PHOTO/

County Commissioner George Neugent and wife, Suzie Walsh-Neugent.

 

Konk Life’s Political Questionnaire:

Konk Life has invited every candidate in the upcoming elections to answer the following questions about themselves and their candidacy. 

Q&A With George Neugent

Interview conducted by Mark Howell

Tell us your age, what office you’re running for and any previous offices held:

I’m 66 years old and running for reelection to County Commissioner District 2.

Explain your platform plus why you are running.

My platform is to provide a consistent voice on the Commission for sound fiscal management and a balance in protecting both our environment and economy, to maintain our infectious quality-of-life brand and style of which we love and have grown accustomed, from Key Largo to Key West.

 

Detail how you differ from your competing candidates.

Experience! Coming from the private sector as restaurateur of two restaurants that I started and operated for 15 years, while president of the Marathon Chamber of Commerce with community involvement to a level where I was named Man of the Year by Marathon Jay Cees, Most Community involved by WAVK Radio and now, I celebrate 16 years in a life of public service for Monroe County.

During those 16 years I’ve built healthy, strong relationships at the local government level with locally elected officials representing the five municipalities within the county — with decision makers in Tallahassee and with the five governors I’ve served under.

 

Tell us your personal history: Education; professional career; family life and how long you’ve lived in the Keys or the county and your relationship to the Florida Keys and/or Key West.

Associate Degree in Oilfield Tech., 20 years in drilling and exploration for the oil industry as a service tech., operations manager, general manager, consultant and owner/president of Cloverlay Rental Tools, Inc.

30 Years in the Florida Keys (Marathon), married to Suzie Walsh-Neugent, one son, three grandchildren.

 

Touch on your personal passions in addition to the above.

Golf, diving, sailing, fishing and protecting our environment.

 

Describe where, in your view, we are going wrong in the Keys and/or Key West.

Going Wrong? In Monroe County, The Fabulous Florida Keys! Well, we clearly have challenges and issues and we will have to deal with them. Because of being in close proximity to five million people located over approximately 125 miles and being where four million people want to be on vacation, protecting our fragile environment from folks who are loving it to death is clearly an issue. We have challenges that others might wish they had: Lowest unemployment in the state; high property values; low taxes; highest bed-tax revenues; record collection of infrastructure sales tax (of which visitors pay 52 percent), I believe the challenges of sustaining our economy while providing affordable work-force housing and protecting our environment need to be our focus.

 

Tell us the political flash points you expect to encounter if elected:

Workforce housing; public transportation.

 

Tell us anything you feel you need to explain or any misapprehension you believe voters may have of you.

Having served four terms as commissioner, being a candid straight shooter, having an open-door policy and being extremely accessible, I find it hard to believe there are any misapprehensions among those who truly want to know me and discuss issues.

 

Give us your view on the partisan divisiveness in politics today and any solution to it you might have.

It’s horrible and it appalls me to see partisan party politics driving wedges between good, smart people who I know truly could solve problems if it were truly the focus to identify a problem and work to a resolution: A good idea is just that, I don’t care if it’s generated by an R or a D, a good idea is a good idea. Make it work.

 

Given that gender equality, income parity, voting rights and sexual preferences continue as big political issues nationwide today, tell us on which side of the aisle you stand.

Equality as the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment would have established —I supported it then and still do today. Discrimination of any kind is a threat to equality everywhere.

 

How about immigration, gun control and capital punishment.

My grandmother emigrated from Ireland, the McClurg Clan. I’m for fair regulation by the U.S. and respect by others for our existing laws. I’m a law-abiding gun owner. In some instances, where it is clear of the guilty party in heinous crimes, I fully support capital punishment.

 

Name your favorite movie

“Casablanca”

 

Your favorite TV show

Steve Colbert

 

Your favorite TV talking heads

Don Imus; Chuck Todd

 

Your favorite newspaper columnist

Leonard Pitts

 

Your favorite book

“Managing Wastewater in Coastal Urban Areas” — Just Kidding! Actually, “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin on Lincoln; “A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith,” a great history novel on early Florida.

 

Your favorite character in American history    

 

Your favorite person in Florida Keys and/or Key West history

Henry M. Flagler and Jefferson B. Browne.

 

Your favorite quote or proverb

“The Economy is a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of the Environment.”

 

Is there any secret strength you’d like to reveal about yourself at this point?

I draw my strength from a personal inner-relationship of my religious belief(s) and understanding of Christian teachings of faith, love and fairness, the Golden Rule. Never imposing on others or wanting others to impose their belief upon me.

 

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]