"The Libertarian Party was created in 1971 by people who realized politicians had strayed from America's original Libertarian foundation, with disastrous results. The new party's vision was the same as America's founders - a society where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways - 'with liberty and justice for all.' The Libertarian Party's platform is based on the moral principle of self-ownership. Each individual has the right to control his or her own body, actions, speech and property. And government's only role should be to help individuals defend themselves from force or fraud."
LIST OF ISSUES Continued
Government Reform
The two party system isn't serving our country very well. It's time for the Libertarian Party, the other major party, to provide alternatives to the other two parties. Citizens deserve more choices in the primary and general elections. I believe a three party system serves us all better and am working hard to make that a reality not only in McLean County but also across the State of Illinois.
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Secondly, we need more transparency in local government, One relatively simple thing we need to do is move the County Board meetings from 9:00am on Tuesdays to 7:00pm. People who work during the day can not afford to take off from work to go to a public meeting of a County Board and they shouldn't have to. It's only logical to move this meeting to the evening so working people can attend.
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Voters also deserve the choice to vote to eliminate the Bloomington Election Commission and consolidate McLean County to a single election authority. The Libertarian Party of McLean County is circulating a petition that would add a referendum to November’s ballot. That referendum would abolish the Bloomington Election Commission, leaving the McLean County Clerk’s office the only election authority in the county.
Environment
I grew up playing in and fishing small streams. Whenever I walk along or wade a small stream it just takes me back to my beginnings and calms my soul, I also believe that we all need to do things that help our community and doing volunteer work is something we can all do. For those resons and others I was happy to volunteer to work at the Earth Day: Sugar Creek and Constitution Trail Clean Up sponsored by the Ecology Action Center and others. I look forward to working with the Ecology Action Center on future projects.
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I support both Wind Farms (see Jobs below) and Solar Farms. These sources allow us to develop a power grid less reliant on fossil fuels. According to Taylor Smith, a Cypress Creek Renewables zoning analyst, whose company has received zoning for its four planned solar farms in McLean County, "Allowing ---property to develop as a solar energy facility provides many benefits, including an opportunity for locally generated, clean energy resources in McLean County; income generation for the landowner; and economic investment and increased tax revenue for McLean County." Each solar farm built is expected to be a $3.9 million two megawatt project resulting in $2.3 million being spent locally for construction and creating 25 jobs. Income to the land owners and tax benefits for the county are expected to last throughout a 40 year lifetime for each project.
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I really like the Solar Bloomington-Normal 2.0 program because it doesn't rely on government but instead is a "grassroots program combining community purchasing with community education to make solar more accessible and affordable. Owners of private property and rental property can participate in the program. Interested persons can learn more by attending a Solar Power Hour, a free information session