Carmen Morris Running for State House. By Geniusofdespair

I wrote about Harold Ford previously (He has the S.O.S. plan of his major five objectives: Save Our Students, Save Our Schools, Save Our Seniors, Save Our Streets, and Save Our State!) Well, Carmen Morris is also running in District 117. The District runs mainly north to south, between Florida City up to Richmond Heights.) I asked Carmen a few questions.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up here in Miami. I attended public school at Miami Edison. Herald reporter Bea Hines visited my English/Journalism class and left a lasting impression. So much so that I studied journalism at Miami Dade College and then Broadcast Journalism at Howard University in Washington, DC. I eventually moved back to the Miami sunshine and escaped the cold weather and then began the MBA program at Barry University while working at Storer Communications. I’ve always remained involved in my community from high school to now.

What do you do for a living?

I am a small business owner. Having my degree in journalism allowed me to go into the public relations and marketing field. My firm provides services including community outreach, public affairs, airport concession consulting as well as event planning and coordination to both the public and private sector corporations.

Why are you running?

I have always been active in the community. It is easy to be busy in the community when the needs are so great. Running for office is a natural extension of my volunteerism. What better way to help the community than to work as a legislator to make laws that make sense for the community?

Name one thing you are focusing on?

There are so many needs in our district; it would be easy to share a list a mile long. I believe that jobs, job training (or retraining), and small business development is key to the economic viability of a community. We need innovation and out-of-the-box thinking when dealing with economic development, not more of the same.

What about the environment?

The environment is a gift to those of us living in South Florida. It brings to our community fresh water, recreation and jobs. We have to treat our environment as important as it is to preserve it for us and future generations. I believe the legislature has failed to do due diligence.

What have you learned so far about running for office?

Everyone you meet has a story to share. The story is sometimes be sad, sometimes a horrible insight to how government affects people or sometimes angry but there are very few stories repeated to me that celebrate good government. Government must listen to its people or it will completely lose step with the community’s needs.

As State Representative, I want to take my skills, experience and talent and change those stories. I want our district and our state to be filled with successful and happy citizens who have great stories to tell about living in Florida.