Candidate Interviews with the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce

Published in the Central Delaware Chamber Connections October 2018 Issue

The Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce is very involved in the tracking and lobbying of legislation as it pertains to our member businesses. The purpose of these interviews is for our Chamber members to have an opportunity to learn about the individuals campaigning to be their elected officials in Delaware.

The candidate questions are meant to be fair and to present the candidates with a chance to discuss issues that are important to both the businesses and the residents of Delaware. The following interviews are with candidates who were available to meet with the CDCC to discuss their viewpoints on these issues. Candidates running for U.S. Senate, Delaware State Treasurer, Delaware Attorney General, and Delaware State Auditor were given the opportunity to submit their interview in written format.

All of the candidate interviews for November’s upcoming election (2018) can be viewed on the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce website: www.cdcc.net. Click on the Delaware Legislative tab.

Delaware State Treasurer Candidate Interview Questions

State Treasurer Candidate Interview Question #1: Why are you running for the office of Delaware’s State Treasurer?

State Treasurer Ken Simpler Response #1: Finance matters. The way we govern our finances impacts every Delaware family, business and non-profit. As your State Treasurer, I’ve worked across state government, and across political aisles, with a focus on improving the value of what we get for what we spend. I have seen first hand that we can fix the systems that we use to plan, prioritize and measure improvement in everything we do in state government — education, healthcare, safety and infrastructure. Getting better at everything without spending more is both fiscally responsible and politically possible.

Delaware can accomplish this — together.

State Treasurer Candidate Interview Question #2: What do you see as the primary role of the Delaware State Treasurer position?

State Treasurer Ken Simpler response #2:
Good finance is good government. As the State’s highest elected financial officer, the Treasurer of Delaware is uniquely positioned to look after and ensure our long term prosperity as a people. Over the past four years as your State Treasurer, I have focused on creating value for Delawareans by fostering financial excellence in all of Delaware’s fiscal operations. That has meant putting in place the systems that allow us to stretch every dollar to its maximum, while at the same time ensuring practices that guarantee we are not penny-wise and pound foolish.

State Treasurer Candidate Interview Question #3: Why are you the best candidate to be re-elected to the Office of the State Treasurer?

State Treasurer Ken Simpler Response #3:
Our state needs and our citizens deserve a true finance professional managing our finances. In the case of the State Treasurer’s Office, that means having the knowledge, experience and professionalism to oversee the financial operations of a government that spends $10 billion, carries $2 billion in debt, invests $2 billion in taxpayer money and oversees plans with $2 billion of savings. The four years I have served as the State Treasurer of Delaware are backed up by a 20-year career as an investment manager for a $25 billion global investment firm and the CFO of a local property and hotel management company.

State Treasurer Candidate Interview Question #4: What is the biggest issue facing the State of Delaware?

State Treasurer Ken Simpler response #4: The biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for Delaware is to get our state government to focus on creating value for our citizens. We are privileged as Delawareans to spend more on public services per person than all but a handful of other states while having non-Delawareans foot nearly half the bill. That is an incredible deal, but our higher spending is not resulting in superior outcomes in education, healthcare, safety, and infrastructure. Improving what we get for what we spend is both fiscally responsible and politically feasible but it requires rethinking and re-engineering Delaware’s financial systems.

About the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce (CDCC)

CDCC President: Judy Diogo

The Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce is the leading resource essential to business growth in Central Delaware!

The History of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce

Established in 1919 as the Dover Chamber of Commerce, the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce evolved over time with the merger of the Smyrna-Clayton Chamber of Commerce and more recently, with the addition of the City of Harrington Business Association.

The general purpose of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce is to advance the balanced economic development of Central Delaware by promoting civic, industrial, commercial, agri-business and social interests of the community, and by strengthening the freedom of private business to operate competitively for profit with minimal governmental regulation.

Created as a non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian, apolitical corporate entity, CDCC stands as an advocate of business geared to improving the economic well-being of the community by qualitatively expanding the income potential of its members. Through active work in organizational and economic development, as well as community, military and legislative affairs, the Chamber helps to increase job opportunities for residents; to attract new industry and business to the area; to encourage programs of a civic, social and cultural nature; and to promote business conduct and practices.

CDCC serves as a forum to articulate contemporary issues facing the business community and to act as a public relations medium for the interests, problems, and needs of its membership.

Promoting the general welfare, prosperity and quality of life in Central Delaware and stimulating public sentiment to these ends, are principal themes of purpose for the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce.