2010 Governor's Race
Former State Rep. Jana Kemp Will Run for Idaho Governor as Independent
Early childhood education, stronger universities, technological infrastructure and support for "the people who do the work" are Kemp's themes.By Jill Kuraitis, 7-06-09
Imagine a state run by a governor with no obligation to any political party and no promises to toe anybody’s line but the people’s.
That’s what former Republican state representative Jana Kemp envisions for Idaho if she’s elected governor next year – as an independent.
The story of Kemp entering the 2010 governor’s race was broken Monday by Jared Hopkins of the Twin Falls Times-News, who wrote, “Kemp said she’s not intimidated by [Gov. Butch] Otter, a veteran politician, but is running as independent because the position of governor should focus on governing, not politics, and Idahoans have long held an independent streak.”
Monday, Kemp told New West that she’ll focus on three themes: education, entrepreneurship, and economic development. “My original passion when I served in the House was education. We have early childhood education issues to address in Idaho. Our colleges and universities could not only be producing fine teachers, but their research should get to market. Those things take support from the governor.”
The Republican-dominated state legislature has only partially funded preschool and other forms of early childhood education.
“I believe the role of the governor is to be the leader of the 19,000 state employees who are doing the work and who are able to solve problems if given a chance and the right kind of support. It’s also leadership from a visionary perspective – to say hurray for what we’ve done, now let’s look to the future and figure out what we need to do now and plan for later.”
Kemp’s 15-year-old business, Meeting & Management Essentials, consults to businesses and government entities in how to get things done more effectively and efficiently. She says her work makes her “The Best Next Governor of Idaho.” “I’ll use collaborative problem solving leadership on a daily basis so those who know what to do can do it! I will also use command-and-control decision making when needed – because that’s what leaders responsible for armed services, law enforcement, and emergency services do too.” She states on her campaign website.
Saying that the governor is also in charge of Idaho’s military entities, Kemp wants to “champion the state of Idaho in D.C., on behalf of projects and installations that come to Idaho and go to businesses and say ‘this is a great place to build a business.’”
But is Idaho a good place to build a business?
Kemp thinks many small businesses in Idaho are on the road to becoming medium-sized businesses but don’t have champions doing what’s helpful to them. “When it comes to technological infrastructure, Idaho is behind the curve in wireless coverage and bandwidth, especially in the places where people want to live but can’t find jobs. Idaho needs better access to the technologies that the world taps into on a daily basis.”
And running government like a business? Kemp says yes and no. “We should turn to the people who have the solutions. We should have a business-minded approach to delivering services, as well as watching the taxpayer’s money by determining which services are sustainable and which ones aren’t.”
Kemp, who has a B.A. in Business Administration from Principia College, was elected to the Idaho House in 2004, representing Garden City’s District 16. She served one term. Named one of Idaho’s Accomplished under 40 business owners in 2001, she also won the Better Business Bureau’s 1999 Integrity Counts small business award.
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can you clarify the source of this paragraph?
"Monday, Kemp told New West that she’ll focus on three themes: education, entrepreneurship, and economic development. “My original passion when I served in the House was education. We have early childhood education issues to address in Idaho. Our colleges and universities could not only be producing fine teachers, but their research should get to market. Those things takes support from the governor.”"
There are so many vague generalities and grammatical errors that I would actually be afraid to vote for her as an "education governor".
If you received this as an email, in exactly that form, she has lost my vote already.
Oh, a RINO. O----kay!
The source is Ms. Kemp. It's from a telephone interview. She has excellent grammar. Sometimes people being interviewed stumble a bit - happens to everyone.
"Our colleges and universities could not only be producing fine teachers, but their research should get to market." lacks any sort of contextual basis. Our colleges and universities are already capable of turning out fine teachers. The problem is that they then leave the state for better pay and better benefits, including support from all levels of government. Instead, our teachers are treated as little more than nannies that are suspected of dipping into father's liquor cabinet to get a taste of his Jack Daniels green label (only the finest!).
As for the research not getting to the market? The only real research campus in Idaho is UofI, the rest are marketed as diploma campuses. Some of the reasons UofI isn't cranking out more research is the lack of Agriculture dollars and an underfunded communications center. The lack of tech businesses in Idaho, particularly in the panhandle, also hurts research aspects.
So is she woefully out of touch with reality, or is she generalizing so much that her comments are mere fluff?
I'll wait and see, but so far she doesn't appear to be a "great" candidate.
I thought Kemp was a satisfactory Representative for District 16, and while I doubt an independent has much chance in a statewide race, I'm willing to wait a bit longer than her announcement and one news article before reaching a conclusion about her suitability for the job.
We don't know "compared to what," for one thing.