Jax Daily

JaxDaily: Our area is electing a lot of fresh faces to the legislature this year. What about your particular background and experience qualifies you to hit the ground running if you are sent to Tallahassee?

Lake Ray: It is important that we send people to Tallahassee who have experience in the process of legislating. As the only candidate who has already served our community in office I bring eight years of knowledge in how to get things done from my time on the Jacksonville City Council. During that time I not only worked on issues important to the district I represented, such as replacing the grating on the Mathews Bridge, securing funding to expand and improve Ed Austin Regional Park and voting to lower the millage rate on our homes (eight times), but I also worked with our representatives in Tallahassee on important regional issues that affect our every day lives.

For eight years I went to Tallahassee working to secure funding for our schools, roads and parks and building the relationships necessary to hit the ground running to the serve the community in the Legislature.

—————————–

JaxDaily: What is your opinion on the St. Johns River Water Management District’s proposal to drain water from the river to supply Central Florida’s growing needs? How can we protect the river while balancing the economic realities of our situation?

Lake Ray: I am 100% against any plan that seeks to take water from the St. Johns River and send it elsewhere.

Several years ago, there was a plan to draw water from the Floridan Aquifer and send that water to Central and South Florida. I led the fight on the City Council to stop this from happening and we prevailed. Now, for the same reasons, there are those south of us who want to mitigate the mistakes of their poor planning by taking our water from our river. We cannot let this happen and I will work tirelessly to stopping this ill conceived plan.

—————————–

JaxDaily: What, if anything, can the state do to help the City of Jacksonville solve the high violent crime rates that we’ve been experiencing?

Lake Ray: An educated community is one that has fewer incidents of violent crime. The state can help by putting more resources into classrooms so that children can learn and teachers can teach, all within a safe and secure environment.

We also need to make sure that our officers on the streets have the resources that they need to keep us safe. As a member of the Jacksonville City Council I voted over two hundred times in support of our law enforcement officers, giving them the tools that they requested to fight crime.

—————————–

JaxDaily: Who are of the groups and individuals that have endorsed your candidacy?

Lake Ray: North East Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Association of Realtors, Northeast Florida Builders Association, First Coast Manufacturers Association, AFL-CIO, Florida Medical Association, Duval Teachers United, Associate General Contractors, Utility Contractors’ Association, Associated Builders and Contractors.

Former Jacksonville Mayors, John Delaney and Jake Godbold; State Senator Steve Wise, State Representatives Jennifer Carroll and Charles McBurney; current members of the Jacksonville City Council, Bill Bishop, Michael Corrigan, Art Graham, Ray Holt, Kevin Hyde, Glorious Johnson, Steven Joost, Don Redman and Clay Yarborough; former Members of the Jacksonville City Council, Warren Alvarez, George Banks, Matt Carlucci, Lad Daniels, Sharon Copeland and Gwen Yates.

These groups and individuals all trust that I am prepared to do the job on day one.

—————————–

JaxDaily: It seems that a write-in candidate has filed to run in your race, essentially with the purpose of closing the Republican primary to only Republican voters. First off, does this help or hurt your campaign? And secondly, how do you feel about the loophole that allows write-ins to be used to selectively close party primaries?

Lake Ray: It really has no impact as the race was closed when a Democrat filed to run.

(Editoral note - when this question was asked, the Democrat candidate had been disqualified from appearing on the ballot. She has since been reinstated.)

—————————–

JaxDaily: On a more personal note, have you read any good books lately?

Lake Ray: Faith in God and Generals. A book about the faith of the Generals in the Civil War.

—————————–

JaxDaily: What’s your favorite place to grab a bite to eat?

Lake Ray: Home, with my family.

—————————–

JaxDaily: Who are some current or past leaders that you admire?

Lake Ray: Ronald Reagan, George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

—————————–

JaxDaily: What other kinds of things do you enjoy doing while you’re not campaigning?

Lake Ray: Mostly, spend time with family, friends and studying history.

—————————–

JaxDaily: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few of our questions, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Lake Ray: During the course of this campaign I have met with thousands of people who live in the district. Learning from them, their hopes and dreams and what they want to see done in Tallahassee. From them I have learned that their top priorities are keeping our streets safe, energy independence, getting more resources into our schools and protecting our river. Those are my priorities and the things that I will fight for.

The job of representing our city in Tallahassee is an important one and in order to accomplish our goals, our next representative must be ready. I am the only candidate that has the experience and relationships necessary to be an effective legislator on day one.