District 67 candidates weigh in on economy, guns and schools
Jason Knight and Daryl Gould trade jabs at forum
Libertarian Daryl Gould told folks at Wednesday night's forum that he shared many similarities with his opponent, Democrat Jason Knight, but on many occasions the two candidates for the House District 67 seat appeared to differ on the topics.
Mr. Gould said the current members of the general assembly have spent too much time and energy making deals to lure large corporations to Rhode Island. He said legislators instead need to focus on helping existing small businesses in Rhode Island.
Mr. Knight, who defeated the incumbent Jan Malik in the primary, said offering incentives to entice large businesses is "the nature of the beast" when it comes to economic development.
When asked if he supports expanding the number of charter schools, Mr. Knight said he was not. In fact, he said more work needs to be done to improve the existing public schools in the state.
Mr. Gould took a completely different approach — he said a better option for the public would be a landscape void of public schools and filled with private institutions. Mr. Knight strongly disagreed.
As for gun control legislation, the Libertarian candidate said there were plenty of laws on the books but not enough of them were being enforced. He also said some candidates capitalize on fear-mongering when it comes to gun control.
Mr. Knight said his experiences as a prosecutor showed him that the gun control laws are enforced, but that still there are problems with random acts of violence.
Other topics
• Mr. Gould, a Warren resident, spoke about the economic problems facing Rhode Island and said much of the issues could be realized if the government "got out of the way and let companies do what they do." He said there are too many regulations and restrictions facing businesses. Mr. Gould also said Rhode Islanders are over-taxed.
• Mr. Knight, a Barrington resident, said legislators need to fix the state's infrastructure, but said there was no "silver bullet" for improving the economy. He said many different things needed to take place in order to make Rhode Island more competitive with its surrounding states. He said that if he was elected, he would work to bring clean and transparent government to everyone.
