District 158 State Representative candidates answer questions prior to election
Cupps
|
Kalp
|
October 23, 2019
Two candidates are running for the District 158 State Representative seat left vacant after Scott Fitzpatrick R-Shell Knob was appointed as State Treasurer by Governor Mike Parson. The special election will be held on Tuesday, November 5.
Each of the two candidates running for the seat were given a questionnaire to complete. Candidates were requested to keep their answers to a 300-word maximum. Surveys are printed as written with no editing from the Barry County Advertiser staff to preserve the integrity of their responses.
District 158 includes all of Barry County and a small portion of Stone County in Shell Knob.
Following are the questions asked of each of the candidates running for the seat.
Personal biography
Kalp: I am a mother of two special needs children. Primarily a small farmer with goats and horses. I also have a computer programming business. I attended college in Massachusetts and Boston College receiving a bachelor’s degree in American History. I have worked as a Patient Care Advocate and a Disaster Aid technician.
Cupps: You can sum me up pretty easily. Barry County born, Barry County raised, Barry County proud. I grew up on our family farm in Shell Knob and like many that grow up in such a situation, I guess you could say farming is in my blood. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times, but farming isn’t really one of those things that can be described as an occupation. It’s much more than that. It’s not one of those things you clock in and out of. It is a life… and one that only those who have been involved with it can truly understand. I believe it’s a life that gives one a perspective about things that can’t really be obtained any other way. I’m not ashamed of that life, and never will be! I also hope that sentiment and perspective is one that my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on will be able to proudly share if they so desire. With that said I have an unwavering vested interest in this area. I attended Shell Knob Elementary School before going on to High School at Cassville. I then received an Associates of Arts Degree in Agriculture Education from Crowder College in Neosho. From there I went to Missouri State University in Springfield and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Education and obtained my Missouri Teacher Certification. After which I accepted a position as an Agriculture Education Teacher and FFA Advisor at Cassville before being given the opportunity to go back and further my education. I went on to be educated to the Masters level in Agriculture Business, Economics, and Education before accepting a position from a Boise, Idaho based company that caters to the Agriculture logistics and transportation community managing their Midwestern operations. I was afforded the opportunity to travel the country quite extensively while in that position, and it is that career that really helped me to come to the full understanding of how lucky we have it here. I finally made the decision to return to the farm full time as our operation was growing and changing. Sometime in there I married my smart, beautiful, cool as could be wife. She is a 5 year 3rd grade teacher and current Title One Reading Specialist at Cassville Elementary School. We make our home in Shell Knob and I don’t think there is anyone who could be more excited for the potential opportunity to go serve in the Missouri State Legislature than I... to help keep and make Barry County and the surrounding areas a place that all of us can be overwhelmingly proud to call home!
Why did you decide to run for State Representative?
Kalp: I am running for State Representative because I believe that the people of Barry county deserve a public servant who is willing to fight for better access to healthcare, education, and increased public safety.
Cupps: I’ve joked around numerous times throughout the last couple months that the reason I decided to run for State Representative is that there is no-one in the 158th District that loves this area more than I do!… and I just want to do everything possible to keep and make this great district, this great southwest region, and this great state the absolute best place possible for all of us to call home. I normally make that statement with a chuckle because I know there are a lot of really genuine folks who would argue that they love this area as much as I, and the reality is those folks are the ones who I am most excited to serve if given the opportunity in the state legislature. Do we have issues that need addressed? Oh ya. Do we have things that we need to change? Yes. Do we have things that we need to make sure don’t change at all and stay exactly the same? You bet we do! Do we have outside forces that are threatening our freedoms and challenging our way of life because of nonsensical, unfactual, propaganda based geo-political rhetoric being accepted by many liberals as reality? Sadly yes we do. Is it too late to do something about it in Missouri like it is in other states? Absolutely not! With that said, I would just really like the opportunity to go to Jefferson City and do everything in my power to stand up for this district. One of my earliest memories was in Sunday School. I couldn’t have been much older than 3 or 4 and my brother and I and some of the other pupils in the sunday school class were talking about “The Church” in context to the building. Our Sunday school teacher sat us all down and made sure that we understood that the Church is NOT the building, the Church is the people! Well I am adamant that the same applies when discussing congressional districts. The 158th District is not the area of land! The 158th District is the people! It’s those people that are the District!… and it’s their Christian values, their logical sensible common sense grounded mentalities, their unwavering work ethics, and their unselfish attitudes that make this district the district that so many of us love, the district that I love, the district that I am proud to call home, and the district I hope my great great great grandchildren will be equally as proud to call home.
What issues are most important to you to address state-wide if you are elected?
Kalp: Healthcare
Close the Coverage Gap (Medicaid Expansion)
Increase funding for Senior Services
Improve Rural access to Doctors and Specialist
Improve access to OATS and Ambulance transportation
Education
Improve Teacher Salaries
Increase Access to Rural Internet
Fund Higher Education and Trade School Access
Public Services and Safety
Improve Infrastructure
Flooding Abatement
Water Quality
Law Enforcement
Cupps: From a state-wide standpoint the issues that I genuinely am most passionate about addressing head on are actually those exact issues that mean the most to the citizens of our district. That isn’t just my job, but is truly my responsibility. With that said, the issue that I promise to work the absolute hardest on if elected is “Protection”. Many may say “well that’s not really a relevant issue is it?”, but that’s where I say “In actually talking with the citizens of the district I sure think it is !” The protection of personal rights and personal freedoms, the protection of civil liberties, the protection of the sanctity of God given human life, the protection of property rights, the protection of our great agriculture community and the food it works so diligently to provide, the protection of the constitutional right to possess and bear arms, the protection of the right to the highest quality education possible for our future generations, the protection of affordable and accessible medical care and services, the protection of our retired citizen’s right to a high quality of life in their senior years, and the protection of opportunity as a whole both personally and in regards to business and economic growth and development.
Do you feel Barry County’s issues are being addressed on the state level?
Kalp: No, - we have not received the State funding for public safety, which was previously approved, allocated and promised by our former representation to the Barry County law enforcement offices. This funding would be used to increase job training and to offer competitive salaries to retain and recruit for these personally high-risk public safety professions.
Cupps: In all honesty I do feel that many of the issues that are most important to Barry (and Lawrence and Stone) County have been reasonably well addressed up to this point. There has always been some give and take at the state level, and there is definitely room for improvement and advancement when individual issues are analyzed, but sometimes it’s easy to focus on the negative while forgetting all the positives. In reality the positives have hands down outweighed the negatives in my opinion. I mean yes, although there are issues that we without a doubt need to work on, and although sometimes it’s easy to focus only on those, we have had diligent conservative representation in the recent past and on average I do feel like many of the issues most important to this district have not been neglected. BUT, that doesn’t mean we can become complaisant! In fact, the opposite is true! Many citizens that are spoiled to call the 158th district home don’t fully understand the great urban liberal monster and it’s extremist agendas that have developed in St. Louis, Kansas City, and other fringe areas throughout the state. Unless we do the work now to mitigate some of the insanely nonsensical agendas that they are trying to force upon the entire state, we could very easily wind up in a situation where we are left saying “oh no!, how did we let that happen?”. Well I want to make sure we don’t ever wind up in that situation. I fully understand it can take 30-50 years to attempt to fix a mess that would have taken 2 weeks to keep from happening. We all must be conscious of that when voting and I will undoubtedly be guided by that reality if given the opportunity to vote in the Representative capacity on the House floor.
What is your plan for your first 120 days in office, if elected?
Kalp: I would file a bill to Expand Medicaid.
Cupps: If elected I plan on using my first 120 days in office to figure out just what the heck is going on. Haha. I am not a predisposed career politician, I didn’t intern for a congressmen in college, I wasn’t a congressional aide, and as the famous CCR song goes: “I ain’t no Senator’s Son”. If elected there will be a lot to learn and figure out my first few months in Jefferson City in order to make sure that the remainder of my tenure is as productive as possible for the citizens of our district. Please don’t confuse my lack of familiarity with the direct incidental formality of certain political processes as an unwillingness to learn, because the opposite couldn’t be more true. As I have jokingly said before, I had no clue how kindergarten worked until I got there, but I had a positive attitude and a willingness to learn, and because of that it sure didn’t take me long to figure it out! Realistically I also plan on taking that first 120 days in office if elected to make some of those truly key relationships that many times are of the upmost importance when passing meaningful legislation is concerned. As a youth I always really viewed the phrase “it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters” as a bad thing, yet the more I mature in reason and logical thought, the more I understand that such a valid idiom doesn’t always have to be a negative, especially when those folks you know and foster relationships with share the same values, goals, and objectives you do. With that I really plan on using my first few months to network and make those connections that won’t only be of of benefit to me as a representative of my district, but that will be of benefit to each and every citizen of the district in an indirect capacity.
Do you have a strategy planned to insure you’re regularly connecting with your constituents and representing their voices in state government?
Kalp: I would keep an open line of communication using Face book, e-mail, and coming home often to speak with people one on one or using town halls.
Cupps: If afforded the opportunity, I really plan on taking a multifaceted approach to connecting with the constituents of this great district. I not only plan on being fully accessible via the traditional forms of communication, but would also like to implement some easy to use digital pathways to allow for unrestricted open communication avenues between myself and the citizen body I will be representing. It is a State Representative’s DUTY to be IN TOUCH, and I plan on doing everything I can to make sure I always am. It’s not only a State Representative’s duty to be in touch with their district, but it’s also equally their duty to keep their constitutions in touch with what’s going on within the state legislature. Digital updates, regular newsletters, full collaboration with local media outlets, local meetings, and involvement in community activities when not in session are just a few of the ways I plan on keeping the people informed while simultaneously keeping myself in touch and in tune with citizens of the district from all walks of life.
What areas do you feel the State Legislature is excelling in?
Kalp: Our Legislature stopped the sale of the 11 Point River State Park last session and the defense of this state park looked to be bipartisan. This was a positive event for the People. If more issues of this nature could be tackled in a bipartisan manor our Legislature would begin to excel for the people of Missouri
Cupps: I personal feel that the State Legislature has excelled in recent years in maintaining and upholding the conservative values that make Missouri a wonderful place to call home, a wonderful place to raise a family, a wonderful place to start and run a business, a wonderful place to own and operate a farm, a wonderful place to go to school, a wonderful place for tourists to visit, a wonderful place to live a happy, healthy, productive life if one so desires. If you look at other states that have let toxic agenda based liberalism dictate state policy and the extreme messes that those states are currently dealing with on certain fronts because of such idiocracy, it is definitely obvious that we have been blessed with a State Legislature that has excelled in maintaining an environment where the government works for the people as opposed to a situation where the people become slaves to the government. Infringing on people’s rights in the name of fake ludicrous geopolitical progressiveness is no way to govern, and Missouri’s State Legislature on average has done a good job of understanding that. We just need to continue to foster and embrace that healthy logical, factual, realistic mindset both personally and legislatively to keep from backsliding into toxic rhetoric based socialistic nonsensicalness.
What areas do you feel the State Legislature needs to address better?
Kalp: Healthcare, Education, and Public Safety.
Cupps: I do feel like we have some issues that the State Legislature needs to discuss candidly and logically to potentially allow us to find a balance to move forward in a modern positive direction without compromising our rights, morals and Christian values… and without giving back what has been worked so hard for in the past. Drug issues and realistic modern solutions to breaking the substance abuse cycle. Tort and court reform issues. Allowance of incorrect emotion evoked jury awards that ruin innocent people’s lives or destroy innocent businesses while setting toxic precedents. Potential Medicaid reform and coverage expansion. Medicaid funding options. Healthy education reform options that aren’t inadvertently harmful. Infrastructure issues and modern solutions to how to fund such building and maintenance projects without imposing crippling taxes on citizens that may or may not benefit from such projects. Funding of county and municipal governments in the internet (“Amazon”) age. Agenda driven ballet initiatives with unclear and misleading language designed to hoodwink good honest voters into advancing farcical legislation that they actually don’t support at all. State agencies that are overstepping their bounds. Keeping our tourism draws relevant and appealing to the next generations. Expanding marketing options for Agriculture products within our own state… Just to name a handful. If elected it is not a responsibility I will take lightly. I promise to work hard to realistically educate myself to the absolute utmost of my ability concerning every issue that is of meaning and worth to the citizens of Missouri and will always make those proposals and decisions that I know will be best for the people as a whole today, tomorrow, and 100 years from now.
Two candidates are running for the District 158 State Representative seat left vacant after Scott Fitzpatrick R-Shell Knob was appointed as State Treasurer by Governor Mike Parson. The special election will be held on Tuesday, November 5.
Each of the two candidates running for the seat were given a questionnaire to complete. Candidates were requested to keep their answers to a 300-word maximum. Surveys are printed as written with no editing from the Barry County Advertiser staff to preserve the integrity of their responses.
District 158 includes all of Barry County and a small portion of Stone County in Shell Knob.
Following are the questions asked of each of the candidates running for the seat.
Personal biography
Kalp: I am a mother of two special needs children. Primarily a small farmer with goats and horses. I also have a computer programming business. I attended college in Massachusetts and Boston College receiving a bachelor’s degree in American History. I have worked as a Patient Care Advocate and a Disaster Aid technician.
Cupps: You can sum me up pretty easily. Barry County born, Barry County raised, Barry County proud. I grew up on our family farm in Shell Knob and like many that grow up in such a situation, I guess you could say farming is in my blood. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times, but farming isn’t really one of those things that can be described as an occupation. It’s much more than that. It’s not one of those things you clock in and out of. It is a life… and one that only those who have been involved with it can truly understand. I believe it’s a life that gives one a perspective about things that can’t really be obtained any other way. I’m not ashamed of that life, and never will be! I also hope that sentiment and perspective is one that my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on will be able to proudly share if they so desire. With that said I have an unwavering vested interest in this area. I attended Shell Knob Elementary School before going on to High School at Cassville. I then received an Associates of Arts Degree in Agriculture Education from Crowder College in Neosho. From there I went to Missouri State University in Springfield and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Education and obtained my Missouri Teacher Certification. After which I accepted a position as an Agriculture Education Teacher and FFA Advisor at Cassville before being given the opportunity to go back and further my education. I went on to be educated to the Masters level in Agriculture Business, Economics, and Education before accepting a position from a Boise, Idaho based company that caters to the Agriculture logistics and transportation community managing their Midwestern operations. I was afforded the opportunity to travel the country quite extensively while in that position, and it is that career that really helped me to come to the full understanding of how lucky we have it here. I finally made the decision to return to the farm full time as our operation was growing and changing. Sometime in there I married my smart, beautiful, cool as could be wife. She is a 5 year 3rd grade teacher and current Title One Reading Specialist at Cassville Elementary School. We make our home in Shell Knob and I don’t think there is anyone who could be more excited for the potential opportunity to go serve in the Missouri State Legislature than I... to help keep and make Barry County and the surrounding areas a place that all of us can be overwhelmingly proud to call home!
Why did you decide to run for State Representative?
Kalp: I am running for State Representative because I believe that the people of Barry county deserve a public servant who is willing to fight for better access to healthcare, education, and increased public safety.
Cupps: I’ve joked around numerous times throughout the last couple months that the reason I decided to run for State Representative is that there is no-one in the 158th District that loves this area more than I do!… and I just want to do everything possible to keep and make this great district, this great southwest region, and this great state the absolute best place possible for all of us to call home. I normally make that statement with a chuckle because I know there are a lot of really genuine folks who would argue that they love this area as much as I, and the reality is those folks are the ones who I am most excited to serve if given the opportunity in the state legislature. Do we have issues that need addressed? Oh ya. Do we have things that we need to change? Yes. Do we have things that we need to make sure don’t change at all and stay exactly the same? You bet we do! Do we have outside forces that are threatening our freedoms and challenging our way of life because of nonsensical, unfactual, propaganda based geo-political rhetoric being accepted by many liberals as reality? Sadly yes we do. Is it too late to do something about it in Missouri like it is in other states? Absolutely not! With that said, I would just really like the opportunity to go to Jefferson City and do everything in my power to stand up for this district. One of my earliest memories was in Sunday School. I couldn’t have been much older than 3 or 4 and my brother and I and some of the other pupils in the sunday school class were talking about “The Church” in context to the building. Our Sunday school teacher sat us all down and made sure that we understood that the Church is NOT the building, the Church is the people! Well I am adamant that the same applies when discussing congressional districts. The 158th District is not the area of land! The 158th District is the people! It’s those people that are the District!… and it’s their Christian values, their logical sensible common sense grounded mentalities, their unwavering work ethics, and their unselfish attitudes that make this district the district that so many of us love, the district that I love, the district that I am proud to call home, and the district I hope my great great great grandchildren will be equally as proud to call home.
What issues are most important to you to address state-wide if you are elected?
Kalp: Healthcare
Close the Coverage Gap (Medicaid Expansion)
Increase funding for Senior Services
Improve Rural access to Doctors and Specialist
Improve access to OATS and Ambulance transportation
Education
Improve Teacher Salaries
Increase Access to Rural Internet
Fund Higher Education and Trade School Access
Public Services and Safety
Improve Infrastructure
Flooding Abatement
Water Quality
Law Enforcement
Cupps: From a state-wide standpoint the issues that I genuinely am most passionate about addressing head on are actually those exact issues that mean the most to the citizens of our district. That isn’t just my job, but is truly my responsibility. With that said, the issue that I promise to work the absolute hardest on if elected is “Protection”. Many may say “well that’s not really a relevant issue is it?”, but that’s where I say “In actually talking with the citizens of the district I sure think it is !” The protection of personal rights and personal freedoms, the protection of civil liberties, the protection of the sanctity of God given human life, the protection of property rights, the protection of our great agriculture community and the food it works so diligently to provide, the protection of the constitutional right to possess and bear arms, the protection of the right to the highest quality education possible for our future generations, the protection of affordable and accessible medical care and services, the protection of our retired citizen’s right to a high quality of life in their senior years, and the protection of opportunity as a whole both personally and in regards to business and economic growth and development.
Do you feel Barry County’s issues are being addressed on the state level?
Kalp: No, - we have not received the State funding for public safety, which was previously approved, allocated and promised by our former representation to the Barry County law enforcement offices. This funding would be used to increase job training and to offer competitive salaries to retain and recruit for these personally high-risk public safety professions.
Cupps: In all honesty I do feel that many of the issues that are most important to Barry (and Lawrence and Stone) County have been reasonably well addressed up to this point. There has always been some give and take at the state level, and there is definitely room for improvement and advancement when individual issues are analyzed, but sometimes it’s easy to focus on the negative while forgetting all the positives. In reality the positives have hands down outweighed the negatives in my opinion. I mean yes, although there are issues that we without a doubt need to work on, and although sometimes it’s easy to focus only on those, we have had diligent conservative representation in the recent past and on average I do feel like many of the issues most important to this district have not been neglected. BUT, that doesn’t mean we can become complaisant! In fact, the opposite is true! Many citizens that are spoiled to call the 158th district home don’t fully understand the great urban liberal monster and it’s extremist agendas that have developed in St. Louis, Kansas City, and other fringe areas throughout the state. Unless we do the work now to mitigate some of the insanely nonsensical agendas that they are trying to force upon the entire state, we could very easily wind up in a situation where we are left saying “oh no!, how did we let that happen?”. Well I want to make sure we don’t ever wind up in that situation. I fully understand it can take 30-50 years to attempt to fix a mess that would have taken 2 weeks to keep from happening. We all must be conscious of that when voting and I will undoubtedly be guided by that reality if given the opportunity to vote in the Representative capacity on the House floor.
What is your plan for your first 120 days in office, if elected?
Kalp: I would file a bill to Expand Medicaid.
Cupps: If elected I plan on using my first 120 days in office to figure out just what the heck is going on. Haha. I am not a predisposed career politician, I didn’t intern for a congressmen in college, I wasn’t a congressional aide, and as the famous CCR song goes: “I ain’t no Senator’s Son”. If elected there will be a lot to learn and figure out my first few months in Jefferson City in order to make sure that the remainder of my tenure is as productive as possible for the citizens of our district. Please don’t confuse my lack of familiarity with the direct incidental formality of certain political processes as an unwillingness to learn, because the opposite couldn’t be more true. As I have jokingly said before, I had no clue how kindergarten worked until I got there, but I had a positive attitude and a willingness to learn, and because of that it sure didn’t take me long to figure it out! Realistically I also plan on taking that first 120 days in office if elected to make some of those truly key relationships that many times are of the upmost importance when passing meaningful legislation is concerned. As a youth I always really viewed the phrase “it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters” as a bad thing, yet the more I mature in reason and logical thought, the more I understand that such a valid idiom doesn’t always have to be a negative, especially when those folks you know and foster relationships with share the same values, goals, and objectives you do. With that I really plan on using my first few months to network and make those connections that won’t only be of of benefit to me as a representative of my district, but that will be of benefit to each and every citizen of the district in an indirect capacity.
Do you have a strategy planned to insure you’re regularly connecting with your constituents and representing their voices in state government?
Kalp: I would keep an open line of communication using Face book, e-mail, and coming home often to speak with people one on one or using town halls.
Cupps: If afforded the opportunity, I really plan on taking a multifaceted approach to connecting with the constituents of this great district. I not only plan on being fully accessible via the traditional forms of communication, but would also like to implement some easy to use digital pathways to allow for unrestricted open communication avenues between myself and the citizen body I will be representing. It is a State Representative’s DUTY to be IN TOUCH, and I plan on doing everything I can to make sure I always am. It’s not only a State Representative’s duty to be in touch with their district, but it’s also equally their duty to keep their constitutions in touch with what’s going on within the state legislature. Digital updates, regular newsletters, full collaboration with local media outlets, local meetings, and involvement in community activities when not in session are just a few of the ways I plan on keeping the people informed while simultaneously keeping myself in touch and in tune with citizens of the district from all walks of life.
What areas do you feel the State Legislature is excelling in?
Kalp: Our Legislature stopped the sale of the 11 Point River State Park last session and the defense of this state park looked to be bipartisan. This was a positive event for the People. If more issues of this nature could be tackled in a bipartisan manor our Legislature would begin to excel for the people of Missouri
Cupps: I personal feel that the State Legislature has excelled in recent years in maintaining and upholding the conservative values that make Missouri a wonderful place to call home, a wonderful place to raise a family, a wonderful place to start and run a business, a wonderful place to own and operate a farm, a wonderful place to go to school, a wonderful place for tourists to visit, a wonderful place to live a happy, healthy, productive life if one so desires. If you look at other states that have let toxic agenda based liberalism dictate state policy and the extreme messes that those states are currently dealing with on certain fronts because of such idiocracy, it is definitely obvious that we have been blessed with a State Legislature that has excelled in maintaining an environment where the government works for the people as opposed to a situation where the people become slaves to the government. Infringing on people’s rights in the name of fake ludicrous geopolitical progressiveness is no way to govern, and Missouri’s State Legislature on average has done a good job of understanding that. We just need to continue to foster and embrace that healthy logical, factual, realistic mindset both personally and legislatively to keep from backsliding into toxic rhetoric based socialistic nonsensicalness.
What areas do you feel the State Legislature needs to address better?
Kalp: Healthcare, Education, and Public Safety.
Cupps: I do feel like we have some issues that the State Legislature needs to discuss candidly and logically to potentially allow us to find a balance to move forward in a modern positive direction without compromising our rights, morals and Christian values… and without giving back what has been worked so hard for in the past. Drug issues and realistic modern solutions to breaking the substance abuse cycle. Tort and court reform issues. Allowance of incorrect emotion evoked jury awards that ruin innocent people’s lives or destroy innocent businesses while setting toxic precedents. Potential Medicaid reform and coverage expansion. Medicaid funding options. Healthy education reform options that aren’t inadvertently harmful. Infrastructure issues and modern solutions to how to fund such building and maintenance projects without imposing crippling taxes on citizens that may or may not benefit from such projects. Funding of county and municipal governments in the internet (“Amazon”) age. Agenda driven ballet initiatives with unclear and misleading language designed to hoodwink good honest voters into advancing farcical legislation that they actually don’t support at all. State agencies that are overstepping their bounds. Keeping our tourism draws relevant and appealing to the next generations. Expanding marketing options for Agriculture products within our own state… Just to name a handful. If elected it is not a responsibility I will take lightly. I promise to work hard to realistically educate myself to the absolute utmost of my ability concerning every issue that is of meaning and worth to the citizens of Missouri and will always make those proposals and decisions that I know will be best for the people as a whole today, tomorrow, and 100 years from now.