Why We Support John
Kowalko for the 25th District
Those of us
working for John Kowalko’s campaign will be
accentuating the positive, because there’s a lot to like
about our candidate. Let’s look at the stands that he has
taken:
Openness and accountability in our State Government.
John has seen first-hand how the powerful interests get their
voice heard in Dover, and he wants that to change. When the
House Energy Committee meets, the electrical utilities should
not be the only ones allowed to speak! John protested this by
wearing a gag and being removed from the chamber – and the press
reported the scandal. Now the meetings are open to public
input.
Health care coverage for all Delawareans.
It sounds impossible, if you believe the insurance companies.
But John doesn’t agree. He’s worked with national and local
organizations to formulate a responsible plan for comprehensive
health insurance coverage for all Delawareans. He has testified
in support of this proposal before a House Committee and will
continue to work for this important reform.
Free
and Convenient Recycling.
John sits on the Delaware Citizens Solid Waste Solutions
Commission and serves as a steering committee member. He has
helped put together a responsible and comprehensive proposal to
relieve Delaware’s solid waste disposal crisis without further
landfill expansion or unhealthy incineration technologies. A
central feature of this plan is Statewide curbside recycling, at
no additional charge to the resident.
Reign
in the Electrical Power Cartel.
Utility deregulation hasn’t worked. We were offered a rate
“relief plan” that only delays balloon payments until after
Election Day. Excessive profits for the utility interests hurts
Delaware residents and businesses. Now that John is allowed to
testify before the Energy Committee, he has called attention to
deceptive bidding practices and suggested ways to re-regulate
aspects of the electrical power cartel.
Real
Utility Rate Relief for the Needy.
As a member of ACORN (Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now) and the Delmarva
Consumer Council, John has vigorously campaigned for meaningful
assistance to Delaware’s Seniors and needy to meet their utility
costs. He has called attention to the hardships caused by rate
increases in a series of press conferences, television
appearances, and testimony before numerous House and Senate
Committees and at Public Service Commission hearings. He crafted
a series of proposals and ideas to lessen the rate burden on the
community.
Full-Day Kindergarten.
John is strongly committed to a statewide and state funded
full-day kindergarten option for all public schools. In 2005
John and Citizens for Legislative Accountability presented
hundreds of petition signatures asking for this, and he followed
up with testimony before a Joint Finance Committee hearing,
offering a realistic funding mechanism and authoritative studies
validating the benefits of full-day K. He has continued by
participating in forums and debates at community meetings and on
public television.
Mass
Transit to Move Delawareans.
Delaware is growing fast, and needs to grow up with a mix of
transit options. John proposes a light passenger rail service
the length of Delaware, to localize development, control sprawl,
reduce air pollution, and support the local construction
infrastructure.
We
like John! In addition to
his accomplishments and credentials, John is an individual truly
committed to the public good, and not an activist for the sake
of his own ego. He digs into issues to find out what’s right.
He’ll explain it to you at any level of detail. He cares enough
to ask questions. We need him in our legislature!
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Senator Biden
endorses John
Kowalko |
Senator Carper
endorses John
Kowalko |
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KOWALKO ANNOUNCES FOR 25TH REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT
SEAT
John
Kowalko is joined by
Lt. Governor John Carney,
President, Delaware State AFL-CIO,
Sam Lathem,
Senate District 5 Candidate
Pat Morrison, 20th Representative District
Candidate
Richard Korn,
and Insurance Commissioner
Matt Denn,
at Newark Senior Center in Newark,
Delaware.
Click here
to view all the photos from the event.
Enthusiastic
John Kowalko
supporters gather
to help the 25TH Representative
Democratic Candidate
raise funds to unseat his Republican Opponent.
Lt. Governor John Carney
and New Castle County,
County Executive Candidate
Chris Coons
also were
in attendance to lend the Kowalko Campaign a
hand.
Click here
to view all the photos from John Kowalko's
Fundraiser.
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BIOGRAPHY
John A. Kowalko Jr. Born 9/17/45 in
Portsmouth Va.
Parents: John A. Kowalko Sr. (career Marine
24yrs) deceased; Adele (Bechta) housewife, 90
yrs.old.
Wife: Constance Merlet (Former Christina
School Board member) Manager Gifted and Talented
program, Christina School District.
Children: Juliann
O'Brien, 35
(prior marriage), Philadelphia, Pa, Johanna, 22, Research Biologist
(Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia Pa.), John, 18,
Senior Newark High School, Accepted to Wesleyan
University for fall 2006 semester.
=====
Raised in Philadelphia, graduated from St. Joseph’s
Prep in 1963, apprenticed as a Machinist at the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
At the Shipyard, Member of LL687 IAM, held offices
of Treasurer and Recording secretary. Also served as
Chief Steward of the Metal Trades Council (a
coalition of various trade unions at the Shipyard)
Currently employed at Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
(Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News) as a
machinist.
Employed at Delaware City Refinery from
1978-November 2004. As member of LL648,
held positions of Machinist steward and General
Foreman Machinist.
Moved to Delaware in 1983, to Windy Hills in 1988.
Members of St John’s/Holy Angels Parish in Newark
Involvement:
-
Wilmington News Journal
Community Advisory Board member and ex-officio
Editorial Board member for two years
-
Kirkwood Soccer Youth
coach for 5 years
-
CYM Track coach for Holy
Angels, three years
-
Membership & Endorsement - Stonewall
Democrats
-
SURJ
(Stand up for What's Right and Just)
-
Citizens for Legislative Accountability
-
Former PTA member
Current
Involvement:
Member and active participant:
-
Progressive Democrats of Delaware
-
Alliance for Health
Care Reform
-
Delaware Coalition
for Health Care NOW
-
New
Castle County Community Services
Board
-
25th
District Dem. Committee (Vice Chair)
-
Pacem in Terris
Citizens
Solid Waste Solutions Commission (Steering and
General Committees)
Delmarva
Power Consumer Council
ACORN
(Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now), Utility Campaign
Director
Delaware Academy of Science
A
Philip Randolph Institute
Common
Cause of Delaware
Endorsements:
Delaware Stonewall Democrats
Delaware State AFL-CIO
Delaware Building
Trade
Senator Biden
endorses John
Kowalko
Senator Carper
endorses John
Kowalko
ACORN
announcement
endorsement of
John Kowalko
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Mission
Statement
John Kowalko
Committed to an
Affordable, Healthy and Secure Delaware:
John will attain this
goal by:
Legislating
solutions to the out of control, soaring utility
rate increases by re-regulating the power generating
industry costs, providing a sustainable program of
affordable relief for our Seniors and low to
moderate income families and permitting public
scrutiny of the process of rate increases and power
purchases.
Guaranteeing health
care for all Delaware residents from cradle to
grave. This will be accomplished by implementing a
single payer system to finance Universal Health in
Delaware. Single payer health care uses savings from
elimination of multi-payer brokers. It recoups money
wasted on lobbying, profit gouging,, paperwork and
fraud, and will use it to provide health care
coverage for all Delawareans. The savings engendered
by this system will accelerate economic growth,
enable new job creation, allow businesses to afford
to pay livable wages and secure an affordable future
for our seniors and retirees.
A practical
informed approach to improve our educational system.
We can accomplish true educational reform and
improvement by inviting Educators (superintendents,
school board members, principals and teachers) as
well as the community into the process before
legislating misguided or unrealistic laws that must
later be reformed or repealed. We must use a
well-informed, innovative, and visionary approach to
legislating our public education system. We should
concentrate on early childhood development,
standardizing curriculum statewide and narrowing the
achievement gap between minorities and whites.
Halting the assault on
the environment and our health.
We must vigorously and stringently enforce the
existing regulations. We must negotiate and demand
new regulations by partnering with the community,
environmental activists and Labor leaders, and the
appropriate regulatory agencies in negotiating with
the various companies excluding the lobbyists from
the procedure.
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Issues & Positions
ELECTRIC RATE CRISIS
As an
ACORN member John sits on the
Delmarva Power Consumer
Council,
and
is
well aware of the commodity
price fluctuations that are
responsible for the rate
increases of Delmarva
Power. The huge, 60%
electric rate increase imposed
upon Delmarva customers is a
direct result of the failed
deregulation law passed in 1999.
Allowing Delmarva to divest
itself of its generating
capabilities while there was no
competition in sight, and
permitting the PEPCO merger
combined to create a monopoly
that is providing a basic
necessity of life at an
exorbitant price. There is a
lack of any substantive effort
by the legislature to address
this crisis. Further compounding
the situation the Republican
leadership on the House Energy
Committee has crafted and passed
H.B.6 which fails to address
re-regulation, offers no relief
to the 60% increase and proposes
an incremental phase-in of the
rates. This phase in aspect (15%
of the increases before the
election and 25% immediately
after) is purely political
posturing and is intended to
distract the voter from the full
negative impact of the increases
until after the election.
Kowalko was the first to call
for an investigation of the
secretive bidding process that
allowed Delmarva’s sister
company Conectiv Electric to be
selected as one of the winning
bidders to supply electricity to
Delmarva’s customers. On
October 23, an article
published, "In
deregulation power plants turn
into Blue Chips,"
in the
New York
Times agreed with
Kowalko and his positions on
the Utility Rate Crisis."
He offered
a plan to ease the 26% Natural
Gas rate increase similar to
relief given Massachusetts
customers, due to falling gas
prices. In testimony at numerous
Energy Committee hearings he
urged the legislature to
consider the impact of
purchasing electric through the PJM market and has been
consistent in his call for
re-regulation of the industry. To
date all of his words have
fallen on deaf ears but John
intends to continue offering
responsible, comprehensive plans
to ease the burden on Delaware’s
families and businesses.
More on
Energy...
HEALTH
CARE - “Providing Health Care
from cradle to grave”
The
outrageous costs of the current
Health Care system, a system
that is unresponsive to health
needs and takes important
medical decisions away from the
doctors, putting them in the
hands of insurance company
administrators, threatens to
destroy the socioeconomic fabric
of Delaware. The costs of this
broken system impedes economic
growth, stifles job creation and
drives businesses to outsource
jobs. The present system
threatens the stability of our
working families, the future of
our children and the security of
our seniors and retirees.
More on
Health Care...
EDUCATION - “Educating our
children for success”
One of the most critical issues
facing our state is the matter
of education reform and student
achievement. This issue and how
we deal with it will have a
socio-economic impact that will
set the trend for the future
success of our children and
society itself. Our public
education system must offer our
children the opportunity to
succeed in a global economy and
compete for the best jobs
available.
The General Assembly has a
responsibility to reform the
funding mechanism and the “Unit
Count” process to adequately
fund public education. When
elected I will work to
accomplish those needed changes.
The formulas have not been
significantly adjusted in
decades while testing and
technology expenses have grown.
No Child Left Behind
requirements for accumulating
and processing necessary data
have caused a huge funding
shortfall in technology and
secretarial assistance needs
while the state has not
increased the resources or
funding available.
One of the keys to implementing
successful education practices
is a willingness to solicit and
accept the counsel of
professional educators and a
refusal to legislate
“feel-good”, politically
expedient mandates that are most
often under funded and
frivolous.
More on
Education...
ENVIRONMENT - “Long term
environmental quality”
The
record of our generation
regarding the environment is a
shameful and harmful one. Unless
we immediately reverse the
trends, we will leave our
children and grandchildren a
legacy of toxicity and
ecological damage that this
planet may never recover from.
We must stop the assault on our
environment and reverse the
effects of failed past policies.
Delaware has the 7th highest
median income in the country yet
ranks 5th worse in cancer deaths
and at or near the bottom in
infant mortality. We are under
advisories to avoid consumption
of fish in over twenty of our
streams and ponds and are told
to limit intake of fish caught
in certain areas of the Delaware
river to one per year. This
situation is not only
disgraceful but borders on
criminally moral negligence on
our part if we don’t act to
correct these
matters.
More on
the Environment...
SENIORS - “Securing an
Affordable Future for our
Seniors”
As the primary care giver
for my 90 year old mother, who
chooses to live alone, I have
experienced many of the
frustrations and problems
confronting our seniors. The
obscenely high cost of
pharmaceuticals and the
inflationary spiral of
supplemental health care costs
have combined with other
concerns to deny the average
senior citizen the opportunity
to enjoy what should be their
golden years. Under the Federal
Medicare reform proposal, to be
implemented in 2006, my mother’s
pharmaceutical costs would be
over $5500 per year out of a
gross income of $14000. The
success of our society is a
direct result of the Herculean
efforts of our seniors
throughout our nation’s past. We
owe them nothing less than to
provide them with a secure and
affordable future. Accomplishing
this will require a dedicated,
innovative effort by our
political leaders.
I will offer comprehensive plans
and initiatives to try to
address some of these concerns:
More on
the Seniors...
WIND POWER -
Energy Crisis Solution
Wind Powered Generation of
energy is rapidly taking
center stage in the search for a
clean, renewable source of
energy production. It offers an
environmentally friendly
renewable source of generation
and it is not dependent on fuel
consumption to generate energy.
House Bill 6 required
Delmarva Power to submit a
Request For Proposals (RFP) to
build or acquire
energy-generating capacities.
The first two considerations for
successful bidding proposals in
HB 6 are “price stability” and
“environmental improvement”. At
the Delmarva Power Generation
RFP workshop hosted by the
Public Service Commission that I
attended on 8/18/06 in Dover
these primary considerations
were discussed at length.
Testimony and subsequent
comments on the topic reinforces
the reality that Wind Power is
the technology that offers the
most environmentally friendly
and economically stable source
of energy generation to address
our future needs. Unlike the
Coal-fired gasification
proposals, wind power requires
neither disposal of byproducts
in its process nor use of fuels
that are subject to wild market
fluctuations and finite supply.
Testimony and subsequent
comments on the topic reinforced
the reality that Wind Power is
the technology that offers the
most environmentally friendly
and economically stable source
to address our future energy
needs.
It appears that Bluewater
Wind LLC is poised to make a
serious, long-term commitment in
the RFP process and build a wind
powered generating facility.
Their efforts to supply a
stable, renewable, cost
effective source of energy
merits support of the public and
our legislature. Wind Power
technology offers all the
advantages we seek to
stabilize energy costs and
wean us from resource
consumption.
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CONTRIBUTIONS
If you wish to help our campaign, you can
send contributions to:
Committee to Elect Kowalko
134 N. Dillwyn Rd.
Newark, DE 19711
(Make checks payable to "Committee to
Elect Kowalko")
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VOLUNTEERING
How to become a volunteer:
A successful campaign depends on a host
of volunteers. There are many opportunities
to help John win this election, some
requiring very little time. Please peruse
the following options to see which may be
possible for you!
- Host a coffee in your neighborhood
- Make telephone calls
- Deliver literature in your
neighborhood
- Put a sign in your yard
- Work election day
- Walk with John and introduce him to
your neighbors
- Make a contribution
Call John at 737-2396 or 547-9351 to help
out! Or email
kowalkoforthe25th@verizon.net
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MORE INFORMATION
For more information about our campaign,
please contact by phone at (302) 737-2396. |
Biography |
Issues |
Contributions |
Volunteering |
More Information
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