2020 Election Profile: Michael Mita, RI State Senate District 31

Thursday, August 27, 2020

GoLocalProv News Team

 

View Larger +

PHOTO: Mita Campaign

Meet Mike Mita who is running for election in Senate District 31 (Warwick).

Read what he has to say about why he is running for office.

This is part of an ongoing series by GoLocal featuring each of the candidates for House and Senate.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

 

1.  What do you think is the biggest political issue this campaign season in Rhode Island? 

 

Certainly the biggest issue right now, politically or otherwise, is Covid-19 and our societal and governmental response. There is no quick and easy solution coming in the near future. Every action, reaction, or inaction has consequences both negative and positive. Understandably, people are frustrated, scared, confused, and angry. Now more than ever we need leaders who can keep their focus on solutions and cooperation. Unfortunately, so much of what we’re getting from our leaders is division, blame, and hysteria. I think we’ve been fortunate in that way here in Rhode Island, but we’re still in the early innings of this game. It’s going to be a long road, and we’ve got to stick together and stay together throughout. Our enemy is the virus, not each other.

 

 

2.  What do we need to do to improve Rhode Island's economy?

 

Business is the engine our economy runs on. We’ve got to be more welcoming and more supportive of businesses here. We’ve got to make it easier and more attractive to do business and start businesses in Rhode Island. We’ve got to work in and with our education system from high school through college and technical school to provide a workforce for growth industries, and we need infrastructure that’s second to none. That’s all just to get on an equal footing with our competitors. To win the competition for these job producing, resource generating businesses and industries, we’ve got to get out and sell Rhode Island. If a state has an educated workforce, a high standard of living, a world-class airport, a world-class seaport, multiple world-class cities, proximity to NYC and Boston, beautiful parks and beaches, the best restaurants anywhere, theater, culture, history, Del’s, and no one’s out there telling the world…does any of it help us win?

 


3.  What is the greatest challenge facing Rhode Island as a state?


The greatest ongoing challenge we face as a state is our education system. We’ve neglected it too long and we’re now seeing the result. While US News ranks 3 New England states in the top 5 for K-12 education, we’re ranked last in New England, last in the Northeast, and last on the East Coast. Of course we all saw the devastating report on Providence Schools. The great news is, we’ve got everything we need to fix it right here. We’ve got great teachers and administrators. We’ve got a well-educated population. We’ve got great models of success here in RI, and close by throughout New England. It’s time the state government made a great education for every student in every district non-negotiable. Education is fundamental to our economy, our long term health, and the ability of our citizens to meet every challenge we face. We have to stop looking to pass responsibility off by blaming this group or that, and make a decision together that we’re going to be a society that values children, and values our future.

 


4.  Why are you running for office? What makes you uniquely qualified?  


A teacher of mine in high school, Dr. Bender, used to say “We are either getting better or we are getting worse. We do not stay the same.” I love Rhode Island, on a lot of counts, just the way it is. But I’m troubled by what I see as a feeling of resignation all around us that things can’t change. That we’re completely at the mercy of this group or that, this situation or that, and things will always be the way things have always been. When this seat opened up, I knew a lot of career politicians or political families would jump at it and not let go. I also knew it was an opportunity for a regular citizen with a successful background in sales and business, with a family and deeply held love of Rhode Island, and with no desire to hold a seat for the sake of holding the seat to get involved and work hard to do good things for our state and start us on the path to getting better – for our students, for our seniors, for our poor, for our environment, for our economy. In other words: for each other. I spent the last 20 years of my life growing my business and my family. So it really felt like it was now or never, if I was going to serve our state in a meaningful, impactful way.

 


5.  Who is your inspiration?

 

That would take up every page in your paper. But I’ll say my inspiration to serve and to give began with my parents. Since us, 5 kids have grown up and left home, my mother decided to take up orphanage building in Africa… really. She and some others raised some money here in the States to build and endow two homes for orphans and she travels over a few times a year to help out and see first-hand what the ongoing needs are. But even while raising 5 children, she and my father were able to model service and encourage that will to serve – to look outside yourself and your own problems and concerns. Be it volunteering at our schools and our church, visiting soup kitchens or pitching in at a homeless shelter – my Dad would spend thanksgiving morning cooking these huge meals for families we’d never know. They wanted us kids to know that we had it good, and that meant it was incumbent on us to try to make things better for others.

 

Bio here: https://www.mita2020.com/about-mike

website: https://www.mita2020.com/

 

Contact Info:

Mita for Rhode Island

[email protected]

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook