The 189th Legislative District includes Barrett, Hamilton, Middle Smithfield, Ross and Smithfield townships, Stroud Township’s 7th precinct, Delaware Water Gap and Pike County’s Delaware, Lehman and Porter townships.

The following Information is supplied by the Monroe County League of Women Voters.

Adam Rodriguez

Democrat

Address: East Stroudsburg

Online: http://www.adamforpa.com; twitter.com/adamforpa; http://Adam Rodriguez — Real Leadership for the 189th

Education: Graduate, Midland Park High School, Rhode Island School of Design, NYCDCC Journeyman Carpenter

Qualifications: Experienced in product development, quantitative analysis, creative problem solving and professional design management. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, along with a unique ability to negotiate and find reasonable compromise.

What are your top three priorities in office?

Although I have a long list of priorities I’d like to address, I believe that focusing on economic issues that affect my fellow residents’ pocketbooks first is a winning strategy. Economic inequality can begin to be solved here in the 189th by raising the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour. We are at our best when we understand that this country was built on a system of high wages. Secondly, high property taxes are a real problem for my fellow Monroe and Pike County residents, where we pay nearly three times the state average in an area where $54,000 per year is the average salary for a family of four. I propose using the proceeds from a Liquefied Natural Gas Severance Tax, combined with another fix to the School Funding Formula’s weighted average would go a long way to solving our property tax problem. Lastly, under the preamble of both the state and federal constitution, Pennsylvanians have a right to quality affordable medical care under a Medicare for all plan.

Do you support reforming our congressional and legislative redistricting process to implement an independent citizen’s redistricting commission? Why or why not?

Yes, I definitely support an amendment to the commonwealth’s Constitution to create a Citizens Commission that would make the creation of our districts more fair. furthermore, I think that using a mathematical algorithm in an effort to make congressional, state and state senatorial districts more compact.

Which voting modernization reforms (such as no-excuse absentee voting, early voting, same-day voter registration, additional funding for voting technology upgrades) would you support to ensure that our elections are accessible, efficient and secure?

I support all of the above.

Rosemary Brown

Republican

Address: Tannersville

Online: http://brownforrep.com; http://facebook.com/brownforrep.com; www.BrownForRep.com

Education: University of Scranton, BA Communication; Business/English East Stroudsburg High School

Qualifications: As a state representative, I have a proven record of putting aside partisan politics to focus on the priorities of our area: property tax relief, fiscal discipline, stronger and safer schools, job creation and local projects.

What are your top three priorities in office?

My top three priorities are the priorities the people of the 189th District have told me are important to them: working for real property tax relief and ensuring fiscal discipline in government; supporting and improving education; and, helping job creators grow our economy. On each of these issues, I have built a positive record by working with people of all parties to achieve results. On property taxes, I supported the statewide referendum and subsequent legislation to help local governments eliminate property taxes. I support and voted for the Property Tax Elimination Act. I also passed pension reform that will save billions of dollars. For schools, I delivered record education funding including $60 million in school safety grants without broad-based tax increases. On jobs, the policies I supported have helped reduce unemployment by 20 percent in Pennsylvania.

Do you support reforming our congressional and legislative redistricting process to implement an independent citizen’s redistricting commission? Why or why not?

I am a co-sponsor of House Bill 722 — the legislation to establish an independent citizens redistricting commission to remove politics from this important process. I believe in greater citizen involvement and transparency in all aspects of government, and this effort falls squarely within that goal.

Which voting modernization reforms (such as no-excuse absentee voting, early voting, same-day voter registration, additional funding for voting technology upgrades) would you support to ensure that our elections are accessible, efficient and secure?

Nothing is more important to our democratic process than ensuring the sanctity of the ballot. That is why we must be careful before implementing wholesale changes to our election system. Too often, what seem like good ideas for reform may unwittingly result in the possibility for reduced ballot security; we must also be vigilant that as we increase the use of technology, it is secure. I do agree with recent changes allowing voter registration online, would allow 17-year-olds who will be 18 by Election Day to preregister, and would accept certain absentee ballot changes that make it easier for people to vote by mail. I also believe in the need for paper trails that allow the results of contested elections to be determined through tangible evidence; unfortunately, this was an option taken away from counties by Gov. Ed Rendell when he refused to certify the use of paper trails when implementing the Helping America Vote Act in the early 2000s.