Q & A with candidate Ian Golden

Tompkins Weekly Staff

 

The upcoming June 26 Democratic primary for New York’s 23rd congressional district is a crowded one. Tompkins Weekly has sent this Q & A to all of the primary candidates and will be printing them in the order received.

 

Tompkins Weekly: What makes you qualified to be the Congressional Representative for NY 23?
Ian Golden: I’m running for Congress as someone who is actually representative of the people in our district. I’m a husband, a father of two young children, and a small-business owner. I’ve created jobs paying a living wage and also understand what it means to struggle to make ends meet. Like most around me, I have worked harder and longer without “getting ahead.” We need more of that in our Congress.

 

TW: Why are you running for Representative of NY 23?
IG: Our Congress is broken. We need fresh, new ideas and new energy in Congress.
I’ve witnessed main streets and communities gutted by lost manufacturing, youth, and opportunity. I worry about what children’s future will look like; and the future of all our youth. Whether their environment will be livable, which jobs will be left, and whether any politicians will be left to represent their interests over Wall Street.
I’m worried about climate change and environmental justice, income inequality, the rising debt burden of everything from daily life to education to healthcare, the way our jobs are threatened by outsourcing and automation. Representative Reed has been in office for long enough to deliver results, they just haven’t come. We deserve better.

 

TW: What do you offer to the residents of Tompkins County that the other candidates running in the primary do not?
IG: I’m the only candidate to have lived the platforms we all are now preaching. As a small-business owner, I understand the day-to-day hustle and resourcefulness needed when you don’t rely on a regular salary. I’m the only person in this race who has created jobs in our district, jobs that pay a living wage. I’ve been a healthcare practitioner and know how hard it is to afford it as a business owner. I’ve been on the ground working to keep hydraulic fracturing out but also understand what it meant as an economic opportunity for rural families struggling to make ends meet.

I’m a “bridge candidate.” I love having Ithaca and Tompkins as my home base, and I’ll fight for the progressive values many of us hold dear, but I grew up in rural America. I relate to those parts of the district where we normally struggle and which we need to win in November, and I respect people whose beliefs differ from my own. In my public school, teachers were absent on the first day of hunting season. Vocational trades and the Future Farmers of America were the chosen paths of many peers. The wealthiest in my social circle were roofers. This base reflects much of our district; a base that has for too long been neglected.
We’re building a grassroots movement. More of our campaign funds come from small-dollar donors (under $200 per contribution) than any other candidate in the field.

Unlike others in the field, our campaign isn’t about Donald Trump or Tom Reed. We’re not running a “vote for me because I’m not them” campaign. We’re running on the issues and a bold new vision for getting there.

 

TW: What is your plan to stimulate job growth in the NY 23?
IG: Our infrastructure needs rebuilding and represents a massive opportunity for stimulating job growth. If we commit to comprehensive infrastructure redevelopment, with an eye toward the demands of 2040, we could move to full employment with high-paying career-level jobs.

Many of our communities, anchored in manufacturing continue to lose those opportunities to changes in environmental market demand, consolidation to “Right-To-Work for less” States, automation and outsourcing. We need to strengthen federal collective bargaining rights and protections, international trade deals, and commit to advanced technologies to offer a level playing field for New York manufacturers and farmers.

I will take a multi-tiered approach based in education and re-education. Research shows that companies looking to expand into the Southern Tier are not finding job candidates who have the skills the employers require. We will incentivize education, including training and re-training, to ensure workers are prepared for the jobs available here in our district. Alternative energy presents much potential for jobs with better pay, so we need to equip our workforce for these opportunities.
Agriculture is a huge part of our district’s identity. Many of our communities rely on agricultural products and tourism dollars. We need to create pathways and protections that will allow small dairy farms to thrive, produce to find new markets, and embrace new opportunities such as hemp. We must also work toward comprehensive immigration reform including guest worker programs to ensure our farms and vineyards have the seasonal employee base needed to remain viable, and the dairy farms have the year-round employees they need.

 

TW: Where do you stand on Safe Injection Facilities?
IG: Given the severity and consequences of drug use in our communities, I appreciate officials and individuals considering all prevention and rehabilitation options. Research conducted on existing supervised injection sites shows benefits, including reductions in disease through provisions including sterile needles, reductions in addictions via provision of counseling and referral services, and cost savings to communities (versus communities picking up the tab for related medical and legal costs).

While I’m open to further dialogue in our communities on ways to best address an ongoing drug-use crisis, I’m also aware that many individuals — from officials to nurses to community members — are opposed to such facilities. As a representative I’ll do what I can to facilitate and lead such discussions, but also represent the opinions of my constituents. To date, more are opposed than are in favor. Let’s keep talking and figuring out solutions to address this crisis. I want people struggling with addiction to be safe and get the help needed.

 

TW: The heroin and opioid crisis has had a major impact in this region. How do you plan on addressing the crisis?
IG: This is a health crisis, not a criminal matter. We cannot arrest our way out of the toll that addiction is taking on our neighbors and communities. I believe that long-term treatment needs to be the new standard of care, and that we cannot relinquish this responsibility to for-profit addiction treatment centers with little regulation or oversight. We cannot cure addiction overnight or even in a 30-day rehabilitation center.

I’ll work additional treatment facilities and long-term care programs — which would secure more health care jobs in our area — and make sure we are fully investing in helping people get better. We need to remove the stigma of addiction and provide job training and placement so people can truly heal and thrive. I’ll work for funding needed by the National Institute of Health for the development of less addictive alternatives. I’ll support the ability of States to continue taking pharmaceutical companies to task for flooding the market with known-to-be addictive drugs. Each of these avenues are required for a comprehensive approach to reigning in this crisis.

 

TW: What do you want the residents of Tompkins County to know about you?
IG: I’m not a candidate who relies on riling up the base by using party rhetoric or talking down to people who vote with different priorities than me. And I think that makes me a much more viable candidate in the general election. I’m focused on making real, authentic connections, and genuinely listening to the concerns of all; not just those who agree with me. My positions have been consistent, and we’re bringing the message of addressing income inequality, providing healthcare for all, protecting our environment and taking down big money influence in our politics. That message is the same whether we’re in Ithaca or Penn Yan or Jamestown.

My home is in Tompkins County, but in this race, I am the candidate who can best resonate with voters across our district, across all party lines because:
-My roots are rural and reflect much of our district.
-My wife and I are raising two young children and know what it’s like to struggle to make ends meet in this new economy.
-I’m a job creator, paying a living wage; the only candidate in the field who has created jobs in our district.
-I am a genuine, honest alternative, able to resonate with younger, progressive, and independent rural voters.

We deserve better, and I will work day and night to bring results to our upstate region.