Candidate Spotlight – Phil Moore for State Representative District 53

Every candidate is given the opportunity to answer our candidate questionnaire. Below are the answers to the questions this candidate chose to answer as submitted.

Political Party: Democrat

Education: B.S. – Sports Medicine, Barry University. M.S. – Physical Education, Ohio University.

Office Running For: State Representative

Email: votephilmoore@gmail.com

Current Employment: Medical Device Instructor

Where are you from: Hollywood, FL

Are you a Veteran? If so which branch and rank? No

Why are you running: To remove a corrupt politician who divides Brevard citizens against each other and out locally elected officials.
For Brevard to have a Representative who understands the needs of the County and Florida rather than a Representative who just blames others.
To remove a person who abuses the office of State Representative and used it for his own personal gains and as a bully pulpit.

What are your top three priorities if you are elected:

1. Florida and Brevard’s economy, our wealth gap is greater than ever. People have to work two jobs just to be able to afford rent, and wages have not kept up with rising costs in Brevard. This is reflective in teacher pay and housing prices.
2. Florida’s environment is in crisis. For the past 20 years we have ignored scientists’ warning on our impact both locally and globally. We need better legislation to preserve and protect our waterways and oceans and move away from fossil fuels.
3. Florida has created a partisan voucher program which diverts public education funding to private corporations with little to no oversight. This year, lawmakers have a bill to decrease oversight from annually to every three years. How can we blame public schools for the state they are in, and the fact that Florida is 46th in the nation on education when we continue to defund it?

What do you think is the number 1 problem in your district related to the office you are running for:

Economy – District 53 has many citizens who are struggling to afford to maintain a place to live.
Each year, Tallahassee and my opponent, diverts funds away from affordable housing while giving corporations greater tax breaks. Working class citizens are the ones expected to make up the gap in Florida’s budget.

How will you involve your constituents in your decision making: I have been a citizen of Brevard County for 23 years and a second generation Floridian of 45 years, seeing first hand the issues we are dealing with.
One of the most disturbing issues we have seen in this County, from the Sheriff, County Commission and my opponent, is the lack of transparency from Public Records request, showing they do not want the constituents to see what decisions they are making.
Throughout my campaign I routinely sit with constituents and local organizations and will continue to have an open door policy, stand for transparency and can be reached by anyone via email.

Do you plan to run for a higher office:  have no ambition for higher office. My plan is to serve the citizens of Brevard County and Florida.

How will you address infrastructure in your district: As a citizen and cyclist I have spent years working with our Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization, understanding the work needed for proper growth and development and safety, rather than sprawl. Part of the function of local government is to maintain infrastructure, but in years past, we have seen a lack of adequate funding. This was apparent with the 2018 vote to increase the homestead exemption which dealt a huge blow to local budgets throughout the State.
As a State Rep. my role would be to work with State agencies like FDOT and local government agencies to help address road plans and changes.

How will you address crime in your district? Criminal justice reform is a big issue in the State which incarcerates 833 people per 100,00 much higher than the national average and allows corporations to profit on jailing citizens. These same private prison corporations give millions of dollars to our legislators’ PACs so that Representatives like my opponent will continue the cycle of making sure the jails are full to maintain a profit.
Maintaining the jails and prisons is a responsibility of government and a duty we have to those we sentence. I would push for reform of the Florida Department of Corrections.

How will you address affordable housing? Legislators in Tallahassee including my opponent have for years stripped funding from the Sadowski Trust Fund set up to allocate State funds for affordable housing projects, $2 Billion since its inception. This is, but shouldn’t be, a partisan issue, with Democrats in the minority including myself fighting to use those dollars as they were set to be used. If Republicans stopped raiding this fund millions of dollars would be utilized here locally to help Brevard address this issue.

How will you address environmental concerns in your district?: Tallahassee has neglected the environment beyond the breaking point benefiting only corporate greed, population growth and industry development.
The growth of Brevard needs to be proactive and sustainable. For example we should not be building more condos and privatizing the beach which my opponent voted in favor of, especially when we know those lands are being encroached by sea level rise already in S. Florida.
We need to utilize more renewable energy sources, not expand dangerous fracking activities to Florida; again, as my opponent has supported.

Why are you a better choice than your opponents:Florida has over 22 million citizens of which the average income is $55K. We need more working class citizens representing us and our needs in Tallahassee, not more millionaires like my opponent focused on siphoning more taxpayer funds away for private interests.
I represent the working class Brevardian.
Our current Representative continuously abuses his position to divide citizens with FB posts, and throughout his tenure, take away community rights and home rule from local governments.
I will be a Representative who fights for small government and understands that the government closest to the citizens works best.
I would not ever abuse my position as a State Representative, using my access to government agencies, state letterhead and mock press conferences to bully and intimidate those who disagree with me. We should all expect better behavior and higher standards from our public servants.

What is your past political experience:

I ran for this office in 2018 for my first foray into politics. I have been an activist and citizen lobbyist in Tallahassee. I enjoy learning and understanding State politics and the function and role of our legislators.

Opponents and the media research public records, police reports, credit information and do other background checks in an effort to discover tax liens, lawsuits, arrest records and other unfortunate things. Are there any issues your opponent could use against you that you wish to disclose:

In the 2018 election the Representative spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to slander me. I am sure he will do it again; which affirms to me we need someone different, someone better in that role.

Are there any other comments you’d like to make? If you would like to join or donate to our campaign please visit the website.

Please list any websites or social media links to your campaign if you have any:

www.votephilmoore.com
www.twitter.com/PhilMooreforFL
www.facebook.com/votephilmoore