My Meet & Greet in Hixson

About 35 people came by for my campaign Meet & Greet at the North River Civic Center in Hixson.  Thanks to all who came out.  Special thanks to those who helped me with the event:  Gary Fisher, Henry Spratt, Laura Howard, Janis Hashe, and (of course) my wife Mary and son Michael.

Personally, I think the bar was raised in terms of the food we had at this Meet & Greet!  All the food was freshly prepared by the candidate (with some much appreciated assistance from the family).  The menu included:  pork tamales, veggie tamales, cheese enchiladas, puerco pabil enchiladas, frijoles refritos, black bean and corn salsa and tomato/cilantro salsa.  

The Mexican food represented a connection to my Hispanic heritage.  Yes, I am Hispanic - my grandfather was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. During my remarks, I reference the story of my grandfather, Anton Baca Subia.  He and his cousin made their way to Detroit, Michigan, where Tony worked for years in the automobile industry.  His story is the great story of so many immigrants who came to America to better themselves and to provide for their families.

I also took the opportunity to talk about some of the specific ideas that I want to bring to Nashville as the District 26 Representative.  Economic development in the 21st century must be addressed differently.  We are living in a highly competitive world economy.  Our education systems need to be revised to emphasize innovation and critical thinking.  We should seriously consider restructuring the Tennessee HOPE (lottery) scholarship program to include adults who need further education and training.  I suggest that we direct the resources of this huge amount of money specifically to Tennessee community colleges and Technology Centers.  That is how we would get the most bang for the buck.

I also addressed three elements of economic development that need the attention of the legislature. 

• We should do much more to encourage entrepreneurship and grow small businesses
• Public transportation should be expanded - too many people cannot get to where the jobs are
• We have totally underestimated the economic impact of the arts and cultural activities.

More about these issues in future Blog posts.  Again, thanks to all who came!