[Peace] Sis. Carol reps 103rd

[Brian Dolinar]

I posted a piece at ucimc.org about Carol Ammons's announcement yesterday
that she's running for state legislature repping the 103rd District in
Springfield, a seat formerly held by Naomi Jakobsson. You can read her
speech below.

BD



Good Afternoon.  First, let me thank each of you, who decided to join us
here today during your lunch break for this special time.  I am Carol
Ammons, and I want to be your next State Representative for the 103rd
District.  I have chosen this spot to formally announce my candidacy
because we stand in the midst of Carle Park, the home of Taft’s “Lincoln
the Lawyer” bronze statue.  The statue inscription is what made this the
perfect location for this important announcement and it reads:

“If there is anything which it is the duty of the whole people to never
entrust to any hands but their own, that thing is the preservation and
perpetuity of their own liberties and institutions. It is not the qualified
voter but the qualified voters who choose to vote that constitute the
political power of the state.”

Lincoln’s instruction to us here speaks to the importance of not just being
registered voters, but voters who cast their ballot to elect
representatives who will speak to their needs and represent the interests
of all of the people and that is my record and my commitment to the voters
of the 103rd District.  I picked this day because today it marks the start
of the Affordable Care Act, an opportunity help millions of people –
unemployed, seniors, veterans, and children in Illinois access health care.

In the midst of the 103rd District is the University of Illinois, our
downstate anchor institution, for whom increased funding is needed, and
access to affordable healthcare is a priority.  We also have other needs to
focus on providing more opportunities for employment, housing, early
childhood education, and advocating for resources for health and human
services funding in our district.  If elected, you will be sending a
representative to Springfield who has proven to be a strong advocate.
Understanding that I will be 1 of 118 members, I also have a strong history
of working with my colleagues, Democrats & Republicans to find solutions to
problems that face all of the people, including the most vulnerable.

I want to be your next state representative to help solve many of the
pressing problems facing our state.  I have a long record of community
service; working for social justice and change.  As a young girl, I read
about great leaders like Lincoln, Fredrick Douglass, Dr. King, Ida B.
Wells, and Shirley Chisholm.  All of these historical figures fought for
people who were voiceless and invisible.   I decided early on that I wanted
to be the type of person who also fought for the voiceless and invisible.

As a county board member and a city council member, I’ve shown that
addressing the most important concerns of the community as a whole and
focusing on the unmet needs of people whose interests are too often ignored
are not mutually exclusive; in fact, improving the lives of any segment of
our population benefits everyone.  Over the past 5 years, on the County
Board and now on the Urbana City Council, I have worked to improve our
criminal justice system, supported resolution for civil unions, nursing
home, community farms, helped to establish Winds Farms in the county,
improved the quality of rental housing, helped homeowners afford sewer
repairs.  I also, for the past ten years, have been working for social
justice--work that has improved the lives of under-served members of our
communities.  I have run soup kitchens, volunteered at community non-profit
organizations, collected school supplies for children in my community, and
have continued to help meet the needs of thousands of citizens in the 103rd
District.  My commitment is “Serving the People, Then and Now.”

My decision to run is as a result of a joint effort.  My family and friends
have shown great confidence in me based on my ability to be prepared and to
keep proper perspectives.  I am the wife of Aaron Ammons, and mother of
three wonderfully created children, Titianna, Jelani and Amir, who have
taught me as much about life, as my formal education has provided.  I have
a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration that has helped me in my
public and private service life.   I have over 13 years of human services
experience having worked with youth and families for the majority of that
time.  My professional and personal service has taught me empathy, respect,
fairness, patience, responsibility and self-motivation.

I possess the experience, knowledge and ability to execute the
fundamentals, yet creative enough to seek a solution other than the status
quo.  As your next State Representative, I ensure you that I will be
accessible and available.

Issues that are important to me:

Education: To expand education as a vehicle for social mobility
• Reform education funding we need more funding for public education
and the progressive income tax will make more money available for education
• More funding for K-12 education
• Expand access to higher education
• Reduce cost of student loans

Human Rights/Social Justice Issues: To fight for fairness, equality,
diversity, and justice
• Protection of civil rights & civil liberties
• Reproductive choice
• Immigration reform
• Equal marriage rights for same sex couples
• Effective alternatives to mass incarceration with emphasis on non-
violent offenders; the cost of the prison system is starving the needs of
our public schools

Economic Reform: improving the economy & social contract
• Prioritize job creation we need to do more than bringing in low-wage jobs
• Living wage jobs – we are looking for ways to partner with private
industry to bring about living wage jobs
• Secure public employees’ pensions – state government failed to pay their
share, Oppose reducing the amount of public employees pensions; they’ve
already paid their fair share:  we have to think about pensions for the
future, younger workers are going to have a new pension system.  But we
should not take away from those who have already earned their pension, and
invested their time in the workforce.  The legislature must ensure that the
state doesn’t default.
• Progressive income tax – graduated income tax:  the majority of states
that have income tax are all graduated now, and Illinois should do that
also.  The answer to economic problems should not be on the backs of
children and poor people, people with disabilities, and senior citizen.
• Affordable housing (especially for working poor with incomes below
poverty level)

Health and Human Services
• Fight for the protection of women’s health care choices
• Improve Medicaid expansion
• Reduce Homelessness in our community
• Initiatives that improve social safety net programs

Voting Rights
• Ensure fair voter representation
• New ballot reforms
• Protecting the right to vote

Shirley Chisholm, once said, “Service is the rent that you pay for a room
on this earth and I promise to pay my rent and be “unbought and unbossed,”
and she taught us.
Many people have lost faith in the American Dream, but I believe it can be
reborn.  This campaign seeks to re-inspire that dream and to make it more
real today in the consciousness of all who desire a better life for all.
We will not sacrifice our principles but we will stand ready to listen to
others.  We will foster open communication, trust and commitment to the
rights of the citizens of our community.  But we need your help.

Please, join us in our campaign to give the voiceless voice, to make the
invisible and ignored visible and to empower the 99 percent. Please join my
campaign to give voice to the 99 percent of people who are not in positions
of power or wealth from the invisible and ignored to your next door
neighbor . . . to you.  I pledge that I will stand up for every citizen of
the 103rd District’s rights and will fight for a state the provides a
future for our families and most importantly our children.  I swear before
God that neither of these votes will expire.  If you send me to the state
house, you will see that I truly mean, that it’s time that all people of
the 103rd matter in Springfield.

In closing, the words of Lincoln come back to mind, we he challenged his
generation and now ours with these words, “Will not the good people respond
to a united and earnest appeal from us?  Can we, can they, by any other
means so certainly or so speedily assure these vital objects?  We can
succeed only by concert.  Can any of us imagine better?  Object whatsoever
is possible, still the question recurs, can we do better?  The dogmas of
the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.  The occasion is piled
high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.  As our case is
new, so we must think anew and act anew….” I rise today, thinking anew and
ready to act anew as your next State Representative of the 103rd District.

Thank you.

-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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