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”.
DeCoster Chicken farm practices highlighted
Filed under: Articles about Ralph Carmona
BY RAMONA DU HOUX – MAINE INSIGHTS
April 14th, 2011 · Filed under: Civil Rights, Community Maine, Public Safety
The Maine League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) discussed a series of interviews being conducted with workers at the DeCoster Chicken farm on violations involving working conditions and worker rights. LULAC State Director Jose Lopez talked with past and present DeCoster employees on employee conditions that can only be described as inhumane and slave-like.
“These are poor people seeking the American dream,” Lopez emphasized, “some as old as 60 years of age, who migrated to Turner, Maine on a company commitment for both liveable wages and working conditions. They were lied to, fired when injured and forced to work in unspeakable conditions.”
Maine LULAC said that they will have three hours of tape interviews and will work to provide an hour-long DVD for public availability.
Lopez highlighted the issue because proposed legislation, LD 1207, would eliminate overtime, minimum wage and the civil rights for DeCoster workers to collectively organize and bargain on worker rights, conditions and benefits.
Testimony on the bill will be heard at 1:00PM Friday, April 15, before the Maine State Legislative Joint Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development.
“This bill hits at the heart of a worker’s livelihood. We do not see the camel’s nose under the tent, we see the whole hump,” said Dr. Ralph Carmona, President of Portland LULAC. “It is bad enough for the DeCoster people to outright reject claims from poor, immigrant and injured people. Worse, DeCoster is circumventing ownership responsibility with a legislative proposal crafted that specifically exempts his company and symbolizes the destruction of Maine civil and worker rights.”
“For more than 20 years, under the DeCoster watch, female workers have been raped and harassed on work premises, consumers have been delivered poisonous (Salmonella) products, decent worker conditions, animal rights, child labor and environmental laws have been violated. This is a billionaire who is directly and indirectly responsible for one-third of America’s egg production. He is a public monster for his seamless decades of cruel, wicked and terrifying business effects on Maine people and the American public.” said Carmona.
“The political dimension of this monstrosity is the ability through legal, lobbying, and business procedures to rearrange and rename the company to undermine worker rights and seek special legislation like LD 1207.”
The Maine LULAC also will oppose LD 1346, that establishes “training” work at below minimum wages for teenagers and removes hourly regulation for child labor. “It is,” Lopez concluded, “an effort to reverse child labor law as we know it.”
Founded in 1929, LULAC is the nation’s largest and oldest Latino civil rights organization with over 900 councils throughout the country. The Maine State LULAC is headquartered in Lewiston with chapters also in Portland, Auburn and Bangor.
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Carmona for Mayor
P.O. Box 15111
Portland, ME 04112-
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