Kyc: District 59 State House

Incumbent Democrat Arthenia L. Joyner and Libertarian Rex Curry agree the residents of state House District 59, one of the poorest districts in Florida, need help. They agree on nothing else.

Joyner, 59, has founded her public life on the belief that government has yet to do enough "to care for the most vulnerable in society, the frail, the elderly, pregnant women, babies."

Curry, a sixth-generation Floridian, said that the unchecked growth of government has actually harmed its citizens.

"Poor people hurt the most from taxes on goods and services, and from the loss of jobs when businesses are taxed and cannot grow," said Curry, a Tampa lawyer.

Joyner, a lawyer in Tampa since 1969, has dedicated much of her life to boards and agencies that serve the once vital and now blighted inner city. In a district that is nearly 60 percent black and 59 percent female, Joyner was elected in 2000 with 70 percent of the vote.

In Tallahassee, she voted with the majority against storing untreated wastewater in aquifers.

"I didn't want to wait to find out people were getting sick and dying," she said.

She was one of eight representatives to vote against a bill requiring women to list all the men they had sex with before putting a child up for adoption. She focused on economic development issues, which she sees as central to revitalizing the depressed east Tampa community.

Curry lives in the district, but his recipe for improving the plight of its needy residents is to shrink government. The state's population has doubled during the last quarter-century, he said, but the budget has increased more than 1,000 percent during the same period.

So why aren't people better off, he asked.

"In a healthy society, the need for government should constantly decrease as we solve our problems," Curry said. "The marketplace is how you make intelligent decisions. People spending their own money."

Joyner said the Legislature faces a budget crisis this coming year as it struggles to "fund recurring programs with nonrecurring funds." New taxes are already being discussed, she said, though it would be preferable to handle shortfalls with belt-tightening.

Curry proposes strangulation rather than belt-tightening.

"I encourage people to remove their children from government schools," he said. "My goal is to get them their money back."

"How are we going to educate our people?" Joyner asks. "I think that takes 'less government' too far."

THE JOB

State House District 59 extends north from Palm River through the east Tampa neighborhoods of Belmont Heights and Sulphur Springs to the area west of the University of South Florida. Representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $29,328 per year.

DEMOCRAT

Joyner

ARTHENIA L. JOYNER, 59, is a partner at the Tampa law firm of Stewart, Joyner & Jordan-Holmes, P.A. in downtown Tampa. Born in Lakeland, she earned her degree in political science and law degree from Florida A&M University. She went to jail in 1963 for protesting segregation in Tallahassee movie theaters. She was the first black woman named to the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's governing board. She served on the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority from 1991 to 1999. In 1995 she was appointed by President Clinton to represent the United States at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. She is divorced with no children. ASSETS: real estate, shares in law firm, stocks, retirement accounts, life insurance, household goods LIABILITIES: mortgages SOURCE OF INCOME: law firm, legislative salary, rental properties E-MAIL: ajoyner@sjjhlaw.com

LIBERTARIAN

Curry

ELLIS REXWOOD CURRY IV, 41, is an attorney in Tampa specializing in criminal defense. He grew up in Plant City. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in 1981. He earned his law degree from Florida State University in 1984. He ran unsuccessfully for the Tallahassee City Council while in law school. He has served in the Hillsborough Public Defender's Office. He is married without children. ASSETS: household goods LIABILITIES: home mortgage, credit cards SOURCE OF INCOME: law practice E-MAIL: rexy@ij.net