Guest MINDSETTER™ Ken Amoriggi: Why I’m Running for State Rep.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Ken Amoriggi, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™

 

My name is Ken Amoriggi, and I am running for State Representative in District 54 (North Providence). Rhode Island is where I was born and raised. It is where my family has resided for over a hundred years and where they have ran their seafood business for over sixty years. It is where my roots are and I hope they will remain.

While walking the district meeting voters, the most common question I hear is “why are you doing this?” Typically, the question is not meant to elicit policy points. Rather, it is meant to convey the constituent’s disbelief that anyone would get involved in what they perceive to be an unfixable mess. The belief that “nothing will ever change” is, sadly, shared by many of the people of my district.

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My response to this question has never changed. The wording of it may vary, but the message is the same: if we don’t start putting people in the State House who have the best interests of the state in their minds and hearts, this state will cease to exist.

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That is a grim reality, but it is reality. While the state may be here physically, and while there may still be residents, many of us will not be here. We can’t afford it. Everywhere you look there are vacant houses, homes in foreclosure and for-sale signs. We all know the unemployment statistics. As morbid those are, they don’t even come close to revealing the actual depth of the problem. People, many of whom have lived here their whole lives, will be forced to leave in order to find employment and a more affordable place to live. It is already beginning to happen. Thus, the State of Rhode Island, as we know it, will cease to exist.

However, we can change this situation. By “we”, I mean you and me, the voters of RI. We need to start looking closely at the candidates who are running for seats in the General Assembly. Specifically, we need to look at who they are connected to. For too long we have been electing people who are there to support the interests of the few, of special interest groups, rather than of the public as a whole. Naturally these candidates will not normally reveal this to their constituents. Frankly, many of them may actually believe that they will have the ability to represent their constituents’ interests. However, once elected, they find that they are beholden to those who helped fund their campaigns. They must toe the line set for them.

As an Independent candidate, I am not tied to any special interest groups, nor am I tied to any party. When elected, I will have the ability to work with those who have ideas that will help the people of this state. Ideas like creating a healthy business environment by lowering business taxes, such as payroll taxes, and eliminating corporate filing fees. Ideas like placing a moratorium on tax increases while balancing the budget by reducing frivolous spending, fraud and waste. These are not novel ideas. However, with a General Assembly that is beholden to the few rather than the many, these ideas have been suppressed for too long.

The time for new leadership is now. Many of us have long and deep roots in this state, and to see people forced to leave because our “leadership” was too concerned with representing those who fund them so that they can maintain power, is unbearable. Change starts with electing those who are committed to helping people, not parties, special interests or other politicians. That is why I’m running.

Ken Amoriggi is an Independent candidate for State Rep. in District 54.

 

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