 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Address to NCCo Library Advisory Board - 10/6/04
FOP Forum - 9/27/04
Newark Methodist Women's Group Candidate Forum - 9/18/04
Introduction for David Cobb - 8/27/04
Minquadale Fire Hall Forum on Public Safety 8/17/04
Making the Vision of Universal Health Care a Reality Now 5/27/04
Cannon 2004 GPDE Convention Speech 5/22/04
GreenViews TV Appearance 4/18/04
Address to Joint Sunset Committee on DSWA 4/13/04
Salem Nuclear Power Plant 3/28/04Good evening. My name is J. Roy Cannon.
I'm the Green Party candidate for the new 9th district New Castle County Council seat. The 9th district stretches from just north of Newark along Kirkwood Hwy to Rt. 141. Let me start off by telling you a little about myself so you know some of the experiences that have shaped me. I was born and raised in southern Delaware. I grew up thinking I'd like to be a farmer like my father's and mother's family before me or maybe a landscaper. I liked the land and the things that grow from it and I enjoyed working with my hands. I also enjoyed sports and was fortunate to be the captain of my high school football and baseball teams.
As the years passed, however, I turned away from farming. I also didn't pursue my athletic career beyond high school. But what I did carry with me was a strong, farmland-based work ethic and a belief in the power of teamwork and united action. Now I work as a counselor with children and their families living throughout NCCo. I've been a professional counselor for over 20 years. I live not far from here in Meadowood with my wife of 22 years and our two adopted teenage children.
Having given this bit of personal background, I now want to talk about some of the issues facing us in New Castle County. In talking about these issues, I will be straightforward. I didn't come here to make a bunch of empty promises or to pretend I know things that I don't - for instance, the complicated tensions and pressures that are unique to the work you do as police officers.
What I want to do is to speak with you truthfully for a few minutes about some of the things in which I believe. After I lay out some of my ideas, I ask that you decide whether or not you identify with my views and are willing to support my campaign.
Recently The News Journal asked me, as a candidate for office, what I thought should be done to make people feel safer. What the newspaper wanted me to do was make a statement about crime and punishment or maybe about the activities of local fire departments. I could have done this, but I didn't. Instead, I said that making people feel safe wasn't the sole responsibility of firemen, emergency crews or even the police. I said that for people to feel safe means more than just safe from crime, although that's part of it. But what about the other parts which are equally important?
For instance, feeling safe and secure also means having an economy where even a minimum wage earner makes enough money to cover basic shelter, food, and health costs. It means being able to trust government to fight outsourcing so that higher-paying jobs stay in our community and aren't replaced by lower-paying ones. It means having the medical care needed to stay healthy. It means not having to live, as we do in New Castle County, with chemical contamination levels that place us, according to federal statistics, near the top of the list of the nation's most polluted counties. It's no wonder we have some of the worst asthma and cancer rates in the country.
You know, one of the problems that many politicians have is that they talk about issues as if they're not connected to each other. In my view, this is definitely the wrong approach. Frequently the only way to understand an issue is to understand it in a broader way than it is usually presented.
Take the issue of comparable worth for example. In a nutshell, the comparable worth idea is basically this: that women who do the same or similar work as men should get a salary or wage that's equal to what their male counterparts get. I support this. One of the reasons I support it is that Delaware census data show that in NCCo, on average, women earn 22% less than men even when doing equivalent work. Although I agree with the need for comparable worth legislation, I don't like the fact that it is usually only talked about as a women's issue, as if it didn't apply to anyone else.
Yet the facts suggest that comparable worth isn't just a problem for women but is related to other social-economic problems. For instance, did you know that in New Castle County the per capita income of blacks is only 60.8% of whites -- that's 40% less -- and that blacks' poverty level is 3.4 times higher than that of whites? The numbers for Hispanics are even worse. This is a horrible situation that works to perpetuate the continued racial and ethnic divisions that plague our schools and neighborhoods and calls out for economic equity ideas.
The job of firefighting is another example that raises questions about how the powers that be decide who's worth what in terms of money. Given the risky nature of a firefighter's work, and the physical stamina and mental alertness required to do that work, you'd think that firefighters would be highly valued as major contributors to society's well-being. Unfortunately, while many ordinary people respect firefighters, the governments who pay them, frequently don't - at least not financially. For instance, right here in New Castle County firefighters who suffer permanent disabilities as a result of their firefighting work receive a grand total of $500 per month plus a measly $50 per month for each child under the age of 18. Where's the fair value in this? Who says that level of compensation is what a person's work-life and health is worth?
I want to tell you, my friends, that in New Castle County as elsewhere in the nation, employers and governments frequently have a horrendous track record when it comes to determining who's worth what and why! You know, these days many elected officials and other authorities like to talk about values.
On almost a daily basis they lecture us about the need for more trust between people and less violence. Those in power claim that if teachers would only teach better, and if parents would only parent better, and if communities would only self-regulate better, and if police would only police better, then everything would change and we would once again return to being a healthier, more wholesome, less violent society.
While this may contain some truth, let me ask you this: how do we get young people to act honestly and more community-oriented when so many politicians who tell them to do so are themselves involved in illegal and self-serving activities? Take New Castle County government as an example. The level of corruption has been astounding. Over the last 14 years, one scandal has followed another. From Councilman Ron Aiello's 1990 conviction for extorting a $100,000 bribe on rezoning votes, straight through the current outrages surrounding the Gordon/Freebery administration, New Castle County Council has been more like a lab for producing criminal activities than a site of good government.
This trend has created a New Castle County bureaucracy in which developers and political hacks have taken control while government "by the people and for the people" has been replaced by a corrupt government of good ol' boys and the backroom deal.
Meanwhile the Republican and Democratic party leadership - people who have been instrumental in creating and maintaining this corruption - keep telling us and our organizations what we should do to solve these dilemmas! The one solution that they never mention that might actually do some good is this: challenging these failed leaders' control of the political process. To do this we must not be afraid to challenge their parties too!
If we repeatedly elect to office people from the same parties that created and continue to perpetuate the current trends, I don't think we will make headway in changing things for the better. This is why we need independent-spirited voters and independent-spirited candidates to step forward to challenge the status quo. In this spirit, let me tell you some of what I plan to do if elected to office.
One: I will call for a new -- and completely independent -- Ethics Commission that has the power to bring county government corruption to its knees.
Two: I will call for the passage of sunshine and open meeting laws that allow greater public inquiry into government affairs.Three: I will support legislation that specifies that in order for a company to receive tax breaks and other incentives to locate in the county, it must first agree not to outsource jobs and to abide by stricter environmental regulations.
Four: I will advocate for, and help to write, equity legislation and/or policies on a variety of fronts.
Five: We must be more aggressive in preserving open space, reigning in the power of building contractors, and fashioning procedures for direct public involvement in decision-making on all significant development issues.
Six: In all that I do as a County Council member, I will work closely with grassroots leaders who are not afraid to speak truth to power, not afraid to fight against unethical and illegal government behavior, and not afraid to forge ahead on an independent path.
In closing let me say this: Wherever I go in this campaign, I give the same basic message. And that message is: we don't just need change - we need serious change! -- like the reforms I outlined tonight to protect and improve our home. I hope you agree with this vision. If so, I'd love your support in pursuing it.
Thank you again for inviting me to be here with you tonight.