Otis Putnam For State Senate     |   home Biography   |   House/Senate Bills   |   Contact   |   current issues   |   links   |   Contribution information   |   My support letter   |   Pro-Life Support Biography Otis F. Putnam, IV Address:  Brunswick, GA 31520 Phone: (912) 230-9387. E-mail address: otisputnamforstatesenate@yahoo.com Age: 27 Church: First Baptist Church Wife: Julie Putnam Son: Flint Putnam College: North Georgia College Political Experience: Candidate Glynn County Board of Education (2000) Employment: Retail Business Political Party :Democrat Organization: Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, Glynn County Democratic Party, Georgia Democratic Party. Campaign Manager: Julie Putnam Internet/Web Site/ Communications Manager: Derrick Smith Operations Manager: Mark Hopkins Ambitions:  My ambition is to become a public servant! I feel that public service is one of the highest honors in life! I want to run an informative and clean campaign! Platform: Education:  We need to fine tune House Bill 1187. I feel that test scores are still low, and high school drop out is on the rise! We need more technical training choices in the high schools. The State Report card for 2001 was rated as a B+. I feel that our School System should achieve an A+ on future reports cards, because our children are the cornerstones of our society, and we must keep those cornerstones strong by supplying our children with the best education! Let's not let Georgia continue to be on the bottom rung on the education ladder(test Scores versus national averages)! I want Georgia to be one of the top rungs of the education ladder! Economy:  We must do more than we are doing to revive Georgia's economy! We have a surplus, but we are sacrificing certain programs to cut the budget! We must come up with new and fresh ideas to revive Georgia's economy, i.e. boost tourism, cut taxes, refund checks! Flag issue:  I feel that flag issue should have been voted on by the citizens of Georgia. This was a very important issue. I would have honored either flag, as long as it was approved by the voters of Georgia! I understand, why some citizens wanted to change the flag, and I understand why some citizens wanted to keep the flag the way it was, but this issue should have been decided by our voters of Georgia! Health Care:  The General Assembly can do more for health care for the citizens of Georgia. There was a good start to this health care change with the passing of Senate Bill 378, this bill make health care insurance providers to tell its policy holders in detail everything the policy covers and does not cover, when they first obtain the insurance coverage. This is a first step, but so much more can be done! Sand Issue: House Bill 1021 was recently passed, and this bill states that sand can be dredged from coastal harbors and that sand can be used on adjacent beaches. Let's use this sand! We need to keep tourism strong for the economy of Georgia. Budget:  The State of Georgia should not spend any more funds than it needs to maintain its functions! We should not cut any educational program during this budget cut situation. A program that will be cut ,is the foreign language programs in the lower grades. This program has proven that students, who study foreign languages in the lower grades will develop better language skills, and those same student will score better on test. Test scores are too low in Georgia. I cannot understand, why they choose to cut a program that can improve test scores!!! Family Values:  We need to keep marriages strong and give self sufficient families the ability to survive. We must build strong family values in Georgia. Senate Bill 569 is a good start, but more needs to be done. Senate Bill 569 is public policy that helps to strengthen marriages and give help to self sufficient families help. The fact of the matter is that, no matter how many laws we are passed to help family values, the choice is up to each and every individual in Georgia. Let's give our children the best future possible!! Water Issue:  We need to solve this water issue in Southeast Georgia. People have said that they do not really know the extent of problem of the water situation. They must study this issue and find a solution to solve the water system problems. We should have more foresight and maintain our water systems, or we will always be in this situation. Transportation/Roads:  We have many Transportation issues that need to be visited. The Northern Arc need to be completed. I am for any improvement to ease traffic congestion and traffic accidents. There may be many obstacles for the Northern Arc, i.e. buying the land for this Arc, etc. We must find other land or ways to complete the Northern Arc, which will allow Georgia a safer travel to their destination. I support the completion of GRIPP. GRIPP is the highway project that four lanes highways throughout Georgia. We need those four lane highways. These highways will take travel less difficult, and could attract business to the area. I support funding for a rural transit system. This transit system can cut traffic and make a great amount of revenue for the State of Georgia. Lets move forward on all of these issues.