00:00:00:00 - 00:00:40:04
Lindsay Allen
Welcome to the 2024 General election meet the candidate forum. My name is Lindsay Allen and I am joined by Naomi Boutz. We will be your moderators for the 2024 Meet the Candidates series. This year's forum is sponsored by the Hagadone Media Group, Quicksilver Studios, and the Joint Public Policy Committee of the Coeur d'Alene regional, Hayden, Post Falls, and Rathdrum Chambers of Commerce in partnership with the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls Press.

00:00:40:06 - 00:01:05:17
Lindsay Allen
This forum is intended to allow you, the voter, to hear from the candidates representing various Idaho state legislative …

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:40:04
Lindsay Allen
Welcome to the 2024 General election meet the candidate forum. My name is Lindsay Allen and I am joined by Naomi Boutz. We will be your moderators for the 2024 Meet the Candidates series. This year's forum is sponsored by the Hagadone Media Group, Quicksilver Studios, and the Joint Public Policy Committee of the Coeur d'Alene regional, Hayden, Post Falls, and Rathdrum Chambers of Commerce in partnership with the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls Press.

00:00:40:06 - 00:01:05:17
Lindsay Allen
This forum is intended to allow you, the voter, to hear from the candidates representing various Idaho state legislative and Kootenai County positions who will share their vision and policies to help inform your vote. Candidates will be given one minute to introduce themselves, then asked three questions with two minutes to respond to each question. Candidates will be allowed one minute for their closing statements.

00:01:05:18 - 00:01:49:01
Lindsay Allen
These forums provide a unique opportunity to connect with the candidate who seek to serve our community. By meeting our candidates one on one in a more casual environment, we aim to better inform Kootenai County voters about each candidate's point of view.

00:02:17:03 - 00:02:44:19
Naomi Boutz
Next, we have State Representative district four, seat A, Angela Jean Chandler. Angela, would you like to introduce yourself? And you have one minute.

Angela Jean Chandler
Okay. Thank you. My name is Angela. I am running for district representative district four, seat a. I am a poet and writer, a very deep thinker. And I also am a problem solver.

00:02:44:21 - 00:03:13:06
Angela Jean Chandler
And I love to talk to people and hear about the issues that are going through, the triumphs and tragedies in their lives. I also like to find out ways to constructively help them. So I think that is a really good skill to have as a representative.

Naomi Boutz
Thank you. First question, what do you believe is the most pressing legislative issue for district four? And what policies would you pursue to address it?

00:03:13:06 - 00:03:37:13
Angela Jean Chandler
Yeah, the most pressing, the most pressing, because I think of two, one of the most pressing, I think, for the whole area, not just here, but, you know, the states in general is housing. It's just so tough. I have friends who are struggling just trying to find an affordable apartment.

00:03:37:15 - 00:04:07:16
Angela Jean Chandler
So that's, and it's something that's not going to be solved overnight. I understand that, but I also understand that, it's going to take a lot of different parties to fix the problem. And that's going to involve the housing, real estate agencies. It's going to take some passing, some legislative stuff. Some issues with landlords and trying to deal with that, because the rental support in Idaho is very weak.

00:04:07:18 - 00:04:29:06
Angela Jean Chandler
I also think that, it's going to take working together across the aisle, which I don't think happens a lot right now. The other issue, which is a very a strong thing that I feel is the abortion issue that we having right now, not here. We also in the country that, women's health care has been kind of robbed.

00:04:29:08 - 00:04:58:05
Angela Jean Chandler
And I think that that's something that's going to have to have some more conversations about and some changes.

Naomi Boutz
Next question. Legislators often receive input from advocacy groups and organizations as well as your constituents. How will you balance these perspectives when supporting or opposing legislation, and what steps will you take to ensure transparency to your constituents?

00:04:58:06 - 00:05:24:20
Angela Jean Chandler
That's a really good question. Well, I think part of the problem is we are so unwilling there's been such this, this schism of not being able to give a little on both sides. Things like, you know. Yeah, there's there's problems and there's definitely ways that people can also have conversations about it and say, well, this is how I feel. And then someone might say, this is how I feel.

00:05:24:20 - 00:05:54:06
Angela Jean Chandler
And then trying to find that sweet spot between those two feelings and also bringing forth information, to both parties that have these very strong dynamics and being able to communicate and letting them know that there's there's like science, science involved with some of this. There's people that bringing forth, people that have experienced problems with the current legislative issues.

00:05:54:07 - 00:06:18:03
Angela Jean Chandler
And also as far as transparency, town hall meetings are very helpful. I don't think we get enough of those, maybe because of some fears that we've had in the past. And also, communicating via there's wonderful social media that we have that is not, I don't think used to its full extent of positive vibes.

00:06:18:05 - 00:06:43:20
Naomi Boutz
Next question. If proposition one passes, will you support it or will you vote to repeal it? You have two minutes.

Angela Jean Chandler
Oh why is this and is so people are so angry about it and there's so much misinformation. I think it's been a good thing that they you know, obviously a lot of people feel strongly, positive about it because they were able to get a signed petitions.

00:06:43:22 - 00:07:02:16
Angela Jean Chandler
I think we don't need to waste our time. There's bigger issues the state of Idaho needs to be dealing with. And it also does give people the ability to vote that right. And we're showing disenfranchized. So I would not I would say I would keep it.

Naomi Boutz
And now we have our closing statements. So your house is so quick. I know you have one minute to give your closing statement.

00:07:02:16 - 00:07:41:12
Angela Jean Chandler
I just, whether I win or not, I just would really hope that going forward, the state of Idaho and the legislative bodies can somehow listen to people more and not be so willing to just pick one side. I would hope that they would be able to be able to come to a better consensus, to represent all the different ideas and thoughts and feelings and passions of people in the state of Idaho, because there's a lot of different people that are resources.

00:07:41:14 - 00:08:08:22
Angela Jean Chandler
So that would be my hope.

Naomi Boutz
Thank you very much. On behalf of the Joint Public Policy committees representing the Coeur d'Alene regional, Hayden and Post Falls and Rathdrum Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with the Hagadone Media Group and Coeur d'Alene Post Falls Press. Lindsay and I thank all candidates for participating. I would also like to thank the production team members at the Quicksilver Studios, the Hagadone Media Group, and the Coeur d'Alene Press.

00:08:09:00 - 00:08:30:03
Naomi Boutz
And of course, thank you to those who have taken the time to learn more about each of the candidates featured in this year's Meet the Candidates series. This series has made it possible to hear from 23 Kootenai County local race candidates. We sincerely thank candidates who took the time to discuss what is important to voters in Kootenai County.

00:08:30:05 - 00:09:05:23
Naomi Boutz
We hope this townhall forum has helped inform those still uncertain about whom they will cast a final ballot for in the coming weeks. Please remember to vote. It's one of the most significant rights and responsibilities as Americans. The fundamental message this year is cast informed votes. Thank you.