And now, another in our series of questions that we have asked the City Council candidates to pose to their opponents. Here are mayoral candidates Yvonne Johnson and Bill Knight.
Knight to Johnson: What are the reasons for your support of collective bargaining rights (unionization) for state and local employees?
Johnson: “Mediation and conflict resolution have been what I have been doing for a long time. Collective bargaining is no more than a process where management and workers come together and talk about working conditions, benefits, hours, hiring practices, whatever. ... I believe sitting together and working out these things is not only good and it benefits workers, but it also benefits the company.”
Johnson to Knight: What is the most difficult, highly public and controversial decision that you have ever had to make and what was at stake?
Knight: “We had a golf club, a membership golf club. Golf course economics have been in a downturn for some time. Rather than seeing the club fail financially, the membership was faced with having to make a choice. I happened to be president at the time. I presented the membership some choices and led them through numerous full membership meetings down to the point a vote was held and a decision was made … in this case to sell. That was the best solution.”
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