County Commission Candidate: Kevin Thorpe

ATTN: The Alachua County Labor Coalition (ACLC) is a 501(c)4 and does not endorse candidates. We will print all candidates’ responses to our questions on our website and share them via our email newsletter

County Commission Candidate Kevin Thorpe

1) Do you support paying a living wage to all County workers including part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted workers? The ACLC defines a living wage at $15.39 an hour, the MIT Living Wage Calculator rate for a family of four with two working adults and employer-provided healthcare.

a. What is your plan to get us there using the Alachua County Government Minimum Wage ordinance?

b. How will you ensure contracted workers are paid the set wage?

c. What ideas do you have to help improve wages and benefits for workers throughout our community?

As an employer myself, my lowest paid employees were paid a minimum of $16 an hour for the last decade or more.   The County’s commitment to sustaining a living for wage for all County employees must begin at the Commission level.

The County’s approval process for the awarding of all contracts must include and enforce a living wage requirement.

Currently, we rely far too heavily on a “commuter” workforce.  The county’s focus must shift to a “home grown” workforce model that involves vocational training in secondary education and apprenticeship programs prior to high school graduation.

2) Do you support providing paid administrative leave for part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted county workers in the event of emergency work closures (e.g., hours missed due to hurricanes, pandemic, etc.)?

Absolutely.  As an employer, none of my employees have missed a paycheck or experienced a salary decrease during the COVID-19 shutdown.

3) Do you support a “Renters Bill of Rights’” which would:

a. Ensure universal licensing and inspections for all rental properties?

b. Inform renters of their rights under existing laws?

c. Offer an alternative to courts to settle disputes over security deposits and damages?

d. Protect renters from high utility bills by enacting policies that require landlords to make basic investments in energy and water efficiency?

 Yes to all 4 questions in this series.

4) What role should local government and private developers play in ensuring that there is adequate affordable housing in our community? What is your plan to help our community overcome its current shortage of affordable housing?

 I support the current Charter Amendment to create an affordable housing trust.  For years, I served on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity and negotiated the land purchase (on behalf of the seller) for the 15 acre parcel that is the site of Habitat’s first subdivision in Alachua County.  I am the Co-Chair of the North Central Florida Foundation for Affordable Housing.  Unless the County intends to enter the residential building environment, it must negotiate in good faith with residential building contractors.  This is a must.

5) Federal and state laws give most workers the right to form and join unions. Do you support the right of all private and public sector workers to organize a union? Would you publicly support workers in our community who are seeking workplace rights, including a living wage and the right to union representation?

Yes to both questions in this series.

6) Do you support a local hiring preference that includes the use of responsible contractors and certified apprenticeship programs for taxpayer-funded projects?

Absolutely.

7) Do you support lowering the Sheriff’s budget and diverting funds to social services?

Yes.  In very, very specific measures, especially when the call center receives a request to assist someone who is believed to be suffering from some form of mental illness.  This is not the same as the broad and often undefined term to “defund” law enforcement.  

8) How will you reform the Alachua County Court Services, which recommends cash bail over 90% of the time?

 It is completely illogical to assume that a person is less likely to be a threat to society simply because they can afford to get out of jail.  The “burden of proof” that determines a person’s fitness to be released should be determined by the threat they may or may not pose to society.  This effort extends beyond the reach of the Sheriff and the jail and must be lobbied for on the County and State judicial levels also.  The County Commission should lead this fight.  The social and direct economic cost of detaining someone who poses no apparent threat to society can no longer be ignored.

9) The Alachua County Commission is responsible for facilities and utility-related costs at the jail including the current inmate phone contract. Do you support making this contract more equitable so that incarcerated people can stay connected to their loved ones?

Yes.