Sept.
2, 2006 -- Freeway
expansion in Milwaukee County would would damage the environment
and the local community, including neighborhoods like
Story Hill, according to Jim Sullivan, Democratic candidate
for the the 5th District State Senate seat.
"We
as a midwestern post-industrial city can choose to either
modernize and improve our education, our health care,
our transportation infrastructure, as people have done
in places like Minneapolis and Chicago, and try and make
sure we thrive, we provide an ability for people to get
back and forth from jobs to school, to their homes,"
he said. "Or we can let the infrastructure just decay,
we can maintain the status quo. We can hope that gas gets
cheaper some day. We can hope that somehow I get to keep
driving my SUV. It's time for long-term solutions."
Sullivan
said he would not rule out consideration of any transit
solution.
"I
know that the status quo is broken," he said.
Transit,
he said, "is something that pursues the very actions
in society that we ought to be wanting to encourage: people
getting back and forth to school, their jobs, their homes....We
ought to encourage that; we ought to stop the outward
sprawl of the cities and transit has to be a part of that."
Sullivan
spoke at a Brookfied forum last week. His opponent, State
Sen. Tom Reynolds (R-West Allis) did not show up.
The Sullivan
forum,
part 7
Sept.
1, 2006 -- The
high cost of health care "is creating horrendous
burdons on our society," said Jim Sullivan, Democratic
candidate for the 5th District Senate seat. "I
think it is a moral affront that we have people who
work hard and pay taxes and can't cover their families."
Sullivan
spoke at a forum last week that his opponent, incumbent
Sen. Tom Reynolds, skipped.
Sullivan
said there were good ideas for universal health care
coming from Democrats and non-partisan organizations.
"On
the Republican side of things, I'm seeing nothing,"
he said.
Sullivan
said he did not know which specific plan would be the
best, but said he would be interested in anything that
provided universal health care.
"One
thing we're not seeing as far as the health care debate
is just the degree to which this is dragging down business
growth and the entrepreneurial spirit in this state,"
he said.
The Sullivan
forum,
part 6
Aug.
30, 2006 -- Incumbent 5th District State Sen.
Tom Reynolds was asked by a Wauwatosa alderman why Reynolds
backed Madison-imposed limits on local governments' ability
to raise revenue.
Reynolds
(R-West Allis) responded, according to Democratic challenger
Jim Sullivan, by saying "Eh. You know."
Sullivan
also is a Wauwatosa alderman.
"'Eh,
you know' is not enough for me to surrender the ability
of local governments to make local decisions here in our
local communities," he said.
The
proposals to take away local authority are "something
that could very easily decimate our libraries, our police
services, our fire services," Sullivan said.
Sullivan
made his comments at a candidate's forum last week. He
was supposed to debate Reynolds, but Reynolds backed out.
The
Sullivan forum,
part 5
Aug.
29, 2006 -- Incumbent 5th District Sen. Tom
Reynolds (R-West Allis) was the only state legislator
to vote against the Clean Energy bill, which requires
that 10% of the state’s electricity be generated
from renewable sources by 2015.
Democratic
challenger Jim Sullivan told a crowd at a forum Reynolds
skipped last week that he supports the new law and other
alternative-energy measures.
"I do
agree with you that stewarship of the environment is
having respect for our Creator," he said.
The
Sullivan forum,
part 4
Aug.
28, 2006 -- Jim Sullivan, Democratic candidate
for the 5th District Senate seat, told a crowd last week
that he supports a $60,000 homeowner's property tax exemption.
In recent years, under the leadership of people like his
opponent, incumbent State Sen. Tom Reynolds (R- West Allis)
the property tax burden has "been shifted away from
those who can pay more to those who can pay less."
Reynolds
did not attend the forum in Brookfield.
Sullivan
also said the state should contribute more to K-12 education.
The
Sullivan forum,
part 3
Aug.
26, 2006 -- Jim Sullivan, Democratic candidate
for the 5th State Senate District, said at a Brookfield
forum that existing immigration laws should be enforced.
"We
also should be cognizant of not further victimizing vulnerable
groups, those living in poverty, those with language barriers,"
he said. "I think we should have a path to citizenship
for these individuals. If you are going to be here in
the United States, you should be paying taxes, you should
be a productive member of society."
The
Sullivan forum,
part 2
Aug.
24, 2006 -- Democratic 5th District Senate candidate
Jim Sullivan told a crowd that he supports funding programs
that would provide alternatives to incarceration for non-violent
offenders.
"It's
time for a new approach," he said.
The
Sullivan forum,
part 1
Aug.
24, 2006 -- 5th District Senate candidate Jim Sullivan,
a Democrat, delivered his opening remarks to a packed house
in Brookfield Wednesday night. Sullivan touched on topics
that include health care, jobs, and the notable absence
of incumbent State. Sen. Tom Reynolds (R-West Allis), who
backed out of the event at the last minute because organizers
would not ban video cameras. storyhill.net will provide
excerpts from the forum in the coming days, and regrets
that Sen. Reynolds chose not to participate.
