Off to a great start!
Filed under: Articles about Ralph Carmona
Thank you to everyone who turned out today to support my announcement for mayor! I was humbled by the encouragement from such a wide range of people, and I look forward to earning that support with my campaign for Portland on the Rise!
Carmona for Mayor Announcement
Filed under: Articles by Ralph Carmona, Campaign Trail
My name is Ralph Carmona and I want to be the next Mayor of Portland.
I spent the last year talking with Portland people, like many in this room.
I got active in last November’s election campaigns.
I listened to Portland voters.
I listened to candidates running for local, state and federal elected offices.
Walking around this great city, I listened to leaders from many perspectives; for example, I talked with Nicola Wells of the Maine League of Young Voters as well Chris Hall at the Portland Chamber of Commerce.
Then there were the ideas of those in higher education leaders and from a Portland Future project I developed with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).
Rooted in faith, I got active as an usher and member at Portland First Parish, became active with civil rights and joined some of my OLLI students to learn Portland history by becoming a certified Portland History Docent.
Much of this drive comes from having worked in large companies and small institutions that have made a difference for people, businesses and communities.
My wife, Vana and I are moved that many of you share the love that we have for Portland. Like most of you in Portland who have come from away, we chose to make Portland our home. We are here for good. And we are here because we want a “Portland on the Rise” .
Now, here is a question for you. We live in uncertain times. People need jobs. We face increasing local taxes. Is that acceptable to you?
Most people want a “Portland on the Rise”. And that is the theme for the Carmona for Mayor campaign.
It means you want to elect, on November 8, a full-time mayor who will work to put Portland on the Rise.
It means we need a mayor who is experienced, who can bring us together on the issues of the day.
You are interested in a mayor who will foster economic growth, promotes quality of life issues, and, most of all, we need a mayor who listens and gets things done.
We want to continue to build a city rooted in small business-driven expertise.
We want to continue to build a city of original ideas and efficient services.
A city that will promote our unique culture, an education that builds on our culture.
And, of course, we want a Portland that expands our reputation as a premiere art and food city.
I know that I can get Portland to realize her possibilities. And, as mayor, I will tap a Portland vitality that is waiting “to rise.”
Like Lewiston Mayor Larry Gilbert, many of you see Portland at a crucial crossroads on issues facing Urban America. Now, what are these issues?
First, there are those who are young who fear a jobless Portland future.
Second, leaders involved in business, civic and environmental affairs, see a fragmented city process. The want meaningful access and decisions. Many people feel they are getting gibberish instead.
They want to see, in the words of that great historian, Arthur Schlesinger, a Portland mayor like a commander at sea, “with a helm to grasp, a course to steer and a port to seek.”
I believe Portland can be “on the rise” and I can steer her to that proper port.
From now until November 8, I will reach out to talk about three areas of concern to Portland:
First concern: Livable wages, more jobs, and sustainable economic growth. I will seek how best to leverage Portland’s diverse and competitive assets in ways that will increase revenues and wages while avoiding tax increases.
Second concern: quality of our life. I had a conversation with a Portland woman who referred to Portland as a “city of joy.” And she is right: a joyful city is a successful city.
Forbes magazine agrees with her. Forbes has declared Portland America’s most livable city. As mayor, I will work to build on that excellence for a Portland on the Rise.
This is because quality of life involves my pledge to elevate the greatest investment we can make, which is in our human capital: The education, health and welfare of us in Portland — as well as our physical capital of public transportation, walkable neighborhoods and a greener infrastructure.
Also, quality of life means maintaining our high safety standards, making creative our increasing diversity, and keeping Portland clean and welcoming.
Third concern: Is our need for a mayor who is openly responsive.
As mayor, I will need your ideas and welcome your reviews and challenges so that we can do what is best for Portland.
I will be a mayor who is viscerally grounded in the reality that Portland is Maine’s economic engine. And I will be Portland’s chief lobbyist in Augusta and Washington.
I believe in E Pluribus Unum – out of many, we are one. With the right leadership, we can come together, in an open and fiscally responsible fashion, and get “Portland on the Rise” by steering her to a better harbor.
Mayoral leadership is like our Portland’s trails. There are no straight lines. But our trails, like our neighborhoods, connect and link people and places. Acting as a “People on the Rise”, we will make what is good today into a leadring light house for America’s urban future.
So, what does Portland need?
First: increased economic growth
Second: enhanced quality of life
Three: expected open and responsive leadership
I will be an around-the-clock mayor who will take the time, energy, and listen — to do what’s right and learn from mistakes.
My name is Ralph Carmona.
I ask you to vote for me on November 8.
Thank you all for being here! Good day and good luck. Together, we can put “Portland on the Rise”.
It’s official!
Filed under: Campaign Trail, Photos
I took a break while attending a City Council workshop on the Thompson’s Point project, and filed my candidacy papers! Looking forward to the formal announcement tomorrow — and then the real work begins.
Carmona joins Portland mayoral race
Filed under: Articles about Ralph Carmona, Campaign Trail
First published June 27, 2011, Portland Press Herald
By Edward D. Murphy
Staff Writer
PORTLAND — Ralph Carmona, vice chair of the city’s Democratic Party, is joining 15 other candidates for mayor.
Carmona, who is also an instructor at the University of Southern Maine, plans to announce formally on Wednesday.
That will make him one of 16 candidates to register with the city, a step that allows them to raise money and set up campaign organizations.
Candidates can begin taking out petitions to gather signatures for a place on the ballot on Friday. Those petitions can be returned in the latter half of August.
Hispanic activist to announce mayoral bid
Filed under: Articles about Ralph Carmona, Campaign Trail
First published June 28, 2011, in Portland Daily Sun
By Casey Conley
– THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Ralph Carmona, a longtime political activist and former Bank of America lobbyist, is holding a press conference tomorrow announcing his candidacy for Portland mayor.
The event will include speeches from Carmona and several supporters and the unveiling of his campaign theme, “Portland on the Rise.” It will be held in Room 5 in Portland Public Library at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Carmona, who moved to Portland last year from Sacramento, says he’ll focus his campaign on fostering a sustainable local economy, improving quality of life for city residents and maintaining responsive, and open government.
“We need a mayor who listens, and who can get things done,” said Carmona, who is currently the Portland President of the League of United Latino American Citizens and vice chair of the city’s Democratic Committee.
Carmona says he has a long history of bringing people together and fighting for specific causes, including civil rights issues and immigration reform.
Although he hasn’t yet registered with the city as a candidate, Carmona, 60, says he will file paperwork after the press conference.
According to the city, 15 people have already registered as candidates for the race, which will be decided on Nov. 8.
Carmona and his wife, Vana, moved to Portland last year from California, where he worked as a teacher, activist and an executive and lobbyist for companies like Sacremento Municipal Utility District and Bank of America.
If elected as Portland’s mayor, he says he’ll become its “chief lobbyist” in Augusta and Washington, D.C.
Carmona has also worked for Hispanic organizations such as the Sacremento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and served on various state boards, including the University of California Board of Regents.
He has lectured in political science at various institutions, including the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at University of Southern California, his alma mater, and the Osher Center for Lifelong Learning, at University of Southern Maine.
Carmona’s wife, Vana, is from the Portland area, and he said they chose to move to Portland last year because they believed they could “make a difference.” Carmona says he had no intention of running for mayor before moving here.
“We chose (Portland) because we love the city and because we want to make a difference,” he said in an interview. He added, “This is our home for the rest of our lives.”
Carmona notes that substantial percentage of Portland’s 66,000 residents are from away, a fact he says could help him in this fall’s election. Residency history aside, he believes his message of bringing people together will resonate equally with longtime Mainers and newcomers.
“If you have been around long enough, you are able to see things and understand things and do things quickly. And people have seen that,” he said. “You will see people who have lived in Maine all their lives who will be more concerned with, ‘What is this person going to do for me?’ and ‘What is this person going to do for Portland?’”
The November mayoral election will be Portland’s first in nearly 80 years. Voters last fall approved changes to the city charter that converted the one-year, largely ceremonial mayoral post into a four-year elected position with more authority, including veto power over the budget.
The new position also comes with a significant pay increase: The person who is elected mayor will earn about $66,000, compared to about $7,200 now.
Although he’s an officer with the city Democratic Party, Carmona says he’s getting no support from the local party establishment.
Indeed, he joins a race loaded with high-profile Democrats, including Mayor Nick Mavodones, Councilor Jill Duson and former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Brennan.
Others who have registered as a candidate for mayor include: Councilor Dave Marshall, Charles Bragdon, Erick Bennett, Zouhair Bouzrara, Jed Rathband, Jodie Lapchick, Christopher Vail, Peter Bryant, Markos Miller, Paul Schafer, Richard Dodge, and Hamza Haadoow.
Registering with the city allows candidates to form committees and raise money. Candidate petitions, which require between 350 and 500 signatures, are available July 1.
DONATE
Carmona for Mayor
P.O. Box 15111
Portland, ME 04112-
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