Judy Barker (D) is a lawyer from Union City and is running for retiring Rep. Phillip Pinion's seat in District 77. In Tuesday night's 'Meet the Candidates' forum she said, 'I want you to get to know me and my conservative values.' [Click to enlarge]

Tuesday evening, the two candidates vying for the District 77 state representative seat participated in a "Meet the Candidates" forum at the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce.

Judy Barker (D), from Union City, and Bill Sanderson (R), from Kenton were able to present their platforms and answer questions in this informal forum.

Bill Sanderson (R) is a businessman from Kenton. In Tuesday night's forum he said, 'I will carry your values to Nashville.' [Click to enlarge]

Both candidates are competing for retiring Rep. Philip Pinion's seat.

Moderating the event was Steve Guttery. The candidates were given six questions, moments before the forum took place.

The board of the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce chose the questions.

Prior to answering the questions, Judy Barker won the coin toss and elected to make her presentation first.

In her three-minute opening statement, Barker stated, "I want you to get to know me and my conservative values."

In Sanderson's opening statement he said, "I will carry your values to Nashville."

The first question of the night was, "Explain your position on the proposed name change of DSCC."

Sanderson's response included, "I absolutely do not favor changing the name. And I don't need to ask Jimmy Naifeh's permission."

Barker stated that she was a product of a community college. She ended her response by saying, "The people of Dyer County have told me they do not want a name change and I will respect that opinion."

The second question was, "What are your plans to improve educational attainment levels in our region?"

Barker, who is endorsed by the Tennessee Education Association, responded first by saying we need to "give the highest salaries to our teachers." Referring to Tennessee's lottery scholarships, she said, "I believe every child, if they mess up a first time, they should be given a second chance."

Sanderson's response to the same question included, "We need to fund education first, period. We've stigmatized vo-tech. We need to improve our educational system in Dyer, Obion and Lake County and do away with the stigmatism."

The third question: "The effectiveness of government at all levels has been bogged down by rampant partisanship and undue influence by special-interest lobbies. Explain how your contribution to Nashville will be part of the solution rather than part of the problem."

Sanderson's response included, "I think we've got too many lobbyists and special-interest groups."

In Barker's response to the question she said, "I'm not a partisan. My support group is made up of independents, Democrats and Republicans. I will be non-partisan," said Barker.

The fourth question was, "Dyer County does not need to be a divided county pertaining to its representation in Nashville, so what will or could you do, if elected, to see that this division is rectified back to an undivided county?"

Barker's response mentioned, "That decision will not come back up until 2010," and referenced the population proportions in the county.

Sanderson's response was more animated when he said, "In 2010, elect me and three others and we can redraw the lines."

The fifth question was, "If elected, what will you do specifically during your first three months in office to move the port project to completion? Also, how will you assist in the completion of I-69 through West Tennessee?"

Sanderson's response included, "Long term it's going to be something good for the district."

Barker said in her response, "I'm totally committed to this port."

Pertaining to the I-69 project she said, "I'm committed to seeing I-69 built through Northwest Tennessee."

The final question of the night was, "West Tennessee seems to lag behind Middle and East Tennessee in almost every measure of economic growth. How will you work with others in the region to move West Tennessee forward?"

Barker said in her response, businesses "need good roads to send out their products." Barker also said, "I propose Dyersburg State Community College, the vocational training centers, UTM and the chamber begin a pilot program to train skilled workers."

Sanderson's response included, "New roads are great, but let's not put the cart before the horse. We've lost factories and the problem we have is nobody is held accountable."

In his closing statement, Sanderson said, "I refer to myself as a conservative businessman."

Barker included in her statement, "I'm pro-life, I'm pro-gun and I'm conservative."

Afterward, Sanderson said, "There were several issues that I felt needed to be discussed that I didn't get a chance to. Some of those being health care and fuel prices."

Barker said, "I felt like I had the opportunity to get my message out. I talked about the issues."

For more information on Judy Barker visit www.judybarker.org or call 731-599-9937.

For more information on Bill Sanderson visit www.votebill.net or call 731-796-1713.