Meet the Candidates: Arizona State Senate District 4

Name: Lynne Pancrazi

Age: 58 but young at heart

Office running for: Arizona State Senate District 4

Family: Mike Pancrazi – husband, Angela Pancrazi Moreno – stepdaughter, Maggie Blair Anderson – mother, sisters, brother, son-in-law, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, cousins, grandkids, nieces and nephews, great-nieces and -nephews, great-cousins, I have a wonderful family and extended family here in Yuma that I love very much.

Party: Democrat

Education: MA Northern Arizona University, BA Point Loma Nazarene College

Employment: Arizona state representative District 24, retired YSD1 educator, inactive licensed Realtor

To what organizations do you belong? Angels PRN Board Member, Arizona Education Association - retired, Fraternal Order of Elks Yuma Lodge 476, National Education Association - retired, Yuma Elementary Education Association - former president, Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club

What in your past experiences helps qualify you for this seat? Six years' experience Arizona state representative for District 24

If elected, what is the one issue on which you would focus to improve Yuma's quality of life? How? The entire state needs to get people back to work. We need jobs, jobs, jobs! We need to incentivize small business expansion. We need to aggressively recruit businesses to our state. We need to have partnerships with our junior colleges and businesses to train our locals for the jobs needed in the state.

What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans, and how would you change it? Well-paying jobs with benefits and the educated work force to fill those jobs is the biggest hurdle we have in Yuma. Recruit businesses and train our community for the jobs of the future.

What would you do to make government more accessible? A legislator's information is on the House and Senate websites. I have always had an open door policy and try to return all calls and emails from constituents. I attend as many community events as possible to allow constituents the ability to talk about their concerns. The one thing I would like to see improved at the state Legislature is the state website. Finding proposed legislation is relatively easy but to locate a Strike Everything, which completely changes a bill, is very difficult to access. That needs to change. The inability of individuals to testify in committee meetings is another problem. Now you have to go to the Legislature to sign in at a kiosk before you can testify at committee hearings. Not everyone can make it to Phoenix but everyone can go to the library and access our meetings. Now we need to provide an online sign-in so everyone can comment on proposed legislation.

Who is your personal hero, and why? My parents and grandparents are my personal heroes. My parents had me involved in ballet lessons, swim lessons, Camp Fire Girls, 4-H and Job's Daughters. They encouraged me to become involved in school activities and inspired and helped me to become a teacher. I would not be the person I am today without their encouragement, discipline and especially their love.