Vote September 10th, 2024 (early voting period August 21st to September 9th)
Vote September 10th, 2024 (early voting period August 21st to September 9th)
It's time for change!
I share a common story with many of you, having grown up in Pawtucket my entire life. My parents, like many of yours, are hardworking individuals. They, along with my grandparents and great-grandparents, were part of the working class, never having the luxury of wealth, homeownership, or business ownership. We, like many families in our city, always had to work hard to meet our financial obligations.
My mother had me at 17. She graduated high school and worked in the hospitality industry until I was 6 or 7. She then found a program called Year Up through my aunt, who was part of the first year of Year Up graduates. The program paid her to learn professional skills for six months and then connected her to an internship for another 6. Through that, she found a career in technical support, got a State job, and hasn't looked back since. She could build her credit, pay her bills, and eventually buy a home through that opportunity! I'm so proud of what she was able to accomplish. Without that program, she might still be stuck in low-paying jobs, struggling to pay rent and other necessities.
My father had a different path. He dropped out of high school early to work. He was able to get a good-paying union job as a roofer. This job has allowed him to afford rent, bills, and other necessities comfortably. I grew up with my father. He was able to support me and my brother because of his job. Being a union member, he was always guaranteed work. They couldn't fire him if he was injured or had to take extended periods off work. Only some people are college-bound. Some people just want to work, and that should be encouraged!
Growing up, my favorite part of the day was school. I was a shy kid, and it took me a while to make friends. My teachers recognized this, and they gave me a lot of support. As I got older, I grew out of that shy phase, but teachers stayed an essential part of my school life. They encouraged me to push myself academically, challenged me to think outside the box, and praised my hard work. They helped me build the confidence needed to function in the real world. I experienced a lot of anxiety and depression in high school. I remember going to the school psychologist. He not only helped all the kids in my high school but often had to bounce between our school and the elementary schools. I found it disturbing that one school psychologist had to be there for thousands of students.
After high school, I turned down going to college. Finishing in the top 10 of my graduating class, I got accepted into every university I applied to. However, I couldn't afford to go and knew having student loan debt would be challenging, so I opted to work. I had part-time jobs with the possibility of full-time positions, but it never worked out that way.
Three years ago, I found myself in a situation I never thought I would face, homelessness. Despite working part-time, I couldn't afford rent and ended up living in my car for ten months. I found a full-time job in the pest control industry. It paid well, but it was not enough to afford rent on my own. I am now in an apartment with family members who experienced the same situation I had. This experience was a harsh reminder of the realities faced by many in our community, and it strengthened my resolve to advocate for permanent housing for every homeless person.
The life I lived, and the life my parents lived, is what pushed me to run for Mayor today. My parents are the reason I support work programs for students and adults. I know these programs can help thousands of Pawtucket residents access good-paying jobs and access wealth. They proved that good-paying jobs can help anyone secure a solid economic path forward. They are the examples I hold in my heart as I advocate for those policies. My experiences at school are why I support more funding for schools. My experience with the school psychiatrist is why I believe there should be at least one school psychiatrist per school. My time being homeless is why I believe wholeheartedly that every person experiencing homelessness should be permanently housed. I want to help as many people as possible so they never have to experience what I did. I do not wish to see Pawtucket decline any longer. I am dedicated to this city. I am ready to work with you all to create a brighter future, not only for you but for all future generations to come.
It's time for change! Will you join me?
Under my administration, transparency will be my number one priority. Taxpayers deserve to know how every dollar is being spent. Every department in the city will be compelled to have open access to their records for the residents of the city to view.
As Mayor, I also want to hear directly from the people. I want to create a non-binding voting system through the city website that will allow residents to vote on policy ideas, budget changes, and other issues. I can take these results and bring them to the Council with suggestions. If I have the people's backing, I will have a better chance of convincing the Council to enact policy ideas and changes.
The system would register the current voters in the city, allowing them to vote online or in person at city hall. We would have a verification system using voter IDs, a driver's license/state ID, or any proof of address they can provide.
Personal and commercial property taxes have been raised consistently over the past few years. These taxes have become a burden on the taxpayers. I would like to see a 10% reduction of the current tax rates in place across the board. Also, there should be a lower tax rate for new businesses to encourage people to start small businesses in our city. This lower rate should last at least five years to allow the company to thrive. Lowering taxes will also encourage big businesses to move to our city, bringing jobs with them!
This decision ultimately falls on the City Council to make, but if I have support from the voters, that can help me convince the council to take action!
We also need to cut wasteful spending to lower taxes. I plan on doing a full audit of all city departments to wean out useless positions and redundancies. I will be running a tight ship! If I find taxpayer dollars are being wasted or mishandled, I will stop it.
We also need a team of grant writers working around the clock to file for every available state and federal dollar being offered to us. We do not automatically get access to these funds. The grant writers play an essential role by researching, drafting, and submitting proposals that help the city receive grant funding.
The City Council just passed an amendment to the City Charter, giving the Mayor and the Council a raise.
The Mayor's salary was set at $80,000 in 2000, and the charter stated the Mayor would receive a raise of 50% of the average CPI (Consumer Price Index) every other year. The Mayor's salary is currently $105,000 and was set to rise to $108,000 in 2025. The Council felt this wasn't enough, so they ultimately decided to raise his salary to $130,000 with an annual raise of 2%.
The city council members are set to make $13,000 with a similar 2% annual raise. The Council President is set at $1000 above the Council members.
I will not be accepting the raise laid out by the Council. Taxpayers, as the employers of the Mayor and Council, deserve to have the final say on their raises. So, If I am elected, I will only accept the $108,000 that was set to be the Mayor's salary. The extra $22,000 should go back into the city. If they do not allow me to do this, I will take the $22,000 from the $130,000 they give me and donate it to charities doing the most to help Pawtucket residents.
As Mayor, I do not have the authority to enact term limits. We need term limits for the Mayor and City Council. Term limits can only be changed through the Council. If I enact a direct voting system, I can get the voters to help me push this issue to the Council.
I think five two-year terms in office is plenty of time to enact real changes. Our current Mayor is on his seventh term, and there's a Councilor who has been on the Council for 30 years!
The result of these long terms is complacency. They are not motivated to change things because they know they can be re-elected repeatedly. They often have no challengers, so the voters also don't have a choice. Term limits would give them a limited time in office, motivating them to do more with the time they have. It would also make room for new people in city government. We need new and fresh ideas to push our city forward.
We are a working-class city. Many of us have to work to pay the bills, and this has been the case for not only us but also our parents and grandparents. Not many of us own our own homes or businesses. This needs to change.
We need to have programs in place that will teach students and adults financial literacy skills, such as building up your credit score, the basics of starting your own business, the basics of buying a house, and other skills that will help you build up your wealth.
Building wealth doesn't just help us; it helps our kids and grandkids. Generational wealth is essential to creating a stable economic future for our city and the country. These programs can help Pawtucket residents thrive in this struggling economy.
We have a shortage of trade jobs, such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, roofers, and many others. We need programs in place to help students and adults find apprenticeships in these trades.
There are many high school students who cannot afford or want to go to college. These students often get left behind in school. By the time they graduate, they have no path to good-paying jobs. Trade jobs are often good-paying union jobs. Unions built the largest middle class in American history during the early 40s, 50s, and 60s. We have a chance to build that here in Pawtucket.
Our students deserve an economic path forward. The job opportunities in this city are limited. They are often low-wage jobs that do not offer financial stability. Some resort to selling drugs, petty crime, and joining gangs to pay the bills. They need better options.
This also applies to adults who have graduated, got a GED, or dropped out. They deserve an opportunity to find a good-paying career path. Trades jobs are hard, but they don't require a college degree. Training programs are a perfect opportunity for them to learn a new skill and find a great-paying career in the trades.
Rents in Pawtucket are out of control. Landlords continually raise rents without giving tenants time to plan for the increases. That's why I support Representative Stewart's bill (2024-H 7304), which "would require that landlords give tenants 90 days' notice of any rent increase, or 120 days if the tenant is over age 62. Current law requires only 30 days' notice, and 60 days for tenants over 62." (rilegislature.gov) That is a great start, but we must also see rental prices go down. We need programs to help tenants struggling to afford these rental increases. As a city, we have less pull on these policies than the State. So, I will do everything I can to support bills like the one Representative Stuart is proposing and to reach out to State Representatives to create bills that address the issues I laid out.
The school department has flatlined in the past few years. The city not only won't raise the school department budget but has also borrowed from the school department budget in the past. This is not acceptable. As a result, our students are not receiving the quality education they deserve. We are also losing great teachers because we are not paying them what they deserve. We need to make the school department a high priority for future budgets. The more funding the city provides, the more state and federal funds flow in.
We need to invest more in our students struggling with their mental, emotional, and physical health. We need to increase the current number of school psychologists. Right now, there are only a few psychologists covering thousands of students. We must hire at least one school psychiatrist for every public school in Pawtucket.
We need to ensure an anonymous system is in place for students to report any staff members abusing them or any other student. I find it disturbing how difficult it is for students to be heard and believed when they report abuse from a teacher. We can never accept that. This is why we need more school psychologists to ensure our students are always mentally, physically, and emotionally safe.
We need to invest more in our students who require special education. We need to increase investment in all special education programs throughout Pawtucket. We need to increase investment in early intervention so that parents with young children with disabilities can get the resources they need to ensure their child receives the best school experience they can. We need increased investment in a whole new school for special education students with all the necessary resources and trained professionals they need to receive the highest quality education possible. We currently need to improve in providing those resources.
We must make civics and basic government classes mandatory for all high school students. We must bring back a strong home economics class and require every high schooler to take it. We need a class that teaches financial skills used in the real world: taxes, building credit, starting a business, etc. Schools need to prepare students to become productive participants in our Democracy and to teach students how to survive in the adult world.
After-school programs need more funding. Teachers who stay after school to help run those programs should be paid for that work to encourage them to always have teachers' supervision.
Investing in our students is investing in our future.
Right now, one individual holds the positions of Police Chief and Public Safety director. The Public Safety director oversees the Police and Fire departments. The Police Chief holding the Public Safety Director position is a direct conflict of interest. We need one person to be Police Chief and another to be Public Safety director. As Mayor, I will make sure this happens.
I will also be looking for a new Police Chief. We need a Chief who will create a safety and public service culture in the police department. We need a Police Chief who will discourage and fire officers who abuse their power, overstep boundaries, break the law, and blatantly cover up their misbehavior. We need a Police Chief who will release the body cam footage of officers who are involved in controversial arrests. We need a Police Chief who will encourage their officers to seek mental health treatment if that officer needs it. We need a Police Chief who is focused on not only creating a better public perception of the police force but also fostering a police force that the public can respect and be proud of. A Police Chief that will help their officers PROTECT and SERVE the public.
The police force also needs reform. Officers need to have consistent training on multiple fronts. They need training in de-escalation tactics and racial biased training. They need training on how to handle situations involving disabled people and people dealing with mental health disorders. They need access to mental health resources. Officers deal with the worst situations happening in our city, and they need access to therapists specializing in PTSD and other trauma-based therapies. There are many good officers out there, we need to hold them up as an example to the others. This is how we foster a better environment, not only for the police force but for our residents.
We also need more funding for our Fire Department. These are the first responders to fires and medical emergencies, and we need to ensure they have all the resources they need to get the job done. We shouldn't be closing fire stations; we should be expanding the existing ones and creating new ones to cover more areas in the city. I will work closely with the fire department to ensure they have all the resources they need.
Homelessness is a critical issue for me. I experienced homelessness myself just a few years ago. I slept in my car for ten months, all while working.
Not every person experiencing homelessness is jobless. Many working people have lost their apartments and ended up on the streets. With rising rents and costs of living, there are many working families out there that are just one rental payment away from homelessness. Many are forced to choose between paying their rent or feeding their families. This problem will not go away on its own.
There are also many people experiencing homelessness out there with no job, money, or shelter of any kind. I was lucky enough to have some cash and a car for shelter. Many of the people experiencing homelessness in Pawtucket are sleeping on benches, stairways, and the ground. The only possessions they have often get stolen or confiscated by the police when forced to leave the area where they sleep.
The shelter system in place is not enough to handle the number of people experiencing homelessness in Pawtucket. We need to expand the current system to handle the increase in homelessness. We must ensure every person experiencing homelessness in the city can access food, water, and shelter, especially during the hot summer and winter months. Heat waves and freezing temperatures can kill people, and that is entirely unacceptable to me.
Some people experiencing homelessness in Pawtucket are disabled or addicted to drugs. We need to help disabled residents get access to federal programs such as SSI, SSDI, SNAP, and Medicaid. We also need drug rehab programs in place that will house and treat people experiencing homelessness who are addicted to alcohol and drugs. Frankly, we need a drug rehab program available for every resident, homeless or not, struggling with addiction.
As Mayor, I will coordinate with all the existing programs that are helping people experiencing homelessness, and we will work to get every person experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. Shelters are a temporary solution to a serious problem. The ultimate goal is to get these people into housing.
In Pawtucket, 91.6% of residents are U.S. citizens. I want to create a program to help all non-citizen Pawtucket residents gain citizenship, understanding the many obstacles they face. For many, it is the cost of applying for citizenship. They have to pay to apply, take the test, and pay all the fees in between. For some, it is the language barrier. Many non-English-speaking residents rely solely on their children or a close relative to translate for them. This can be a serious barrier for these residents, and I empathize with their struggles.
If elected, I would like to partner with the State of R.I. to create a program that would provide free English classes for all non-English speaking residents, whether they are citizens or not. This inclusive program would also help non-citizen Pawtucket residents pay for the fees and other costs of applying for citizenship. Many non-citizens in Pawtucket desperately want to gain citizenship, and we should help them break through all the barriers preventing them from becoming citizens.
McCoy Stadium was created in 1942 and began hosting a minor league baseball team in 1946. From 1970 to 2019, they hosted the Pawtucket Red Sox, better known as the PawSox. This loss was a blow to the community. We all grew up watching PawSox games, and the loss of our city team was heartbreaking.
Memorial Hospital has been serving the people of Pawtucket since 1918. After almost 100 years of serving our community, it closed its doors in 2017. Since then, most Pawtucket residents have been forced to use Miriam and Rhode Island Hospital. Dubious business dealings surrounding the hospital have put a stop to all future development plans. As Mayor, I will make this one of my priorities.
The Gamm theatre was relocated to Pawtucket in 2003. In 2018, the theatre was permanently relocated to its current location in Warwick. The Grebien administration needed to do more to keep the organization in Pawtucket.
Morley Field, one of the only recreational green spaces in District 5, was almost sold off by Grebien's administration. Thanks to community leaders and Representatives like District 5 Councilman Clovis Gregor and State Representative Cherie Cruz, the efforts to sell the space were stopped. The land belonged to the federal government, so the city had no right to sell it. However, the field remains closed to the public. As Mayor, I will do everything I can to get the field cleaned up and open to the public.
Under Grebien, we have seen our sidewalks, streets, storm drains, and other essential infrastructure fall into disrepair. We also can not drink from our faucets without getting sick! If I am elected, fixing our infrastructure will be one of my top priorities.
Donald Grebien's administration has been anything but transparent. Policy decisions, policy changes, and every decision in between have been kept from the public until they are enacted. The public is often not able to voice their support or opposition to these decisions. That will change if I am elected.
My opponent has a political machine backing him up, but I have the power of the people backing me up! I know times are tough, but if you can donate even $1, that can help us win! I appreciate your support.
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Copyright © 2024 Camron Segalla for Mayor of Pawtucket - All Rights Reserved.
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