To the Editor:

Most employment opportunities require experience and/or education. On June 26 we get to hire a Democratic candidate for representative to the US Congress. It is up to us to choose someone who has the experience to represent the needs of the North. Country.

Tedra Cobb’s experience is broad and deep. She is the only Democratic candidate who has held public office. After beating an incumbent she served eight years as a St. Lawrence County legislator where she gained the respect from both sides of the aisle, building bridges rather than burning them.

Beyond her legislature experience, she has a proven record as a public servant. She has served as a board member, program director, member and volunteer with numerous local nonprofit organizations. She is the founder of the St. Lawrence Health Initiative, which secured federal and state funding to provide preventive screening and follow-up care to hundreds of hard-working North Country residents who could not afford health insurance. This agency is still active today.

She received both her degrees from SUNY Potsdam and went on to serve as an adjunct professor at three of our local universities as well as a project coordinator. Finally, even as other young people leave the North Country, her desire to stay and contribute to her community, led her to use her vast experience in problem-solving, strategic planning and coaching to start her own consulting business which gained national and international recognition.

Her resume speaks for itself. It shows she is a public servant-not a career politician, her ability to get things done, her work ethic, her commitment to the district and her collaborative spirit. We can trust her. She has what it takes to help fix what is broken in Washington and to represent the 21st district.

Carol Simpson

Winthrop