique position because of our tremendous natural resources. We are the fourth sunniest state and the 11th windiest state in America. We also have tremendous geothermal resources. A recent study by Governor Ritter's office concluded that we have two times the amount of energy we need with solar and wind sources to provide power to Colorado's five million residents. We need to invest in upgrading our energy grid to take advantage of these resources and pass a statewide, solar ballot initiative to help offset installation costs for installing concentrated solar panels on our homes. This initiative will increase your property values, create jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Too many families are struggling to make ends meet and paying approximately $1,000 or more per month for a health care premium. This is unacceptable. It's like having a second mortgage that you cannot write off on our taxes. What are we receiving for our health care dollar? Rising prices, increased financial burden on small business owners and personal bankruptcies, denial of service because of pre-existing conditions, and an increased amount of uninsured residents. We need to discuss the economic and health care benefits of a non-profit administered, single-payer health care plan to reduce skyrocketing premiums, invest in preventative medicine, honor the doctor-nurse-patient relationship, and provide better health care options.