First Speech

My name is Carole Kaye and I am an immigration attorney by trade as well as an activist by nature and practice. During the last election cycle, I was determined to participate as much as possible to make sure that the White House was retaken by the Democrats. As a member of Organizing for America, I found the Obama - East Boca campaign office location for Craig Borken and I worked extremely hard, as most of us did, to achieve our historic win. I was a member of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee as a precinct captain, regularly registering voters and participating in the Voter Protection program during the two weeks of early voting, as well as on Election Day itself. When the Polls closed, I went to Obama’s East Boca campaign office to watch the returns, and when the California results were announced I was part of the shared celebratory hysteria!

If I look familiar to any of you, it is probably because of my work during the last election cycle. During the coming months we will get to know each other very well. My policy positions will reflect the needs of our district and it is my goal to earn your vote.

It is interesting how our childhoods help decide our lives. For me, it was moving at age nine from Washington Heights in New York City to a small town in northern New Jersey with a population of only 3,500. It was there, at the age of eleven, I first experienced discrimination in the form of Anti-Semitism. As every minority knows, the pain of being made fun of, being excluded or being marginalized due to race or religion is a memory that remains, no matter how short lived the experience.

If being liberal and empathic, a defender of those less fortunate, embracing the differences in people, and being passionate about equality and fair play was not part of my DNA, it became part of my chemistry before adolescence.

It was at that time that I also became a Democrat even before I knew what a Democrat was. In 1956, I was ten, and my parents obviously supported Adlai Stevenson. To my memory, I was the only child in my school whose parents made her wear a Stevenson button. At my 40th high school reunion, one of my classmates recalled with clarity that I wore that campaign button in grammar school when Eisenhower was the popular choice in our community. I still have that button, 53 years later.

I live my life with the understanding that a life well lived is one that includes service to others. I currently am on the Board of a Haitian non-profit and have volunteered a great deal of my time, post earthquake, organizing rescue missions. Additional information on other charitable endeavors, work related projects, and career highlights, can be found here on my website.

I offer my candidacy to be State Representative for District 86 based on my notion of what I want my back yard to be like. Those of us who live in District 86 share a back yard, and I hope that you will support my campaign as well as with your vote on August 24, which quite serendipitously, on my birthday.

With your help, I will be your strong voice in Tallahassee, protecting our backyard.

In our backyard:

• Everyone will have a voice.
• Social responsibility and compassion are values worth protecting.
• Education opportunities for our children will be bountiful, not just because our teachers will be well paid, but because teachers will be deeply involved in curriculum development and don’t teach only for the FCAT.
• Condominium associations will be protected from delinquent homeowners, and from the banks that hold the mortgages on foreclosed properties.
• Predatory lending will be done away with.
• Property taxes will reflect property values.
• Insurance companies will not be permitted to gouge policy-holders because we live in an area vulnerable to hurricane damage.
• Florida law enforcement resources, manpower as well as financial, will be utilized only for the protection of our neighbors, not for acting as agents of the Federal Government.
• The Constitution will be respected. Racial profiling, illegal searches, seizures and arrests without probable cause are not sanctioned.
• Sexual preference will never be the basis for discrimination.
• Consumer protections will be strengthened.
• Lawyers will not take advantage of their clients with impunity.
• Wage theft and human trafficking will no longer plague our immigrant communities.
• Green energy will translate into employment opportunities and will also develop renewable sources for personal consumption.
• Migratory districts will no longer be options for gaming the system.
• Elected officials will risk criticism to do the correct things.
• Elections will be publicly funded, so that those in office will do the people’s work full-time and candidates will not have to sacrifice their vocations or avocations while fund raising and campaigning.
• Representative democracy will be truly representative through reforms that encourage competition and pluralism

The bully pulpit given to an elected official is a very powerful tool. Skillfully used, tenacity can influence policy and protect those who rely on that official’s integrity. You have my word I will be vigilant in safeguarding the rights of my neighbors in District 86.

I welcome your donations and want to learn about what issues are important to you. Please allow me to speak with you and your friends over a cup of coffee in your home. Any time that you may have to help me during the campaign, but, what I really need are your votes.

Thank you for your interest and for all you do.

AHVED
The Palm Beach County-based Association of Haitians Living Abroad for Development (AHVED) recruits doctors, nurses and other health care professionals for week-long trips designed to treat the injured and dying in devastated communities.
www.ahved.org

Think Act Lead
Think Act Lead is a non-profit think tank for progressive perspectives. We are dedicated to promoting progressive but practical solutions to public problems ...
www.thinkactlead.org

Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)
Immigrant Resource Center Members of Students Working for Equal Rights (S.W.E.R.), the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and allies participated in 14 actions across our state on ...
www.floridaimmigrant.org

American Jewish Committee
AJC has worked since 1906 to safeguard Jewish life and to protect the dignity of all people.
www.ajc.org

The National Organization for Women (NOW)
News from the National Organization for Women: stories about women and feminism, action alerts, and more...
www.now.org

American Immigration Lawyers Association
National association of attorneys who practice and teach immigration law.
www.aila.org

Human Rights Watch
Organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world, standing with victims and activists to bring offenders to justice.
www.hrw.org

American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering ...
www.cancer.org