An April 12 forum for the three candidates for running for the District 72 Ga. House of Representatives seat was held at the Fayette County Republican Party headquarters in Fayetteville. Candidates for the District 72 House seat include attorney James Clifton, Realtor Josh Bonner and attorney Lisa Inagawa.
Up first in his opening statement was James Clifton. A lifelong resident of Fayette County, Clifton said he has “Fayette County values” that include low taxes, a low crime rate and exceptional education.
“If elected as your state legislator, I intend to give you all the tools necessary to continue that great tradition we have in this county,” said Clifton. “We need a fiscal conservative at the Capitol. As a small business owner …I know how to work with a tight budget. I know how to make money go farther than you would logically think it could.”
Clifton said last year’s legislative session with Republicans in charge resulted in one of the highest tax increases seen in recent state history.
“They did that because they could not responsibly find a way to cut the budget and I think that has to stop,” Clifton said. “And that’s what I’m going to do with my small business mentality.”
Clifton said constitutional freedoms are under assault and, by virtue of his work and studying, he understands the erosion of constitutional rights happening at the Capitol
“We have a governor not willing to protect our religious freedoms. I will fight against that. We have a governor who may not fight to protect our Second Amendment rights. I will fight against that,” said Clifton.
Next up for opening comments was Lisa Inagawa, a divorce attorney and 14-year resident of Peachtree City who opened her practice in 2004.
“Ultimately, I hope that your see I come from a slightly different background than the other candidates. What I want to bring to the table is strong advocacy for the residents of the 72nd district,” Inawaga said. “I am a long-time resident of Peachtree City. My children are involved, my business is in Peachtree City and I’m a part of this community. What I want to do is represent all of us to fight for my family and for your family in Atlanta.”
Bonner in his opening statement said he is a life-long, pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment constitutional conservative Republican.
“The guiding principles of my philosophy are lower taxes, less government and defense of our Constitution,” Bonner said.
As a small business owner, 18-year U.S. Army veteran and father of four children “I believe I’m uniquely qualified to represent the people of this community,” said Bonner.
“My wife Michelle and I could have moved anywhere in the world, but we chose to come back to this community. This is where we live, work and where we decided to raise our growing family,” said Bonner. “I’ve seen first-hand how the decisions made at the Capitol impact our everyday lives.”
Bonner said there are many difficult decisions ahead at the Capitol and that strong, conservative Republican representation is needed to make good decisions.
A sampling of the questions asked dealt with what experience the candidates have with the General Assembly or what are they doing to prepare themselves for the job.
Clifton said his adult life has been spent studying the law and its application.
“I always actively participate in the process of the legislature,” Clifton said, noting that his work includes protecting property rights, one of the most important rights in the land.
“To prepare for this position I actively read every legislative update that is offered to me. And I really dig into the topics to understand the topics and what’s happening,” Clifton said. “On the last day of every session there are so many last-minute bills that get changed and turned around and manipulated in a way that’s not constitutional and takes away your right to know and understand what is in the bills being passed on your behalf. It’s a Nancy Pelosi way of running government and I’ll put an end to it.”
Inagawa in her response said she does the things Clifton referenced on a daily basis in the court room.
“But even past that, I’ve been speaking to current representatives to learn from their experiences to find out really how it works to work within the system in order to advocate for the residents of our district,” said Inagawa. “In addition, I’m speaking to the residents of this district of Fayette and Coweta (counties) to find out what’s important to them, because what you also want is someone who is going to go to Atlanta to fight for the issues that are important to us.”
Bonner is his response said, as a small business person, the less contact he has with the legislature the better.
“It’s the overreach of government that continues to pass the legislation and rules and regulations that impact me as a small business person,” Bonner said, adding that he serves on the Georgia Real Estate Commission, a body tasked with regulating the real estate industry and protecting the public. “I’ve been talking with local mayors and city councils to determine the types of issues they are dealing with to move this district forward. Lastly, I’m speaking with the people of this district to see what concerns they have because, ultimately, it’s ‘we the people’ that determine the type of government we have. So unless we find out what issues are relevant to the people of this district we won’t truly represent them well.”
On the question of the Fair Tax, all the candidates said they support the measure.
Another question centered on tax concessions to lure industries to the state, with candidates asked if government should be in the business of picking winners and losers with tax concessions in certain industries.
Bonner is his response said, “Absolutely not. Is there a more hypocritical group than Hollywood? They are threatening to pull out of all these United States but they film in Saudi Arabia, in Jordan and in Syria. They film in places where they not only outlaw homosexuality, they push them off the roof of buildings, and yet (the movie industry) still films there. For us to really listen to anything that comes out of Hollywood is absolutely ridiculous.
“As for government picking winners and losers, absolutely not. I am for incentivizing businesses, but there’s got to be a level playing field,” Bonner said, noting that small businesses should have the same opportunity as medium and large businesses. However, at the end of the day those incentives have to make sense. What good does it do to give $30 million in tax credits if we’re not going to see that money returned in retail sales tax or any other venue?”
Responding to the question, Clifton said, “Government is not in the business of picking winners and losers and we’ve seen areas where the government has decided to do backroom deals, like with Mercedes. They decided to pick and choose who they want. If the movie industry is going to be carte blanche against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act then I think we should offer an equal tax credit to any business that wants to come to Georgia that’s a proponent of RFRA. Because that’s how you’re going to get companies that combat the one-sided nature of certain political agendas that we see.”
Inagawa following up also said the role of government is not picking winners and losers with tax concessions for certain industries.
“I think what’s interesting is what we’re seeing now is sort of the give and take. For example, the movie industry, because they have received these things from the state, they feel like we’re beholden to them. And they can threaten us and dictate how we’re going to live our lives. I don’t know about you guys but I don’t handle threats well. That’s the kind of relationship I think is a problem,” Inagawa said. “Now an outside force is going to come in and try to tell us how we’re going to do things because we can’t live without them. The truth is, we can. And the answer is that we need to look for other avenues for economic growth.”
For a complete video view of the forum visit www.myfayettegop.org
