Russell Best is running for governor as an Independent American. KNPR News sent a questionnaire to candidates. Here are his responses.
Question. Education in Nevada is ranked dead last or close to it. What does it need to improve?
We the people should be appalled of our education system we are ranked 50 out of 50 states and have spent a lot of money to no avail. The first thing I would do is end our reliance on federal law common core. We need to analyze our disbursement of funds to the school systems in the state to insure they are being allocated evenly and fairly. I would also add some of our new marajana (sic) tax money to the existing funds. I would go back to the basics reading, writing, and arithmetic with a heavy push towards the new STEM programs. I would also open trade schools to help our students take those jobs that we need for our state. I also believe we need to test the students before they can move forward to the next year, we also need to test and require continuing education for the teachers to make sure they can do their job successfully. Bonuses should be offered to the teachers who are doing their job above and beyond the state minimum and are teaching the kids to excel to a higher standard. I believe no child left behind was a good idea but needed much improvement, the sentiment is exactly what we all should believe. These are a few things we could get approved and passed in assembly and senate and I could sign into law.
Question: Mental health is becoming a growing problem in the state. To fix it would require a lot of money. Where would that money come from?
I believe that our mental health could be fixed by educating our police force on the differences between sick and bad behavior. having a place to take them other than jail. Every county should have a place for the mentally sick instead of keeping them in jail which I believe is inhumane punishment for our mentally ill. This another place our marajana (sic) tax could help these people.
Question: Housing costs are going up in Reno and Las Vegas, and both metropolitan areas are having a difficult time providing affordable homes or apartments to the growing numbers of people moving there. How do you propose increasing investment in affordable housing?
One way is by getting our property back from the Federal government in which we would have more land to develop. Another problem is the rising costs of water rights and other development costs are making it nearly impossible for land developers to build low to moderate housing. Vacation rentals have become so lucrative to property owners that they are no longer renting houses to families. We need to analyze the Vacation Rental market and find a reasonable solution to help keep homes available to families to rent, while not over burdening the property owners.
Question: Was it a good idea for Las Vegas to invest $750 million in room taxes to build a stadium for a professional football team? If not, why not? If so, how do you think it will benefit Nevada?
Las Vegas, I believe did the right thing in principal by putting a football stadium in. I believe it will increase visitors to our Great State and this I believe is a huge win. The down side is what the average person has to pay more in taxes for a room. One way to fix the problem is to put a sunset on the tax that will expire after a certain time and the initial is paid back. Then the stadium has to be self sufficient or a change of venue must take place.
Question: Does Nevada need to enact any laws related to background checks to obtain a weapon in the state?
I believe we don't need any more laws on gun control what we need is more people learning the the proper use of a gun. We need to protect our schools, but the answer is not an easy one. We may need to invest in armed police officers on campuses, metal detectors, or other safety precautions while we work towards a reasonable solution. Next by helping our mentally disabled we can curb gun violence they are creating. You see guns are not the problem and they are a tool like any other tool and in our Constitution under our second amendment rights it can't be taken away. It is there to protects us against foreign and domestic governments, keeping us free over 200 years and will continue continue to do so.