Moving the Agenda
Dear Bowdoin, Bowdoinham and Richmond Neighbors:
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your State Representative for the last two years, and
was an even greater honor to win your overwhelming support on November 4th for another two-year term.
Nine days later, I was further honored to win the position of Majority Whip in the Maine House of Representatives. Below are the first four paragraphs from the Times Record article on this event.
Seth
Berry grabs House whip post
By
Christopher Cousins, Times Record Bureau
AUGUSTA
— Rep. Seth Berry is on an electoral hot streak. After winning re-election to a second term as representative of Maine House
District 67 on Nov. 4, the Bowdoinham Democrat gained a key leadership post within his party's caucus with a surprisingly
easy victory in his bid to become assistant majority leader, otherwise known as the House majority whip. Essentially, the
position makes Berry third in command of the majority party in the House.
Berry fended off five challengers. Election
to this position requires a majority of votes, which is why some expected several rounds of voting to extend late into Thursday
afternoon. However, Berry's support was strong enough that he was declared winner after a single vote.
The other nominees
were Cynthia Dill of Cape Elizabeth, Herbert Clark of Millinocket, Don Pilon of Saco, Richard Cleary of Houlton and Mike Carey
of Lewiston.
"Leading and legislating is not a spectator sport," said Berry before the vote. "It's very hard work that
requires a shared vision. The job that I aspire to is not about setting the agenda. It's about moving the agenda. As Democrats,
we believe that as long as someone else is unfortunate, so are we."
Despite our national economy, recent employment gains in our area have been in the top 4% of all legislative
districts in Maine. This year, we welcomed as many as 70 new-job announcements
at three local businesses: Locally Known of Bowdoinham, Hodgeton Yachts in Richmond, and FHC of Bowdoin.
Nevertheless, 2009 looks like a tough year. Here are a few
key quotations from today’s MaineBiz interview with Charlie Colgan – one of the most respected economists in Maine.
· “Clearly, this is a financial crisis on the order of what happened in 1931
and 32.”
· “Maine's come through generally better than the U.S. as a whole.”
· “In the current forecast we're looking about 7,000 jobs lost. And my alternative,
more pessimistic, scenario is 17,000. It's a decline of 2.1%.
·
“Maine has one
big problem and one big potential opportunity during this period. The problem is Brunswick. [The Brunswick Naval Air Station
is] going to close, most of the people from Brunswick will be gone by the end of next year, but most of the effect of Brunswick's
closing is going to happen at the worst time in terms of the recession.”
·
“The opposite,
good news, is the potential for the wind power and transmission lines construction projects coming online just as the economy
is coming out of recession and substantially boosting our upward trajectory when the time comes.”
·
“So it's not
an entirely bleak picture. We do have some advantages. But the hardest year is definitely going to be 2009.
New, better-paying jobs such as the promising, “green energy” jobs Colgan refers to must remain a top priority
for us all as we face the immense economic challenges ahead. At this time we must remember our core strengths:
our strong communities, where one neighbor helps another; our strong tradition of local self-reliance, from canning home
produce to cutting our own wood; and our strong resilience in the face of adversity.
Have no doubt that sacrifices will be made by us all. We will
all likely need to tolerate reduced town or school services, reduced services for an elderly or disabled relative, and perhaps
even a layoff or two in our own family. If we stick together, we will get through
it and be stronger. If we stick together and pull together for a brighter future,
we will find ourselves more prosperous than we were in the past.
