George Nemeth: Hi. This is George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily, and we are here with Barbara Ferris, who is a candidate for U.S. Congress. Welcome.
Barbara Ferris: Thank you.
George Nemeth: And a number of Northeast Ohio bloggers. I think I am going to ask the first question, because I would like to know about, you are running for the 10th District, correct?
Barbara Ferris: Right.
George Nemeth: And the Congressman is Dennis Kucinich. Correct?
Barbara Ferris: Right.
George Nemeth: And he’s been an incumbent for how long?
Barbara Ferris: This is his fifth term.
George Nemeth: His fifth term, ok. Why are you challenging him?
Barbara Ferris: I am challenging him for a number of reasons. I was born and raised in Cleveland. I come from the Ferris Steakhouse family, where we have been serving this community for 65 years, and about 5 years ago, I started to look around this community and continued to see small businesses that have been around for 20 and 30 years shutting their doors, and I wanted to understand why.
And I worked on Capital Hill for four years as a Legislative Assistant to a member of Congress, so I know the federal budget system very well. I know the legislative process very well, and I decided to do some investigative work, because being a federal budget junkie, if you will, we have opportunities for federal dollars to come into this district, and so I wanted to look and see why there were so many gaps in Labor money and HUD, and all of these agencies, because if you think about it, we are almost 800,000 thousand people in the District. We start at West 52nd and Detroit. We go all the way out to Bay, and we go south to North Olmsted. I have 28 suburbs in this district part of the suburbs on the east side, but for the sake of this conversation, if everybody pays $5,000 in taxes, there should be a fair share of federal dollars coming back into this district. And for the sake of this conversation, that is somewhere between $300 and $600 million dollars. We aren’t getting anywhere near that, so then the question becomes, why? And the answer is, because we have an ineffective legislator representing us.
Tim Russo: Do you know what that figure is?
George Nemeth: Yes, how much money is actually coming back?
Barbara Ferris: In federal dollars?
George Nemeth: Right.
Barbara Ferris: I don’t, because it comes in different parts and different pieces from different members of Congress, other than our own representative, who are advocating for us, and I will say that Congressman Steve LaTourette has been a strong advocate of the 10th District, and has brought an enormous amount of transportation dollars, because he sits on the Committee into this district.
Gloria Ferris: As a follow up to your answer to that question, you say you worked on Capital Hill and were a legislative aid to a member of Congress. Who was that, and what were your duties when you worked there?
Barbara Ferris: It was in the late ‘70s, and I had been in Washington, D.C. working at the World Bank, and Mary Rose Oakar was elected to office, and so they were looking for people from the District, so I went over. I left the World Bank, as a Loan Assistant, and went over to Mary Rose Oakar’s office as a Legislative Assistant, and my responsibilities were to follow legislation in education, foreign affairs, agriculture, women’s issues. I wrote testimony. I did a lot of research, helped her on a number of issues in a Congressional office. There is always a lot of work to do, District Liaisons, so it was a lot of that kind of work, sometimes representing her in events when she couldn’t go. So the work of a Legislative Assistant is all-encompassing, and you are responsible for certain issue areas.
George Nemeth: Don’t forget to introduce yourselves.
Gloria Ferris: Right.
Tim Russo: Sorry, I did that too.
Barbara Ferris: That’s ok.
Tim Russo: That was Tim Russo from DemocracyGuy.com.
Bill Callahan: And Gloria Ferris.
Tim Russo: Gloria Ferris from GloriaFerris.net.
Bill Callahan: I am Bill Callahan from Callahan’s Cleveland Diary, and I guess to follow up George’s question, I guess I would just say by way of introduction, my understanding is that you ran as an Independent in 2004 against Congressman Kucinich, got about 17,000 votes.
Barbara Ferris: I did.
Bill Callahan: And you are now running as a Democrat.
Barbara Ferris: I am.
Bill Callahan: I am sure we are going to get to the fairly extensive sheet of things that are criticisms of Congressman Kucinich that you passed out, but in general, are there positions of Congressman Kucinich that you would not share? And I am specifically interested in, because you criticize his lack of votes during the period when he was out on the road running for President as the anti-war candidate, do you share his position on the invasion of Iraq?
Barbara Ferris: I believe we violated our U.N. Constitution by going to Iraq, that we had no right to do it. I am coming from the position of where we are now, and what I don’t share with Mr. Kucinich is we have soldiers in Iraq. We are fighting a war. I am very pragmatic. What is going on now? And what is going on now is, if you have soldiers in Iraq, you have to support them with what they need to do the job they are being asked to do. That is the nature of the military. Mr. Kucinich voted against legislation to provide basic support and hardware to our soldiers, so that is one position that we don’t share. I don’t think anybody in this room or reading this blog supports a war, and what we did in Iraq was wrong, in my opinion, but the fact of the matter is, we are there, and we have to operate with how do we deal with being there.
The other piece is, Cuyahoga County has the largest number of vets in the nation living here. We have almost 140,000 vets. For people who have stood in harm’s way, that are living with shrapnel, that are missing a body part, I think it is wrong to say that it is ok to burn the flag in front of their faces.
Tim Russo: Are you saying that Dennis Kucinich, he voted in favor of the Flag-Burning Amendment?
Barbara Ferris: I believe he did.
Bill Callahan: I am sorry, that he voted in favor of the Flag-Burning Amendment, or he voted against the Flag-Burning Amendment?
Barbara Ferris: I believe he support the Amendment.
Bill Callahan: Which would have…? The Flag-Burning Amendment prohibits flag burning, does it not?
Barbara Ferris: Right. He voted saying that it was ok to burn flags, so I don’t know how the amendment…
Bill Callahan: No. He voted against an amendment that would have made it a part of the Constitution to prohibit burning a flag.
Barbara Ferris: Right.
Bill Callahan: Is that the same thing as voting in favor of burning a flag, as you just said?
Barbara Ferris: Well, according to the vets in my district, it is.
Bill Callahan: All of them?
Barbara Ferris: Most of them that I have been talking to.
Bill Callahan: Ok. I want to ask one other follow up question, and this is actually the point of my earlier question. As you know, when you ran as an Independent, there was a larger election on, and during that election, Democrats were pretty much exhausting themselves to try to carry the State for a Democratic candidate against a Republican candidate at a time when the issue of the war was much fresher and when Congressman Kucinich basically threw himself into a national Primary and then kind of came back and worked during the General for the Presidential Election. While he was doing that, you were running as an Independent against him. I am wondering how you reconcile that with being asked to be the Democratic candidate this year?
Barbara Ferris: I reconcile it quite easily. I ran as an Independent to put my name out, because if you looked at his Presidential, it accomplished very little in terms of goals, overall goals of the Democratic Party. I ran because we didn’t have representation in this district for three and a half years, and as a result we ended up as number one in poverty last year. We are number one in foreclosures this year. The fact of the matter is, the constituents have not been served in the 10th District, and that’s the reason I ran.
Gloria Ferris: If and when you become Congresswoman for our 10th District here, what kind of legislation would you sponsor that would bring those federal dollars back to our district?
Barbara Ferris: You know, Gloria, we have enormous, enormous opportunities here for job creation and job retainment. We have the best medical care in the world. I have lived and worked in 100+ countries around the world. There are industries around that medical care at University Hospitals and Cleveland hospitals where we have manufacturing capabilities here. Cleveland has been rated extremely high in terms of skilled labor. We ought to be producing the hearts and the mechanical things and the products affiliated with our medical industry here. That’s one piece.
We also have Arts industries in this town. We have a thousand Arts industries employing 5,000+ people in this town. We have great opportunities to grow those industries. We have roads and rails that are in place. We ought to be a major distribution center. Again, those opportunities are enormous.
One of my goals is to make Northeast Ohio the live/work capital of the nation. We have entrepreneurs. We have people like the bloggers here who are doing their own thing, whether it is in technology or the Arts or small business entrepreneurs. You know we have 130 ethnic groups in this town, plus. We are an entrepreneurial culture, if you will. And so to give people that opportunity is a way to market to invite people to come and live here. It is a great place to live.
We have enough of a base in broadband and cables to really be able to be a technology center in the region, and the business people that I have talked to are very excited about that opportunity. So I see enormous opportunities. We still have manufacturing base. It is just not what it was 30 and 40 years ago, but we do have it. And the opportunities for job creation I see are enormous. From a federal dollar perspective, there are federal dollars for training that come from the Labor Department. There are federal dollars from HUD to help with conversion. There are federal dollars from Commerce to help with our small- and medium-size business people to help them to grow their industries, the $5 million to $50 million that are not your major corporations in the country.
George Nemeth: I don’t think Barbara is going to stop and take a breath, so if you have a question, I think you are going to have to cut her off. So Chas?
Chas Rich: Chas Rich. I do Neo babble on Cleveland.com’s network. Ms. Ferris, to follow up on that, it sounds to me like you are describing a hub and spoke approach with the businesses, the major business in the center and protruding interests, the related interests going out. How do you expect to encourage that? I mean you talk about people wanting to do it. How do you encourage that, and are you talking physical location as well right around there and, if so, how do you work with what is already there, housing the businesses that have existed?
Barbara Ferris: I think Tower Press is a great example of enormous potential. We have empty warehouses. We have empty school buildings. There are a lot of empty buildings that I believe for entrepreneurs and artists and creative people to, say you come in and you fix their bathrooms and you give them a great bathroom, a great kitchen, and you give them 2,000 square feet of space, and you market us. We are a great location. Our greatest assets is our citizens in this town. We have airports. We have great access to roadways. The cost of living here is extremely reasonable. A 1,200 square foot house in Silicon Valley is worth $1.1 million. Figure that out. I mean unless you are in a high-tech industry making 6+ digits, you can’t afford to live out in Silicon Valley and be a tech entrepreneur, unless you are really well funded.
So the assets that we have as a region, what it takes is leadership with someone to go out and market the region. We’ve got sports teams. We’ve got Arts. We’ve got a tremendous amount to offer in this town, and we haven’t had anybody sing our praises or market it.
George Nemeth: Do you have a follow-up? Go ahead.
Chas Rich: Just a quick follow-up, because what you are also talking about, how do you feel about issues of eminent domain? As a small business owner, that has to be a concern. But what you are talking about ultimately involves some taking of land.
Barbara Ferris: No, I’m not. I am talking about utilizing the empty spaces…
Chas Rich: Right, but you are also talking about someone owns those empty spaces.
Barbara Ferris: Right.
Chas Rich: And how do you get them to develop it?
Barbara Ferris: Well you work together with them from an incentive perspective and say, “Here is what we can offer from the federal side to help you develop it,� or there is a team of people here that are really working hard on live/work space, led by I believe Tom Shorgel at the Community Partnership. So there is a movement here to create live/work space. I didn’t pull this out of thin air. So there is excitement about it, and there are opportunities at the federal level to help developers or people with interest in this to do it.
Gloria Ferris: I would like to hear her answer to Chas’s question about eminent domain. He just kind of used that as an off-the-cuff remark, but eminent domain for private development, what are your thoughts?
Bill Callahan: Could I add a follow-up to that, another?
Barbara Ferris: Oh sure.
Bill Callahan: …Which is, I would also like to hear an answer to the question that Gloria asked two questions back about what legislation you would introduce to make any of this happen, and why you think you could get it passed.
Barbara Ferris: Ok. I will start with the first question and work my way backwards. The reason I know I can get it passed, Congress is a collaborative institution. You have to work together in Congress with other members to get what you need for your own district, which is very key. If you look at Mr. Kucinich’s record, more than half of his legislation has no co-sponsors, and as a result, nine years he has passed one piece of legislation for this district. For a member serving that long, the average is 7 to 9 measures. So that is number one.
In terms of legislation that I would pass, I have been to talk to the Community Development, the CDC Executive Directors. I have been to talk to a number of community leaders, and what I have done is turn to them and say, “What are the issues around the federal budget that would help you from a legislative perspective?� and all of them have said a variety of answers, and my answer to that was, “Are you willing to help me rewrite or amend legislation that is causing problems from the CDCs (the foreclosure issue, from the regulatory issue, whatever issues may be)?� So I will absolutely depend on my constituents and the leaders in each of these sectors of the economy to help me with legislation. That is the way Congress works.
So to ask what legislation will I introduce coming out of the gate, it is going to depend on what our needs are here. In terms of getting it passed, I started a non-profit organization 11 years ago, called the International Women’s Democracy Center, and in that capacity, I have a Congressional Advisory Board. So for the past decade, I have worked with more than 60 members of Congress, helping write legislation and draft legislation. Again, I have colleagues in Congress that have worked with us on a variety of our programs around the world. So I have relationships built in Congress, and what we all know is that you have to have relationships in order to facilitate getting legislation passed in Congress, and I don’t see that happening now.
Tim Russo: Let’s get to the eminent domain question. What is your position on eminent domain?
Barbara Ferris: I think it is wrong for people to take, for a government to take property to do what they need to do, but it has been challenged in court, and I am not a lawyer.
George Nemeth: I would like to ask about the small businesses, because you said you travel around the District, and there are all these businesses that are closing. What are they saying the reasons that they have to close or move or whatever? You know, I guess it is going back to what are your positions and what sort of policies can you implement, other than marketing a region to other people?
Barbara Ferris: What they are saying is, “There is nothing happening. There is no leadership. There is no one advocating for us here.� And I come from a family business, so I know what a challenge it is to keep your doors open every day, to be creative, to market your business. It is a struggle, and the challenge that we have here is our population has decreased. There was a time when Cleveland had more than a million people. I think the number has decreased. And the other challenge from a small business perspective is, what is it that we can do to be user-friendly with businesses, to encourage people to grow their business? What is it they need on a federal level from the Department of Commerce or the Small Business Administration to really help them grow their business? And I can facilitate that.
George Nemeth: I guess that was kind of the question that I was asking. This is a federal position. Is the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration, and what exactly…? I mean because the SBA is kind of a big issue for small businesses, and they are making improvements, but I think they still have a long way to go. So what do you see that you could do with the SBA in this kind of capacity?
Barbara Ferris: Well it is not only the SBA, but the Department of Labor and Department of Commerce. Each of these federal agencies have grant programs. They have loan programs. They have a whole wide range of programs to help the small business person, and you have got to be an advocate for that and understand where these pockets of resources are to be able to help your constituents.
Tim Russo: Stu, did you have a question?
Stuart Spivack: I don’t know how you knew that I did or not.
Tim Russo: I’m funny that way.
Stuart Spivack: The comments you made…
Gloria Ferris: Stu, say what your blog is.
Stuart Spivack: StuartBlog2.Blogspot.com. Now don’t expect it to be updated.
George Nemeth: Well, no, hold on. Let me preface this by saying one of the things that Stuart is blogging about is the Ingenuity Festival, and when Barbara was at our fundraiser, that was one of the things that she mentioned, is how she would like to advocate for the… So that was a question that I would have, and I think that you would probably be a very good person to follow that thread.
Stuart Spivack: I am trying to get an IngenuityFestival.blog.com off the ground. My question was regarding comments you made about efforts to better extract funds, retraining. Substantially, a lot of this is the responsibility of different levels of government, municipal, county, state. How can a federal representative exert pressure on different levels of government to do that more efficiently?
Barbara Ferris: It is sort of a two-tiered process. Federal legislators bring money into the state and into the region, and it gets filtered through or divided through city or county, depending on where the applications go for federal grant money. It can also be part of legislation, so that when the Transportation Bill comes up, for example, on the floor, as Steve LaTourette has done quite often, he has made sure that there has been money for ODOT and money for roads and money for bridges and different pieces. So from that perspective, it comes into the State, it comes into the localities, or it can be directly as part of a piece of legislation.
Stuart Spivack: I guess more directly, if a city or county isn’t taking advantage fully of their constituent’s field, they are leaving money on the table. Is there something that you as a federal representative can push them to…?
Barbara Ferris: Absolutely. It is the responsibility of your federal legislator to make sure that you are communicating, first of all, with your city and county officials to find out what their needs are at the federal level, and then how can I ensure that when the money comes in that the money is used for what you requested. There is a proposal process, if you will, in terms of that level. You have the legislative level, but you have to write a proposal for Department of Transportation or other departments where there are pockets of grant money for training, for whatever, HUD.
Tim Russo: I have one question, a couple of questions actually. You criticized (this is Tim Russo of DemocracyGuy.com) Dennis Kucinich’s position on the war in Iraq. What is your position on the war in Iraq, specifically, on Jack Murtha’s proposal to withdraw troops outside of Iraq to Kuwait as soon as possible?
Barbara Ferris: I have worked in emerging democracies for the last decade. When you are in an emerging democracy situation, you have a 10-month or a two-year old democracy. We are the oldest democracy and the youngest country in the world here in the United States. Democracy doesn’t happen overnight; it takes a generation. And when you are in a situation where people don’t have experience in civic engagement, they don’t have experience in elections, they don’t have experience in what we take for granted in this country. And for example, if you need a stop sign on your street, you know to go to City Council. You know to get petitions. We know what the process is. What we are dealing with is a situation that is a new and emerging democracy in the middle of tremendous insurgency and tremendous conflict. And while I think Mr. Murtha’s comments are valid, I think it is beyond that. I think we need a plan. I don’t know that there is a plan for withdrawal.
Tim Russo: Well this morning in the Washington Post, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were reported to have a plan, a 20-year plan. Now do you support a 20-year plan for having American troops in Iraq?
Barbara Ferris: I haven’t seen the Post, and I would look at the plan, but…
Tim Russo: Somewhere between Jack Murtha and 20 years, what is your position?
Barbara Ferris: Somewhere between Jack Murtha and 20 years, I think we have to look at an exit strategy, and we have to plan an exit strategy because we have invested an enormous amount of resources in that country, an enormous amount, and I can’t see that we can walk out tomorrow, but we absolutely need an exit strategy, or else we become occupiers.
Tim Russo: So you don’t have a timeline.
Barbara Ferris: I would say within a decade, absolutely.
Tim Russo: Within a decade. On the bio sheet (I guess you handed this out before I got here, but I just picked one up off of Bill over here), there are some things here that really strike me as odd. You criticize Dennis for on July 28, 2004, Political Reporter Tom Berris of WKYC Channel 3 reported on the 11 p.m. news that “Mr. Kucinich spoke at the DNC and didn’t get any network coverage of his speech. Mr. Kucinich did not save LTV Steel. He may argue with that. Mr. Kucinich could not even save the trees in Brooklyn.� Is this really how you want to run your campaign?
Barbara Ferris: No, that’s just a fact sheet. We are running our campaign on what my goals are, and we are running this campaign because I firmly believe we deserve better representation.
Tim Russo: But is it worth putting on your bio or your fact that sheet that Dennis didn’t get coverage on Channel 3 News at 11:00?
Barbara Ferris: Well I think what it shows is that he is not considered legitimate. They don’t take the time to cover him, so I mean if somebody is not being newsworthy, and they are not being covered, that is a loud statement to me.
Bill Callahan: This is Bill Callahan again. Let me follow up on the point that Tim went by there quickly a second, the LTV question. The fact sheet, which we are referring to it, so maybe I should just ask. I looked this morning and I didn’t see this on your website, but is it there? Can people find it?
Barbara Ferris: It is on my website. Yes.
Bill Callahan: Under issues or something? Ok. So if people are hearing this, they can go look for it. Ok. You say straight up, “Mr. Kucinich did not save LTV Steel.� Could you explain in your view who did? And if we were to ask them if they thought Dennis played a significant role in saving it, do you think they would support your position?
Barbara Ferris: I have steelworkers living on my street in Parma that have been unemployed for four years. They lost all their health insurance and 60% of their pensions. To me, he didn’t do it. He paraded in front and demonstrated, which he has been very good at, and I think another perfect example is a month ago we saw the headlines, “Kucinich Vows to Save Ford,� and they shut their doors nine days later, so the fact is…
Tim Russo: Which plant shut their doors nine days later…
Barbara Ferris: Avon.
Tim Russo: in the 10th District?
Barbara Ferris: Avon. It wasn’t Mr. Kucinich’s district, but he was in the headlines.
Bill Callahan: Although Ford Brook Park of course is still open. But I want to follow up the LTV question, because maybe this is the semantic question. There is no LTV of course, and the full workforce that was LTV isn’t working there, but there is something called The Mittal Steel Plant which is employing something on the order of 1,700 people at this point, as I understand it, and which is the result of a bankruptcy negotiation in which the Steelworkers Union and a number of individual steelworkers played an active role, and my understanding from talking to their leadership and a number of folks I know who were involved in that is that they very much credit Kucinich’s office with playing an active role in that process. Do you think they are wrong? And I wonder if you could cite to me some source? I don’t know about the steelworkers on your street, but if I were to ask Leo Gerard if he thinks Dennis Kucinich played a role, do you think he would share your view?
Barbara Ferris: I think the piece that is important about the LTV issue is, Mr. Kucinich didn’t understand the federal hearing process enough that that place shut down in two months, and it was just before Christmas, and had we brought in a Congressional hearing on the issue, it could have extended the period so that these people were not out of work within a two-month timeframe.
Bill Callahan: A congressional hearing could have delayed the bankruptcy proceeding?
Barbara Ferris: It could have.
Bill Callahan: Did you ever tell anybody that when it was going on?
Barbara Ferris: No. I was not an elected official.
Bill Callahan: Well you were a citizen of the District, right?
Barbara Ferris: I am a citizen of the District. Right.
Bill Callahan: Ok. All right. Thanks.
Tim Ferris: This is Tim Ferris I’m Blogger Support, GloriaFerris.net. I am also Tim Ferris, Captain Infantry, U.S. Army, 1969-1975. Dennis has always proved to be an embarrassment to me, as he has been, and what we need to focus on… First of all, are you aware of what people say about Kucinich, and it cost us good will outside of this District, and secondly that have been said? Do you think at this point in your campaign you are devoting a little bit too much attention to Kucinich (because we can quibble over the past all we want), but do you think perhaps it is better to talk less about Kucinich and more about you and what you are going to do?
Barbara Ferris: Well I have done that, except for this blog session, to be perfectly honest. This has been rather interesting and, quite frankly, I am out on the campaign trail every single day. I am at church meetings. I am at vets meetings, and I am listening to the vets, and I am listening to my constituents, and I am listening to the seniors, and they share my view on the fact that I firmly believe we deserve better, and that is why I am in this race.
I am in this race because I come from a family business and I care about this town, and I am very frustrated with the fact that we have no representation in Washington, that we are not getting our fair share of federal dollars in this District, and I know I am the best candidate, and I can do better, and that is why I am in this race.
Tim Ferris: So then we should couch that in terms of “We can get more federal dollars; we can get more representation, and here is how I will do it.�
Barbara Ferris: Absolutely.
Tim Ferris: And “We can’t talk about the past. We have to go forward from now.�
Barbara Ferris: Absolutely.
George Nemeth: I am looking at your website, and I am actually looking at the issues, the pages that Bill was asking about, and you have five things listed. You have Jobs, Economic Development, Senior Citizens and Social Security, Veterans, Education and the Environment. I am sorry, National Security, and we have talked about that as well, but I kind of like to pick up some of these other topics. You mentioned the whole No Child Left Behind. Could you talk about your position on that? (I am sorry, Gloria. If you want to say anything on the issue, go right ahead.)
Gloria Ferris: That’s fine. No. No, and I was going to couch it in terms of, talk about that No Child Left Behind and what at a federal level should our legislators be doing to see that does not happen.
Barbara Ferris: Well I don’t know if you saw the Plain Dealer about three or four weeks ago, or actually it was probably before the November Elections, where it said no politician has addressed education, or “Politicians Shun Education� was the headline. For me, personally, I see education as a National Security issue. We absolutely have got to prepare the next generation for whatever. Whether it is taking over this coffee shop or being on the NSA, we have got to be serious and work with our parents, our administrators, our superintendents and our city and county officials to focus on education in our community. And you know, Cleveland Public Schools, 30 or 40 years ago used to be some of the best schools in the nation, so we have that potential and we have a track record.
And from the No Child Left Behind perspective, I have talked to a number of teachers. I have a number of teachers on my campaign, because they are frustrated, because it has brought in so much additional paperwork, that they are doing paperwork for test taking, and they are not doing the teaching piece. And so that is what I have heard from teachers. I am not a teacher; I am not in the classroom, and I am relying on my constituents to make sure that I am on track with what is going on.
Gloria Ferris: I would agree with that, being a former teacher 25 years ago. We complained about the amount of paper at that point that was with federal programming, with the Title IX for books and things; Title I, rather (I am sorry). It has done nothing but gotten worse over the years, and I agree with you, but on a federal level, how do you ensure that our children in District 10 are going to get a quality education? What would you do specifically?
Barbara Ferris: I agree with the accountability piece that teachers have got to be accountable, and they have to be trained. How many teachers are in our classrooms that are not certified? How many teachers are in our classrooms that don’t have the skills and credentials that you go through at Columbia Teachers College or state universities to get credentialed for teaching? So accountability is a major issue and the federal level can absolutely have an impact on that.
Gloria Ferris: Do you have statistics on that number (because the rules have only gotten more strict as far as having certified teachers in the classroom, and in their…)?
Barbara Ferris: Well the rules are strict, Gloria. My question is, if you don’t have the resources to be accountable to the rules, are the rules being followed? And the accountability piece is the biggest challenge. Enforcement is the biggest challenge.
Chas Rich: Let me ask, to stick on the education then, my first question is, you talked about the money, but how much of an impact can the federal level have when we have, the system of our government overall is we try and put education as on the local as best as possible? To follow that, as far as the certification issues, how much of that is really actually paid from _ and cause barrier entry as you create more expenses, harder and harder for a teacher to become a teacher, stay teaching, given their salaries anyways? Doesn’t at some point increase certification? Isn’t that the wrong place to worry about it? Shouldn’t it be more on the accountability of how they are actually teaching and what impact they are having?
Barbara Ferris: I agree with you on that, and I think at the federal level, the federal level has responsibilities to provide the resources needed to the states and to the localities to make sure that that can happen. And I don’t know the numbers in terms of our education budget and what has been cut in terms of education, but I want to share this with you, because I taught in Africa, and I agree with you totally on the salary issue with teachers. And in this country, we tend to look at lawyers and doctors and raise them up, and when I taught in Africa, they would say to me, “You know, Barbara, teachers are it, because to become a lawyer or a doctor, you have to go to a teacher.� So when you teach in a place where I taught, you were the most regarded person in the community, because you were educating, and it would be great if we could turn that around in this country and see our teachers and give them the respect they deserve, because they are teaching the next generation of leaders.
George Nemeth: Barbara, I have a new question about the environment. On your website you say, “I will work to ensure that our environment is protected as we bring jobs to our community and grow existing industries.� It is one sentence. Can you expand on those ideas about that?
Barbara Ferris: Sure. I really see that we have one earth. That’s it. We only get one shot at this, and there has absolutely got to be a balance between growing industries and taking care of our environment. I am adamant about it. You know, we have species, and it is part of who we are as a global community, and I feel very strongly that we only have one earth. That’s it. We only have one shot at this, and if industries want to grow, they are going to have to adhere to clean air standards. They are going to have to adhere to standards set so that there is a way to do it. Yeah, it might cost the industry a little bit more to do it, but we only have one shot at this, and we all know from living in this area, I certainly know growing up, we used to jump out of the second floor onto eight-foot snow piles in the middle of February. We’ve got rain and it is February 4th? So you know you need to be cognizant of shifts and changes going on in our world. You know, what is the impact on global warming on us? And if it is having this kind of an impact on us here in the United States, in the lesser developed countries where people don’t have a voice, countries may not exist in a decade or two because of these climate issues.
Gloria Ferris: I have a question. The mining disasters that we have had the last month have been in everyone’s consciousness, and the safety standards, and the National Labor Board has come under a lot of scrutiny. What do you see as the legislature, the federal government’s role in this fine line of making a corporation profitable so that they can go on, and the duty they have to make sure that the workers are safe?
Barbara Ferris: If you don’t have a safe environment to work in, you are not going to have productivity or profit. So to me, it makes common sense, because what is the result now? They have shut the mines. So there is no productivity anywhere, and the business owners of the mines are taking the hit, as well as the employees who are not getting a paycheck.
Bill Callahan: You are talking about the West Virginia shutdown for re-examination of the thing that the Governor announced last week.
Barbara Ferris: Yes. Yes. I assume that is what you are talking about.
Bill Callahan: Ok. Yes.
Barbara Ferris: So it is common sense to me. You know you have a mine safety agency that sets standards, and you hope the people that wrote those regs have an understanding, a clear understanding of how mines work. I certainly don’t. So it is in everyone’s consciousness, because what do you have now? You’ve got mine shutdown, no productivity, and people are not working, and that doesn’t make sense.
Bill Callahan: The other piece that you were just talking about with the global warming and the coal industry, as you probably know, the person who is probably the frontrunner Democrat for Governor, Congressman Strickland, is an avid advocate of clean coal as a major part of the economic and also energy strategy for the State. A couple of other Congressman locally have been very much involved in that, along of course with other people. Thinking about those eight-foot snow banks that you used to jump into, do you have, as a Congressperson, is there an approach to Ohio coal and its role in energy that you think makes sense in the context of global warming?
Barbara Ferris: I am not fluent in Ohio coal and our uses, but what I do know is that we have to look at alternative energy sources to address serious environmental problems and environmental degradation. So I don’t know enough about the coal industry or the power of coal, and I am certainly open to exploring alternative energy sources, because I believe we need them, and I know that we have enormous opportunities with our lake and wind power, and I know there are people working on that, and I actually have meetings set up in the next two months with people in the environmental industry to learn more about this.
Bill Callahan: So at this point, do you have any reaction to the State of the Union the other night, and the oil addiction passages from the President?
Barbara Ferris: No.
Tim Ferris: Barbara, Tim Ferris. I want to go back to education just briefly and bring in the topic of the unions too. When we spoke about education before, we talked about federal legislation and what the federal government does. Have you, as a candidate, thought about bringing in the union issue and having unions labor, and the School Teachers Union essentially address the issue of quality, and instead of being unions to come in, what their rights are and talk about the guilds of providing a certain level of professionalism?
Barbara Ferris: I actually have a meeting set up with a couple of the teachers unions in the next few weeks to have these conversations, because I feel very, very strongly about my responsibility and our collective responsibility to make sure that the next generation has the tools and skills they need to lead and to take over, because we are not going to be here forever.
Tim Russo: Oh, sorry. We’re looking at the tech here, and we’re fascinated by it (at least I am). The Medicare Prescription Drug Program, what are your thoughts on that?
Barbara Ferris: One word: disaster.
Tim Russo: Hilary Clinton was in a hearing in the Senate the other day and suggested that the entire thing be scrapped and started over. Do you agree with that?
Barbara Ferris: Listening to my seniors, who are so frustrated with trying to figure out how they can get the medications they need, taking a prescription to the pharmacy where they have been going for 15 or 20 years and now all of a sudden they are getting 30 days, they are panicked. It was not well thought out. It was done in a rush, and it is causing enormous problems, and you know, you know that seniors cannot go through those kinds of changes and they panic. So I would be certainly open to that conversation.
Tim Russo: You’re not saying scrap it, but you’re saying your open to the conversation?
Barbara Ferris: We have to address it, and it has to be addressed now and not later, because you have seniors that are absolutely panicked every single day taking their prescriptions to the pharmacy, wondering if they are going to get what they need, number one. Number two, all of a sudden you have a senior living on a fixed income, and their income is fixed and now they have to make choices between food or rent or medication? Not in the richest nation of the world. I find that unacceptable, to be perfectly honest with you.
Tim Russo: Let’s just run through a couple of hot button issues here. You criticize Dennis for his position on gay marriage and the defense of Marriage Act. What is your position on gay marriage?
Barbara Ferris: The State of Ohio voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriage. I am not taking up the banner for it.
Tim Russo: Do you support any legislation that would extend partnership benefits to gay couples?
Barbara Ferris: Many corporations already do provide partnership benefits. A number of our major corporations do provide partnership benefits. The challenge I think that we have as a state is, the message we send out is, “You are not welcome in this state,� and that has a tremendous economic impact. I have spoken with the gay community. Many, many are supportive. I said in light of Issue I, “Do your Power of Attorney. Do your legal paperwork. Do what needs to get done, given that we live in a state that has a constitutional ban on gay marriage, so that you can ensure when the time comes and you or your partner need to make decisions for each other, the process can happen from a legal perspective.�
Tim Russo: What is your position on abortion?
Barbara Ferris: I don’t believe in abortion.
Tim Russo: Do you support legislation to require minors to notify their parents when they are having an abortion?
Barbara Ferris: Um hmm.
Tim Russo: Do you support reversal of Roe versus Wade?
Barbara Ferris: No.
Tim Russo: Explain the difference there.
Barbara Ferris: The difference is a woman has a right to make a choice what to do with her body.
Tim Russo: Would you call yourself both pro-choice and pro-life?
Barbara Ferris: I never heard the question, but if that’s the way you are presenting it, yes. I personally do not believe in abortion.
Tim Russo: Gun control. The NRA may play a role in some races statewide this year. What are your positions on gun control?
Barbara Ferris: My position on gun control, very interesting question. I discovered my whole neighborhood has guns and lots of them.
Tim Russo: There are a lot of union members there.
Barbara Ferris: And they’ve got kids, so they have educated me.
Bill Callahan: Do they have trigger locks?
Barbara Ferris: Well, you know, they said, “What is your position on guns?� and I said, “Well educate me.� “Well I’ve got 45 of them.� I said, “Really?� So my position is this: Keep your ammunition separate from the weapon. Keep them both locked up. You want to go out and hunt, fine. Carry a concealed weapon permit. Get the permit; do the training.
Tim Russo: So you are in favor of the concealed carry law as it exists?
Barbara Ferris: It exists. I am not about to go out… It is not an issue that I am going to spend my time and energy on. It exists. Follow the laws. The people using the guns that are harming are not the ones with the permit, number one. Number two, nobody needs an automatic assault weapon in this country.
Bill Callahan: So you support the continued ban on assault weapon ownership?
Barbara Ferris: Absolutely, automatic assault weapons.
Tim Russo: Stuart, do you want get another question in there?
Stuart Spivack: Well I think we may need to go back to the issue of Issue I, and you correct me if I am wrong, but the language of Issue I is much broader than just a ban on gay marriage. It wasn’t their concern that it would affect any sort of legal agreement that would parallel a marriage. Weren’t gays afraid that the sort of legal arrangements that you were suggesting would also be affected?
Barbara Ferris: I don’t know the details of Issue I. All I know is that the way it came out and was presented as a constitutional ban on gay marriage in the State of Ohio. I apologize. I don’t know the details.
Stuart Spivack: I think the community was afraid of that, also that the national community is interpreting it as a very hostile ban. If it is the case that the language was overly broad, the investigating comes to that conclusion, is that an issue that you think you might pick up?
Barbara Ferris: First of all, it is a State issue. I have no authority over State. That’s number one. Number two is, it is my understanding it is being challenged in State court at the moment, so I don’t have an answer on it, and I think that due process has to…
Tim Russo: Well let’s bring it up in a federal context. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act gets brought up occasionally, and it would outlaw discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. What is your position on that?
Barbara Ferris: I agree with it.
Gloria Ferris: To take this a little bit different way, I think that most of us would agree that there is a widening gap between those who have the most in our country and those who have the least, and that the middle class is kind of been sliding back into not having as much. And in our area, some of us see Wal-Mart as being a symptom of what is happening in our country with wages going down, not having healthcare benefits included, and more of a corporate culture that says “Let’s take advantage of the aid programs that the federal government have put out there for us.� What are your thoughts on how do we change that trend, and where are we going from here?
Barbara Ferris: I share with you concerns about the middle class. On the campaign trail, the biggest issue I have come across is two parents working to make ends meet with kids in college and they are struggling. They are absolutely struggling, and it should not be. I think we have enormous challenges to figure out. How can you help an industry and a company grow to do prevailing wages? People can’t work. You have the working poor. I don’t know the percentage of people we have that are working poor, but it is too high. It is way too high. And it is a bigger challenge beyond the middle-income community is the working poor, which is making $25,000 or less. So it is an enormous problem. Do I have an answer to it? Not today, but it certainly concerns me, because many of my constituents have raised the issue in terms of, “How do I get a kid into a state school and pay for it?�
George Nemeth: Yes, let’s expand on that a little bit, because I know that it is an issue right now.
Barbara Ferris: It is. It is a big issue.
George Nemeth: What does the federal government do, other than kind of kicking out the fixed rate for federal loans, to ensure that people are getting a quality higher education?
Barbara Ferris: The federal government has cut back a lot on the college loan program, and I think that has been very shortsighted. I think it is disastrous to us as a nation. Education should be our number one priority in this country, as far as I am concerned, and so I think we have to look at, what are the ways… I am certainly looking at the ways to help middle-income people go after pockets of money, whether it be in forms of grants or scholarships in nontraditional places.
George Nemeth: And you said that on your website, right?
Barbara Ferris: Yes.
George Nemeth: In one of the issues. What about these scholarships? Could you expand on that?
Barbara Ferris: I can. When I came back from overseas and did my Masters Degree, I spent almost a month researching money for grad school and came up with nearly $20,000 for grad school to do my Masters. There is about between $3 billion and $4 billion in money for higher education, and half of it goes untouched because people don’t know where to look or how to look.
We have a great resource here in Cleveland called the Foundation Center. There are only four in the country. There is one here, one in New York, one in Washington, and one in L.A., and it is a clearinghouse for every single foundation that is registered with the IRS. I think it is about 700- or 800,000; but it is a tremendous resource that we have right here at our fingertips in Cleveland, and it is a clearinghouse for grants and scholarships for not only non-profits, but for individuals doing graduate and undergraduate work, and even for religious school education K through 12.
So I see my biggest challenge as helping middle class parents find these resources, and there are tremendous places to look for money for school beyond the traditional Pell Grants and the Stafford loans and those, which have been cut back so tremendously. And schools are burdened, because the states are not giving the money to the schools. Your private schools, which are enormously expensive, can take on funding some of your tuition and providing to a degree some of the tuition, but the number of scholarships is limited.
George Nemeth: What are your thoughts on Charter Schools and vouchers and things like that?
Barbara Ferris: Well I think the Voucher Program has enormous gaps in it. They give you a dollar amount for a voucher, and they say to a family that wants to take their kid out of a public school and send them to a private school, “Here is a dollar amount.� We’ll say $2,500 for the sake of this discussion, and they neglect to count transportation, after-school activities, fees, all these additional expenses that come with the private school. And so while you are lured by the idea of a better education, you are once again enormously challenged to cover basic expenses that go with it.
Bill Callahan: So do you think the amount should be higher?
Barbara Ferris: Whatever the amount is, it is the amount that is set by… It is my understanding it is the amount set by State to educate the student.
Bill Callahan: Right. George asked you what you think about the program. You said, what I understood you to say was it is not enough money. Is that what you think about the program, or do you have other thoughts?
Barbara Ferris: I think that we need to improve public schools. I am a strong advocate of public education and that we have to pay… Everybody is not going to take advantage of the Voucher Program. We have a responsibility as a society to improve our public schools.
Tim Ferris: Yes, you know, before you mentioned the foundations and the 501(c)(3)s and how we have them around here, are you aware of where we stand in your district in representation of foundations and 501(c)(3)s? We do have a lot relative to the country, don’t we, and how much?
Barbara Ferris: I don’t know that answer.
Tim Ferris: Well I think we have a lot foundations and 501(c)(3)s around here. I can’t give you exactly the right number, but given the fact that we have so many people in the business of doing good, how come everyone is doing so poorly in the region?
Barbara Ferris: I think it is a combination of many, many, many factors. It is a combination of businesses shutting down. It is a combination of our economy in general. It is a combination of many different factors, but I think the main issue is we have no leadership. I have not seen leadership in a decade.
George Nemeth: I want to push this a little bit, because you have spent a long time in the Peace Corps.
Barbara Ferris: Two years.
George Nemeth: It’s two years longer than I have.
Barbara Ferris: Ok, that’s fair.
George Nemeth: So what is their motto, and how does it compare to what you are seeing in leadership? Do you see what I am saying?
Barbara Ferris: No.
George Nemeth: Kind of contrast what you think leadership is and what your experience with leadership is, say in the Peace Corps, or say you have been in 100 countries?
Barbara Ferris: Yes.
George Nemeth: Ok. What are you seeing in those places that you are not seeing here?
Barbara Ferris: I am seeing innovation, and the most important thing I am seeing is people willing to come together across party lines, across issue lines, to solve problems and to address issues, without being so territorial, and a willingness to give up a little to get to yes.
George Nemeth: In my mind, though, maybe there are different kinds of leadership, ok, because people getting together over issue lines, right, is not traditional leadership. It is not… Maybe it is that wrong type of leadership…
Barbara Ferris: You’re right. No. It’s innovative leadership, and it is risk-taking leadership, and we don’t have enough of that here.
George Nemeth: So how do we get more of that then (is my question)?
Barbara Ferris: You don’t have same old, same old that has been at it for 25 years.
Bill Callahan: Would you characterize the other members of Congress, the other Democrats in particular (Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Sherrod Brown; you mentioned LaTourette who is, of course, a member of the Majority), would you characterize them as having the same failings? You are talking about the effective leadership on the community at large and, of course, the district you are talking about is only a part of the community where that dynamic is occurring, so I am just wondering if you think this is a generalized failure.
Barbara Ferris: Honestly, I don’t know their record, and I have not looked at their record to comment fairly.
Gloria Ferris: I was just thinking. George, you were talking about Barbara’s website. Maybe we should say what the website is, so that people who listen to the Podcast…
Tim Russo: FerrisforCongress.com, is that correct?
Gloria Ferris: Is that it, FerrisforCongress? My other question is, have you found, have you been asked to interview with the Plain Dealer? Have they followed your campaign at all? Have you had any conversations with mainstream media on your…?
Barbara Ferris: Yes, all of them.
Gloria Ferris: And they have? They have been following you?
Barbara Ferris: Yes.
Tim Ferris: And what have they done for you or to you? Can they represent what your position is accurately? Have they depicted you fairly?
Barbara Ferris: They have, but let me just say this. The filing deadline is February 16th, so they were very upfront about really not dealing with the race, because they don’t know who else is in the race. So in all fairness, let’s wait, let’s have this question February 17th, I would suspect, because…
Tim Russo: How are we doing on time?
Barbara Ferris: We have to wait for the filing deadline.
Stuart Spivack: So regarding the vouchers and charters, do you think that the effect overall that they have had on the rest of the public school system has been benign, beneficial, negative?
Barbara Ferris: I don’t now the answer. I haven’t seen a study on the vouchers, and if there is a study, I would like to see it.
George Nemeth: I am going to take the last question. Does anybody have one more? Chas?
Bill Callahan: I have one more question. You obviously intend to file, right, despite your last answer, and you will be running in the Democratic Primary?
Barbara Ferris: Right.
Bill Callahan: And this is the first time you are running as a Democrat in this race.
Barbara Ferris: But I am a lifelong Democrat.
Bill Callahan: I understand.
Barbara Ferris: So let me make that very clear.
Bill Callahan: So my question is, do you expect to support the Democratic candidate for Congress in this district, no matter who it is?
Barbara Ferris: I absolutely expect to support myself on May 2nd.
Tim Russo: You haven’t voted for any Republicans ever, have you?
Barbara Ferris: No, not that I know of.
Tim Russo: Ronald Reagan?
Barbara Ferris: No.
Tim Russo: George W. Bush?
Bill Callahan: I don’t think you answered my question. Could you answer my question? Would you support the Democrat, do you intend to support the Democratic candidate coming out of the Primary, no matter who it is?
Barbara Ferris: No.
Tim Russo: Well Chas, it is a fair question because… Wait. Let me just jump in here. It is a fair question because, Barbara, you ran as an Independent…
Barbara Ferris: I did.
Tim Russo: And now you’re in the Democratic Primary.
Barbara Ferris: And I made it very clear why I ran as an Independent.
Tim Russo: So this is a fair question. Ok, just wanted to make that clear.
Barbara Ferris: Yes. I made it very clear.
Bill Callahan: To be clear, my understanding, what I just heard you say was that, I think, was that if Representative Kucinich wins the Primary, you don’t intend to support him in the General. Is that true?
Barbara Ferris: I am going to wait and see who wins the Primary. I am going to wait and see.
Tim Ferris: But are you required that you __?
Barbara Ferris: No.
Bill Callahan: I am just asking a question.
Barbara Ferris: And I appreciate the question, and the answer is, I am going to wait until May 3rd to see who the Democratic candidate is, and I will form my opinion on May 3rd.
Bill Callahan: Ok. Thank you.
Tim Russo: And your last question?
George Nemeth: Yes. First off, I want to thank you for spending the last hour with us and answering those questions, and my question is going to be about the Ingenuity Festival. Talk about the Ingenuity Festival, because you are one of the very few candidates who has been very articulate about the whole Arts and Economic industries and things like that, so go on and take a few minutes, talk about the Ingenuity Festival, talk about specifically what you can do on a federal level to get money here to support the Arts.
Barbara Ferris: Oh, well, first let me say that the Ingenuity Festival was wonderful. It was wonderful for us as a community. It was wonderful for us from the creative side. It was wonderful from what I see as enormous economic potential down the road as we develop it. And when I went to the opening, they did this great opening of a traffic jam down at Public Square, and I was with a few friends from New York City, and at the end of it they said, “Barb, that was fabulous!� I said, “Oh, we have very hip people in the Art industry here, trust me,� and I said, “And it is only going to get better.� And from the federal level, there are opportunities to support these kinds of initiatives as economic development, and I see the Ingenuity Festival as a wonderful engine for that type of thing to happen, and if you look at other places around the country, you know, South Carolina had this __ Festival for how many years?
George Nemeth: Like 30.
Barbara Ferris: Thirty years, and it was huge economic driver. You go down to Miami Beach, down to South Beach, they have the Art Deco Festival, four days, walking tours. It is fabulous, and it is a fabulous piece of economic development that really fuels it. So I think four days was a good time. They blocked off roads. It was really hospitable. It was diverse. There were lots of different opportunities for lots of different people interested in very many different pieces of arts and media and technology, and it was a great infusion, and I am really very, very excited about it, and it has my full support, and I will do whatever I can to help it grow and to help expand it, because I do, I see it as an opportunity for economic growth, because we are known around the country as an Arts town, number one. Cleveland, we are recognized for our Orchestra, for our museums, for our Hall of Fame, for our Great Lakes Science Center. We have all the components to grow these kinds of things, whether it be leisure tourism or however you want to frame it.
The other piece is, and it goes back to my goal to help us be the live/work capital of the nation, and what the Ingenuity Festival says is, if you are a techie, if you are an artist, or you are an entrepreneur and you want to go outside the box, we welcome you, and that to me is a very hospitable statement that the creators of the Ingenuity Festival have made. Yes.
George Nemeth: Barbara, thank you for meeting with the bloggers.
Barbara Ferris: Thank you.
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