Lehigh candidate for state House sides with the people

Lehigh candidate for state House sides with the people

By Betty Parker Originally published on November 10, 2007

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/COLUMNISTS01/711100458/1017/COLUMNISTS

State House candidate Keith Richter, who's challenging state Rep. Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda, in the GOP primary election next year, got his audience's attention this week when he initially appeared to call for legalizing marijuana.


Asked about his hometown of Lehigh Acres' leading cash crop, Richter knew what was coming."Marijuana?" he replied. "We should tax the hell out of it and make some money on it."
"You can't tax it if it's illegal, can you?" he said, then he noted, "But I'm not saying we should legalize it."Most people want it to be illegal, he said, and he wants to do what the majority of the people desire.

He went on to say "prisons are full of people with minor drug charges," and imprisoning a parent for such small violations means "we've destroyed a family unit and they go on welfare."He suggested the "burden" on the prison system could be lessened by putting violators on house arrest with a monitoring bracelet.

Speaking at Business people United for Political Action, Richter, 39, said as an individual, he supports efforts for Lehigh to become an incorporated town. As a candidate, however, he said he'd abide by the will of the people as evidenced in an upcoming straw ballot planned on incorporation.

He said he wants to support the will of the people on issues, but it was less clear how he'd decide between two issues that had widespread support, and no referendum to help gauge public opinion.Richter, a disabled veteran, said he hurt his back while moving airplane parts at an Arizona military facility. Although he was told he'd never walk again, he said he was determined to prove doctors wrong, and now walks with no obvious problem.

His background makes him very pro-military, he said, and helped him form ideas about the role of the military. "Being a police force is not what we're supposed to do," he said.

He also said unfriendly Middle Eastern forces "have us by the short hairs" because of the U.S. dependence on oil. Florida needs to develop alternate energy sources, he said, which does not include drilling for oil off Florida's shores."I don't want us out there drilling the hell out of it," he said. "People complain about red tide now, can you imagine a lot of gooky oil there?" on the beach.

All it takes, he said, is one

Exxon Valdez-type spill "and it would be disastrous for Florida's economy."

Political advertisement paid for and approved by Keith Richter, Republican for State House, District 72