Only west to the tennessee debate between the candidates buying to be the next governor. We are here at the rose theater on the university of memphis campus. Im here alongside my partner anthony and conte david waters, and were joined this evening by the former mayor of national of nashville, tennessee, karl dean. And businessman bill lee, the republican nominee. The format as agreed upon by both candidates allows or one minute and 15 seconds of response to a series of questions that will be asked of both candidates, with an opportunity for rebuttal at the moderators discretion. Timed by thell be women league of voters. Coin flipe a determined that mr. Dean will get the first question. Our first question this evening comes from glenn parks of cordova. Medicaid rejected expansion and nearly 200,000 tennesseans lack access to Affordable Health insurance. Why are so many people uninsured or underinsured, in what would you do as governor to change that . I believe the decision the legislature made after Governor Haslam proposed going forth in doing Medicaid Expansion, the legislature decided not to do that or take a vote on it. That was a mistake. As the questioner noted, there are closer to 300,000 people who are without insurance but would be covered if we expanded medicaid. We have lost roughly 4 billion as a result of that decision. That is money that couldve come to our state. The frustrating thing about it is we are paying for that through federal taxes, and so this money is leaving the state and going to 34 other states that get the benefit where we dont. We have seen people go without insurance. Weve seen hospitals that have difficulty in terms of being able to operate fiscally. We have seen hospitals across the state, particularly in the rural parts of the state, closed. That is of real concern to me. We need to do Medicaid Expansion, give insurance to the 300,000 people who need it, make sure our rural hospitals remain viable, and we should not be giving federal tax dollars to other states. Same question for you, mr. Lee. I am going to repeat it to you. Again, this question from glenn parks of cordova, tennessee. Rejected Medicaid Expansion and nearly 200,000 tennesseans lack access. Why are so many uninsured, and what would you do to change it . Very much. Ank you thanks for the privilege of being in this city. Memphis. My family is from here. Nom honored to be here, doubt. Every tennessean deserves to have access to Quality Health care that they can afford. What i want to do as governor is to make sure that that happens. We have a fundamentally flawed Health Care System in this state, and really in this country. In my company, i employ 1200 folks. Our insurance rates went up 29 two years ago. On top of that increase they went up 19 the following year. That is an unsustainable rise in Health Care Costs that will ultimately put us in a terrible place down the road. A broken and flawed system by taking federal money and moving something down the road that is fundamentally flawed, i believe, is a mistake for tennessee. We have done it before. I do not want to do it again. Comes toxt question mr. Lee. As memphis mourns the death of one of its leaders, what do you think is the role of State Government in reducing gun related violence and crime involving firearms . Me lee first of all let express my personal sadness at the loss. This community has lost a great leader. Civic leaders. I became a friend of phils over the years, and i pray for the family. I mourn the loss. You know, i have traveled the state and been to 95 counties. Im on my second 95county tour. The people want is a good job, good school for their kids, and a safe neighborhood. Safety is critical for every single tennessean. Nonprofit Reentry Program for 15 years, men toward a man who was mentored a man who is coming at a prison. I wanted to understand as much as i could about our crime system. We have to develop a system that is tough on crime and smart on crime at the same time. That means we need to address those most egregious criminals in a profoundly serious way, and yet at the same time look hard at how we retake and enter folks if we want to reduce the rate. Same question for mr. Dean. Mr. Dean i would also like to express my sorrow and thoughts with phils family. As chamber head i met with him several times over the course of the past two years. It is fair to say he was an incredibly strong advocate for memphis. He believed in the city, and he will certainly be missed. The question about guns is a very important one. This is a state that is strongly supportive of the second amendment. It is strongly supportive of peoples rights to have firearms. But i think there are limits on it. One of the things we have to do is realize that what we can achieve can only occur if we do it with the legislature. Goodat i think is a starting place to begin a discussion about how we respond to gun violence particularly Mass Shootings is to say, should we be working to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people . Is that not a good place to start . Can we not agreed that people who have criminal records or have committed Domestic Violence or made threats or may suffer from Mental Illness should not have access to guns, and work to get that done . That is not taking guns away from people. It is merely taking guns away from dangerous people, and that is common sense. Lee, question for mr. For mr. Dean. Questions are being raised about the shooting of martavius banks last month. Allld they investigate Police Involved shootings, not just fatal ones . And do you have other ideas about how local, state, and Law Enforcement should handle the shootings . Mr. Dean this is a debate that is happening not only in nashville but nationally. For themen important to investigate shootings to make sure the Police Department is not involved in you are going to a neutral source. Aere is a debate and will be referendum in nashville about civilian review boards to determine what should be done about police shootings. What is important to do is take this very seriously, that we strive for transparency, and that we make sure that everyone is subject to the law and that the law will be followed. I think that is what people are looking for. Has there been a violation of law, or if there is an accusation or a suggestion that it might not be fairly investigated or prosecuted if theres found to be probable cause. How we get there, i think the tbi plays a role in that but discussion is an important one and it needs to move forward. Mr. Lee, same question. Think it is know, i really important that we remember that our lawenforcement officials put their lives on the line for us every single day. Critically they are a critically important part of securing the lives of every single one of us, and i have worked over this campaign and previously even with Law Enforcement. I am proud to have 50 district attorneys, police chiefs, sheriffs across the state working with me to endorse my campaign, but more importantly to work with me on this particular subject. In spite ofe that the fact that Law Enforcement is critically important to us, we have incidents in our community that break down the trust between the community and Law Enforcement. It is important that we actually bring together both of those communities, to have a much deeper conversation understanding about reestablishing trust. There has been a National Need for dialogue, and we can clearly do that in the state of tennessee. Thank you. Our next question from beverly meadows of dyersburg. What programs or measures would you use to make sure that Underperforming School districts are addressed, mr. Lee . Know, it is critically important that every kid inee student, every tennessee has access to a high quality education in their School System. That is why it is so important that education is fundamentally one of the most critically important things we can do. It has been a focus of mine for years and will be as governor. I have met many times with the head of the School System here at dorsey hobson, that is in fact supporting my campaign. What youre doing here it shall be here in Shelby County schools, for example, where you actually changed the model of compensation and fiscal leadership to give more autonomy to the way the School System operates. Over the past five years now, there are some real challenges in Shelby County schools. Thisf the past five years, School District has gone from 69 listls on the priority 227. There has been profound improvement by addressing the changes in the model. When i am governor, i want to go to every struggling district and ask what your idea is of an innovation zone. Thank you. That is time. Mr. Dean. Mr. Dean it is largely a question of resources. If you look around the state, there are rural areas that have real inequalities they are dealing with in terms of education. They do not have the tax base, the Property Tax Base or Sales Tax Base to do it they need to do to improve their schools. There are issues of urban poverty that i have worked with as mayor. We have to be willing to walk up willing to open up the whole process and find ways of dealing with those disparities. You have to offer more services, more support where kids need it. That requires resources. We need to be looking at how we butpay our teachers more, fundamentally we also need to be thinking about innovation. There have been interesting things done all over the state that are important. What i did is mayor was to make the commitment of making my top priority education. When times were bad we protected schools, when times were bad we increased the budget over eight years by 37 . That is what i would do for the state. That is the critical thing to do to make sure that they have the resources to get the job done. Nobody could argue that tennessee over funds it schools. Also on the topic of education, it has been six years since the state of tennessee created the achievement School District to help improve results and the lowest performing schools, some of them right here in memphis. What would you do to fix schools where students are not showing improvement, mr. Dean . Think thei achievement School District here in memphis we need to look at it and see how it is performing. Studies have indicated that it has not performed as well as advertised, or not as well as for instance the eye zone schools. The district is now under new leadership and maybe turn around, pointed in a good direction. Again, we need to, supply and make sure certain resources are there for kids who need to succeed. I think we need to be thinking about innovation. When i was mayor we were a leader of School Reform and innovation. I strongly disagree with mr. Leon has support and advocacy for vouchers. I think vouchers actually take money out of the public School System and move it into a private one. There is no guarantee on the quality of the schools, and states that have done that have real problems. I am for funding Public Education and keeping those dollars there. And the question, mr. Lee . I believe what they did in this community is to challenge this local district to develop its own innovation, which it has through innovation zones which are actually performing better. Areally believe that statewide onesizefitsall policy is not the way to address the greatest challenges of local issues. It fits thissons community. I as i have said before, would go to each district and say what is your individual approach to addressing the challenges of your community . I think teachers are incredibly important. They are where the rubber meets the road. We need to not only increase their pay, but i am married to a schoolteacher. They work not just for the money. They work to really change the lives of the children they serve. Environmentreate an where teachers can thrive. Our businesses Mission Statement is to create an environment where our employees thrive. Next question comes from david waters. It is a question about the economy for mr. Lee. Smith lee, fedex ceo fred said president trumps tariffs are worrisome and counterproductive to economic growth. Do you agree, and as governor what would you do to counteract the impact on farmers and businesses . Thank you for that. I was recently with mr. Smith. One of the things that came up was the economy of this region. , and of our state in general. A a business person who has quarter billion dollar budget and depends upon Economic Development and prosperity, i am very much interested in protecting and creating jobs in this state. I think the president of the United States has certainly recognize that we have been trade in balanced in this country for a long time. He has worked through different means to right that in mbalance. I am worried about the impact of tariffs on our state, but i think we can create a winwin scenario. As governor, i will be concerned about any impact tariffs might have on us locally, but work with the federal government to alleviate that, to mitigate the challenge so that we can have a winning policy for the country and also a winning policy for the state. I think it is possible often even with what we saw with nafta is movement in the right direction for tennessee and the country. Mr. Dean, tariffs . Mr. Dean i think there is a lot of reason for concern in the state of tennessee. Agriculture is a huge part of our economy. Farmers have felt this and they have felt it already. We need to make sure we are letting the people in d. C. Know that people in tennessee are being hurt by this. We cannot control trade policy, but we sure cant let them know what is happening here on the ground. We are very vulnerable when it comes to auto manufacturing, which is a huge part of our economy here and we are also in terms of housing and other areas, we can be hurt. In my mind what we can do is to work as hard as we can to protect industries, to protect agriculture, to let the president and those in d. C. Know we are concerned and to lobby our position, and then we need to work to diversify our economy. We do not need to be dependent upon one area. Overly dependent on, say, the auto industry, that will cause problems for us whether trade wars or recessions. Let us continue on the economy. Mr. Dean, a question from here in memphis. Employers are struggling to fill unfilled positions. What are your specific plans for Workforce Development . Mr. Dean i think Workforce Development is the issue. That is the issue for our state. Where going to be very successful in recruiting business. Were going to be very successful at retaining business. There are things about tennessee that make it an incredibly attractive business an incredibly attractive place to be. That is where education becomes the top priority. That is why you have to put the resources there and make that fundamental commitment. For education we need to produce more college graduates, and we also have to recognize that not everyone will go to college and some people will choose a trade or some sort of skill, and we need to have the vocational programs and high schools that will help lead children to that. Community college and Technical School programs. We need apprenticeships. Partnerships with unions. We need to do whatever we can to prepare the workforce. Is thekforce development ultimate challenge for our state over the next decade at least. Mr. Lee, same question. Mr. Lee you know, i run a company. We are in the Construction Service business. We are actually heating, plumbing, and airconditioning business. Degree and run a company of 1200 employees. Most of them are Skilled Trades people. Plumbers, pipefitters, welders, electricians. I know all too well how desperately we need to develop our workforce. Our company was named by the tennessean last year as the Largest Company to work for national, and yet we cannot will the job openings we have because there is a lack of Skilled Workforce because we really ignored vocational and Technical Education for way too long. Our Company Actually started a trade school 10 years ago. With 1000 people through Skilled Trades training over the past 10 years. We need to do that in high schools all across tennessee, and we can do that by partnering with Companies Like mine who would engage in the public School System and start conversations in the seventh and eighth grade about pathways to access pathways to success. The next question for mr. Lee. Light of the me too movement and the ongoing Supreme Court confirmation hearings, how as governor would you increase protections are women in all tennessee workplaces and support victims across our state . That i let me just say think what were watching play in parthe federal level is everything that is wrong with politics. We have created in this country a very divisive environment of toxic rhetoric that is not productive toward either and being certain that we care for the dignity of women, nor those who are being accused. We have created an environment that is not productive to solving those problems. I really do believe in tennessee we can do better than that. Thats why i have made a real wantt to say, you know, i to not talk about him break. Thers down i want to bring them together. It is critically important we protect and defend the dignity of women. At the same time it is important that we have due process and let just processes play out so that the truth be known. I trust and Pray Congress will do that going forward. Same question mr. Dean. Mr. Dean during my time as mayor and law director i worked on these issues. Nashville created an effective system allowing for complaints to come forward and be handled in the appropriate way, but also training so you would hopefully have a workforce and a work atmosphere that does not contain harassment. Think you have to be very proactive. Any employer has to recognize this is a problem in american society, it is a problem in American Business and in american government. Anybody who thinks it is not is not been paying attention. I think that is key. And you have to be diverse in your hiring. I am proud of my staff to this campaign, which is primarily female. I think you have got to get more females in the workforce in work on issues like equal pay. This is a real issue that women have every reason in the world to be concerned about, every reason in the world to be looking for leadership, and every reason why tennessee should be one of the leaders on this. This should be the friendliest and best and safest state for women. [applause] question for mr. Dean. Think this, we question is more general but is on everyones mind. It is from mitchell baker, a student here at the university of memphis. He feels that trust in government as at an alltime low. How will you restore trust . Mr. Dean i think what you have to do is a leader in any position like that is to strive an overused word but strive for transparency. There are some lessons i learned from local government. Theo not get all of exceptions that the state has for open meetings or some Public Records. We pretty much, everything is open. I do not think it has hurt us. We might not have always liked it, but it makes things simpler and that helps to build trust. People criticize Economic Development deals in the senate. Thingsob as mayor, those were Public Record voted on by counsel or relevant state agencies. And i think that sort of openness to what we need. I think people also should strive to be available, to make themselves present where they can answer questions and make sure people have access to them. Thehey have concerns, elected leader will hear those concerns and be able to respond. You might not get everybody on your side, but everybody deserves to he deserves to see you and hear from you. It is truly important that people trust their government. I think we have come to an environment in this country where there is a great deal of distressed, i think in part some of that comes from our movement away from what i think was the intent of the founders. They left a ruling class country, and they created a new country based on the idea of Self Governance where we the people from the private sector would engage in the Public Square and address the greatest challenges of the day. We have moved away from that to a large degree because we have career politicians who are lifetime people who have been in government and are not really governing, folks from the outside coming into government. That creates a lack of trust. We can move away from that and establish trust. But i think transparency has to be critically important if were going to move away from an environment that has a lack of trust. It is part of the reason why i have done 200 town halls and open meetings so people will get to know who i am before they vote for me. Time. Think you. A question for you, mr. Lee. Before i do that, i invite the audience to remain silent so we can get as many questions as we can and withhold your applause. Let us talk about water. Right here in memphis. The memphis sand aquifer, mr. Lee, might be our greatest natural resource. There is no state or regional authority, no entity whatsoever monitoring or managing the aquifer. As governor, what would you do to help protect the aquifer from contamination and overconsumption . You know, it is really important that we protect the Natural Resources of this state. Generations,future but also for health and safety. It is part of the reason i have engaged in and been supporting groups like 10 green that acquire properties. I have supported the Cumberland River compact, which is meant to make certain we have clean water in the Cumberland River and throughout middle tennessee. Water systemis here is critically important, as well. I think we have to work with the epa. With theo Work Department of environment and conservation in a way that recognizes where the challenges are, that recognizes where the dangers are and develops real andcy around conservation sustainable Natural Resources for the future of tennessee. It is something i have worked on in my private life and will work on as governor. Think the aquifer is something we should take very seriously in the state, and as a whole we should do everything we can to protect it. My time asot of mayor working on issues to preserve open space, to make more parks. It is important to me for a variety of reasons, but my wife is an environmental lawyer and i go home at night and she needs to concentrate on it. If you look at tennessee is a state, we are blessed to have water. During the flood i did not necessarily think that. We are one of those states that will not be hurt for a lack of water resources. We need to have regional thinking and leadership on a statewide basis, and leadership from state officials. I think we should not be waiting for this particular Environmental Agency in d. C. To come to our rescue because i do not think they are coming. We have to look out for ourselves. This is a. Where states can be innovative and do things differently than the federal government, and maybe do more because the federal government on this particular issue is backing up the rapidly. Next question for mr. Dean. Dean, Drug Overdose is the leading cause of accidental death here and across the country. More than half of those overdoses are related to opioids. Is the Opioid Epidemic a criminal justice problem or a Public Health problem, and what will you do as governor to address this epidemic . Mr. Dean i think it is more a criminal problem than a justice haveem, but people who overprescribed drugs there are businesses involved in selling drugs where there may be criminal issues there. Make, youpeople who know, commit criminal acts in helping others get these drugs. The we are not going to incarcerate our way out of the opioid issue. We need treatment. I applaud the legislature and Governor Haslam for putting more money into treatment. It is a start. It is not nearly enough. If you travel the state you will core or of people who have died from this. Almostt a point where everybody know someone who has been affected by this. We need to make sure we are keeping track of over prescriptions. We need to empower Law Enforcement. But this fits in exactly with Medicaid Expansion. Tennessee was not ready for this problem. We did not have the facilities are treatments because we did not do Medicaid Expansion. We do not have enough treatment facilities, and that is all part of our approach toward delivering Medicaid Services in the state. Same question for mr. Lee. Mr. Lee the Opioid Epidemic and subsequent illegal use of drugs and trafficking of such is it might be the next governors most critically important challenge. 1700 deaths in the state of tennessee last year. My wife and i went to a ribboncutting for an entire hospital wing in upper east tennessee, the entire wing was devoted to newborns born addicted that will have a lifetime of challenges. We have to get our hands around this. It is not an eitheror. It needs to be comprehensive. There is a systemic problem. Too many pills. Too many pain clinics. We have to address the system, and we need to continue to make steps. There is a Law Enforcement piece. We need stiff penalties for those who are willing to traffic fentanyl and heroin into the state. There is an emerging understanding of rehabilitative services. We have to look at those in a different way. We have to approach this comprehensively. Mr. Lee, the next question comes from david. Mr. Lee, a federal judge recently ruled that tennessees practice of suspending drivers licenses or nonpayment of court that is unconstitutional. Of court debt is unconstitutional. Will your administration continue to appeal that, or will it address the concerns raised by that ruling . By the i will accord constraints raised by the ruling. Here is why. As i said earlier, i worked in a Reentry Program for almost two decades. Time on the reentry side of incarceration with many dozens of lives. Cominged to mentor a man out of prison. I spent one morning a week with at 5 30 in the morning to rewalkin through that entry program. Here is the reality. 95 of everyone in a prison cell in tennessee is going to come out. They will reenter the community. 58 of them right now will recommit a crime and go back to prison in the first two years. Meanwhile the Violent Crime rate takes up slowly but surely. Tohave to figure out ways make it easier for people when they reenter, including things like drivers licenses to make it easier for them to reenter effectively so that the crime rate goes down. We do not want to pay the cost of regard every incarcerating. Same question for mr. Dean. As governor i would respectfully ask the attorney general not to reappeal this. This is a classic example of how people get injured when the legislature does not think through the consequences of their actions. What this law did in essence was, if you had a core cost or a fine and you could not pay them, got your drivers license revoked. That means in Todays Society is that you are unable to work, unable to get your kids to school or go to the grocery store. You are hurt by that. You end up driving because you have to at some point. And then you get caught in you get charged. The bills keep building up. What happens is, people without resources, people who are poor are the ones who are left without the ability to ever get a drivers license or get their lives back in order. Legislaturew if the had any idea that this would be the consequence of the law, but it treated one class of people differently. People without money. This is a type of law that keeps people in poverty and keeps the cycle going. We should not appeal. I have a question for you mr. Dean about transit. Transithis Area Authority has experienced years of funding gaps and service cutbacks, and is considering cutting even more routes. Statesthe responsibility to ensure reliable Public Transportation or the Shelby County work force . This is an issue i would love to work on as may governor. We need to get it right. Clearly, we need to be thinking about Regional Transit. We need solutions to help all of our cities become prosperous, and help rural tennessee. Talking about my experience in nashville with this issue. I started the mayors caucus there where we came together regionally and worked on regional issues and got a lot done. We work on transit. Everybody in middle trent tennessee gets that this is a transit problem. Meansling the project state leadership. You want to get as many federal dollars as you can. But the state has got to Start Playing a leadership role on Regional Transit issues and alternatives to automobiles. That is just part of it. The state has to play a leadership role. Mr. Lee . Mr. Lee i believe transit is really important. Living in nashville, you figure that out pretty quickly. That city rejected a massive Government Spending program 10 billion or so to create mass transit. I agreed the people of the community there, because i think one of the things we cannot do debt,age in in normas federally funded or statefunded projects that actually may be out of date by the timid get put in service. Time they get put in service. Transportation is rapidly changing. Technology is rapidly changing the way we move people. You would never have thought five years ago that you would land an airplane, punch and cap on your air phone on your smartphone, and ride with a perfect stranger. That has transformed the industry. There are companies right now that will utilize driverless cancles, technology that inng people together multishare writing. Riding. Would you like a 32nd rebuttal . Adddean i just wanted to that thats more cars. What we are not talking about in addition is the need for people memphis is a great example four access to transit were they can get to those jobs. We are talking about Workforce Development and getting people out of poverty. Affordable housing. You need transit for people to get around and do that. It is fundamental. Our next question for mr. Lake. For mr. Lee. Teachers are entrusted with our childrens lives. Will you commit to increased funding for teacher pay, and if so how would you pay for the raises . I said earlier that i and married to a teacher. She is not teaching right now, but i have certainly heard about the challenges the teachers face. I have certainly heard from teachers all across the state. The challenges they face. I have said this before, it is where the rubber meets the road. Our Education System works off the backs of teachers. And so we absolutely have to create an environment where they can thrive. Before, i want to make certain our teachers are paid competitively. We need to look at pay for teachers. We need to create an environment of professional development that that works for them. Seven out of 10 of our teachers say the current testing environment is not conducive to their ability to test. If they are not given an innovative environment to teach our kids, we will not advance education in a way that will work. How do you find that . It is so important that you manage a budget from a corporation to the State Government. You find what you need, and not what you want. You do that by managing a budget. Mr. Dean, how do you do that . Mr. Dean you set your priorities. Going into ance recession where there was very little money. I said, you are going to cut a lot of things. Im not going to cut schools. And then i was fortunate enough to be a mayor who created a boom. We are going to put money into education because that is important. That is what matters. That is how you do it. Teacher pay matters. Tennessee is 10,000 behind the national averages. We are losing teachers to kentucky, to georgia. Hit a greatities science or Foreign Language teacher and all of a sudden an affluent suburban area hires them away for 10,000 more. There are real inequalities with what we pay. We need the very best and the most challenging teachers. We are not in a competitive position. Anybody knows that if you want to attract the best and keep the best, you have to pay people. Next question for mr. Dean. Why have we had so many problems with tnready standardized testing . What will you do with it . Mr. Dean we might change the name. [laughter] mr. Dean i believe part of what is that we need standards. We need to be accountable. We need to know how we are doing. I think we are sort of in a position now where these tests do not have credibility. Teachers do not trust them. Students dont trust them. Families do not trust them. Number one, you hear the voices of teachers as you construct the test. You want the test to tell us exactly how we are doing, whether or not we are doing right by our kids. You do not want it to be punitive on them, but to help them move forward. And we want to test that lets us know what each kid needs to succeed. Which do not need is an adversarial culture where everyone things that would you have to do for the whole year is test and test and test. Learning is important. It is more important than testing. Testing,o limit the but let kids learn. Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee well, we obviously have a challenge. Tnready has not worked. We need to change the vendor. We need to change the way we do it. My overall view on testing is the way i view measurement in business. Know that you can improve you cannot improve what you do not measure. But if you measure too much or the wrong thing you have the opposite impact of what you want. Our said earlier, 70 of teachers in this state said that our testing environment is not conducive to them. So we do need a reset on testing, not just as a vendor but looking at how we approach the entire Measurement System in our state. One of the ways i want to do that is to have a greater engagement with teachers and with parents. The parents and those students are customers of those systems. Teachers are the ones who implement the system. I want to have a very robust conversation about how it is that we can improve our testing by engaging in a much greater way. In school, mr. Lee, and talk about education a little more. Why do we have so many children not reading at grade level by third grade, and what would you do to fix it . Mr. Lee Early Childhood education is critically important. If you do not put the foundation there, and all of the work you put on that build on that will not work. We especially have a problem in the achievement gap there. Theur School Systems, africanamerican students at likely to are half as be able to read as their counterpart white students. We have an achievement gap that we need to address. That byteacher programs most standards are not sufficient in our state in particular, Early Childhood education. If we are going to attract the best and brightest, we need teacher prep programs that help us to invest. We are not doing that in a way we should. A guy who believes government is not the answer. Government can never solved the greatest challenges, but we need to solve problems like the rise to read that engages. Thank you. Same question, mr. Dean. Mr. Dean fundamentally we need to create universal prek. If were going to shoot for kids reading by the age of three, there was a study done about what it showed. Works, with the caveat that you have to have quality prek. We want to do is make it available to all students. This is something i would consider a priority. Education is our number one priority. If the challenge is to create a workforce, and if the challenge is to make sure our kids succeed whether in college or a technical program, then this is important and we should put the dollars into it. Specialists,g treating reading as the foundation to all education and making sure there are no shortcuts will help us to get the job done. Our next question to mr. Dean. Governor bill haslam said he wants a major manufacturing inant before his term ends january 2019. Why has that not happened, and what would you do to make it happen . Mr. Dean i think one of the issues about why it has not happened could be related to workforce, or could be related to the fact it was not ready to go at the time that there were prospective tenants looking at it. I do not doubt that there is a commitment or desire on the part of the act governor or his team to get that done. I think he has been sincere. That project is important because people realize there are 15 counties in west tennessee that are losing population. When you lose population you are losing residents and your tax base and your ability to do schools and Public Safety and everything that is important. You need a project like that to restore economic vitality, and i am fully committed to making that happen. You need to be transparent. You need to take into consideration environmental issues, but this is a project with merit. We have invested a lot of money in it, and we need to bring it home. My understanding is, there are a lot of folks interested. We need to have the workforce there ready to go. It is not just preparing the site, but working on education and health care because the hospital closed nearby. Mr. Dean i think the reason it has not attracted tenants is because it was not ready. It was a governmentrun project for 10 years and was not ready. I think that is deeply unfortunate for this region. Important iflly tennessee is going to lead the nation. This project has been a disappointment. In thepany just put infrastructure on a 45 Story Building in downtown nashville, a 145 million project. We knew exactly when that project was going to start or finish, and exactly how much it would cost. With private investors we need to approach state projects the exact same way. We need to have critical paths for projects like the megasite. So we dont have surprises that keep the project from being completed. I have no problem spending the money that it takes to complete it because it is so important for jobs and also for the region. I also believe that Workforce Development, in my reference back to Technical Education, is radically important. Mod finish a question for you, mr. Lee. What would be your top priority as governor in your first 100 euros and best 100 days in office . Gov. Lee what matters to every a goodean is to have job, and a safe neighborhood. I actually believe that every if every child had a good school, they would end up with good jobs and we would not have the challenges of crime rate that we have today. That one of the first things i want to do is take an aggressive approach particularly for the four out of 10 kids in our state who do not go to college. You may have talents that college kids do not have currently we do not have that Education System crafted to create pathways for hope, for success. In Education System is not only about test scores, but also about repairing kids for success. We do not do that for most half the kids in this state. It is particularly vulnerable in vibrant cities and equally as valuable in some of our stressed rural communities. Inould take my experience the educational sector and bring it to the educational system. Mr. Dean i find it incredibly frustrating that every day we are sending out millions of dollars from our state and not bringing it back. We have to be smart about where we spend our money and how we bring it back to us and how we invested in our state and our people. Especially int small town and rural tennessee. There are parts of tennessee that are losing population and there are places where they cannot find their education. Places where the hospital and best hospitals are closed, where the jobs that left in the 80s or 90s have not come back, and the jobs lost in the recent recession. I would also get very deeply involved in education. I think that is the key. I would look for innovative ways resourcesditional that we can get to those parts of the state that need our help, School District that need supplements, for those kids who are struggling. Education and health would be the first things out of the box, then of course, it Workforce Development. Moderator it is now time for closing statements from both of you candidates. Each of you will have two minutes. In a coin toss but the organizers of the event did beforehand, it was decided that mr. Dean would start. Mr. Dean . Mr. Dean thank you for joining us. Best thank you for hosting us tonight. Iam running for governor, have had the treaty where i worked as a mayor of a large city and as it is law director, i have been a public defender and i know exactly how the state works. And i would need to move forward. I am anxious to move forward in a nonpartisan way, in a moderate way. Education is a top priority for the state. Whether it is increased school safety, and my public defender experience tells me all of my clients are High School Dropouts for the most part. My juvenile clients were leaving school at 12 years or 13 years old. The Public Education can leave a role in safety. I know i will make us a healthier state if we educate our kids on how to live healthier. We are a very unhealthy state, in the bottom 10 of almost every category. Is is important that we work on health care. We have dropped the ball. For several years now, the legislature has not allowed Medicaid Expansion to take place but has come up with no idea, no suggestion or program to replace it. Now, people are really suffering and hospitals are closing at an increased rate. Opportunity c i want to work hard to create jobs like i did in nashville. I went to work hard here in memphis, i dont think it is had the attention it deserves. You have not recognize the competition in all phase from neighboring states. We need to put more resources and energy here to get it done. Education, health care and Economic Opportunity are the three things. Moderator mr. Lee, you have two minutes . Gov. Lee it has been absolute privilege to run for governor last year. I went to share a story that means a lot to me. On the first day of early voting on july 13 and a primary, i stopped in a coffee shop in a Rural Community and i walked in and someone recognized me. I said, my name is bill lee. He looked at me and said, i know who you are, i just voted for you. And it took me back to react in choked me up, frankly. It took me back. , frankly. Me up i walked out of the coffee shop and a reflected for the next long while about how humbling that was to me, that people are walking to voting booths all across the state and pushing about an next of my name, placing their confidence in me to lead this state at the highest level of the executive branch. I take that very seriously and i promise the people of tennessee that if they would give me the opportunity and heres why. I dont ever want to disappoint that man come at the kids in the innercity right down the road here, the rural kids, plumbers, Small Business owners. If you will give me the opportunity, i will not only work to not disappoint you, but to take the experiences in my life of running a corporation and serving in a nonprofits, even the tragedies in my life, the great tragedies that god used to instill the desire in me to serve. I will use it to not only make life better for you, your grandchildren, your children, but also for the 6. 5 Million People that are our neighbors in tennessee. Maken come up together, tennessee not only a better place for all, but tennessee can lead the nation. I would be honored to serve as a leader of the great state of tennessee. Thank you very much. Moderator we think both candidates for being here, and we think the university of memphis for their incredible and allity, the refresh staff here, and the president for his hospitality in welcoming us tonight. We want to thank our partners, theommercial appeal league of women voters, who provided an Invaluable Service in helping us brainstorm our questions tonight, along with our colleagues at the commercial appeal. I think the Economic Club of memphis who are supporters of us this evening. We invite you to stay with w wyncs five for more more election coverage. Early voting in tennessee begins october 17. Thank you for joining us. Good night. [applause] great job. Thank you. Announcer now, i look at the u. S. Senate race in virginia with democratic incumbent tim kaine, and republican car restored. The talked about Foreign Affairs and defense policy in a town hall cohosted by Liberty University in hampton, virginia. This is just under one hour