Meet the Candidates: Joe Pamelia - Congressional District 4
The Yuma Sun is spotlighting the candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 general election. Check out past editions of Meet the Candidates online at www.YumaSun.com/Elections.
Name: Joe Pamelia
Age: 65
Office running for: U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Arizona
Family: Single, previous marriage, two children
Party: Libertarian
Education: Rutgers University, RCA Technical Institute, Control Data Institute
Employment: CEO of EZ COURSES.ORG LLC.
To what organizations do you belong? IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, IEEE 1284-1994 Parallel Port Committee, IEEE Balloting Committees, Digital Network Protocol Users Group
What in your past experiences helps qualify you for this seat? My career spans 40+ years in senior management, strengths like in program management, leadership, mentorship, training, engineering, financials, budgets, earned value management systems, human resources.
If elected, what is the one issue on which you would focus to improve Yuma's quality of life? How? While Yuma enjoys a lower cost of living in general, its inhabitants still are part of Arizona and the American landscape. That said, Yuma is having to deal with slow job growth and shrinking wages. In order for Yumans to survive the downturn in our economy, I am planning on introducing legislation which will bring more commercial manufacturing and military contracts to the area. This will increase the number of jobs, bring salaries upward and invigorate the local economy for all Yumans.
What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans, and how would you change it? The biggest challenge for Yumans now is to make ends meet with the shrinking job market. How can a small family afford a mortgage if they are working three jobs (most part-time) to feed and house their families? It simply is a race to the bottom and we need to fix this now.
What would you do to make government more accessible? My office in Arizona and Washington will always be available to my constituents, as a representative will be available for appointments and consultation, to ascertain each Yuma resident's issues and concerns. I will always make sure Arizonans are aware of any legislation that I want to put forth. My platform will always be built on integrity and transparency, not re-hashed rhetoric from the Democrats and Republicans.
Who is your personal hero, and why? I always liked Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. Ronald Reagan because he had a vision that was conservative libertarian and knew that a “balance” must be struck in American society. Barry Goldwater because he as a conservative knew the value of watching the bottom line.
