Kathy Eichenblatt
Occupation: Chief Operating Officer of Smart Door & Delivery. Formerly Senior Vice President at Ulta Beauty and VP of Stores for Motherhood Maternity.
Previous experience holding elected offices: None.
Other community service experience: Volunteer at Piedmont Hospital; provided pro-bono consulting to schools and small businesses; a Susan G. Komen participant; supporter of the Boys and Girls Club; a school volunteer at Morris Brandon and Lovett.
Why should the voters choose you for this position?
We need a Republican leader who will lead the way to common-sense, business-minded solutions on the issues that matter. I have the experience to lead the way. I have done so as a successful executive with public and Fortune 500 companies, as a mother and as a leader in our community. I have worked hard to earn a reputation for being the person to turn to if something new and innovative needs to be launched or if an organization is broken and needs direction. That is what we need in the state Senate, and I can lead the way.
What is the biggest issue facing the district and how will you address it?
I believe there are several issues of importance to our community. The first is cutting government down to size. With meaningful reform and innovations that ensures our state government is working harder, smarter and with less money, we will get government out of the way to continue incentivizing business investment and growing our economy and to also reduce the tax burden on our citizens. Additionally, we need to focus on ending traffic gridlock, implementing Georgia-focused healthcare reform based in the private sector to reduce costs, and reining in out-of-control property taxes by setting a cap on percentage increases.
The legislature is expected to discuss proposals for increased state funding of mass transit and possible new governance of public transit. What is your position on those issues?
We must reduce gridlock. However, considering voters recently passed a transportation sales tax as well as a state law that is generating an additional $1 billion for transportation, more taxes aren’t the answer. We do not need old solutions to current problems. We need to be operating ahead of the curve.
Driverless cars will be a real part of our roadways in 20 years. Government needs to leverage current and future technologies that are resilient and sustainable as part of the solution.
While this isn’t the only solution, we need to take into account taxpayer burden and utilize forward-thinking solutions.