Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 9-9-16 Online Edition

Generational Poverty
LAKELAND -- The United States Census Bu- reau stated, in 2014 the of- ficial poverty rate was 14.8 percent. In the United States, there are 46.7 mil- lion citizens living in poverty or below the poverty level. Polk County ranks 5th in the nation re- garding poverty concerns. In 2014, the poverty rate percentage was no different than the statistical data from 2013.
Poverty in District 40, which includes all City and County sections of Lake- land, is at 15 percent plus. Which in turn makes it dif- ficult for citizens to sustain a good, quality of life.
In K-12 schools in Polk County, a number of youth go to bed hungry and some don't have regular meals during the summer break.
Polk County’s very own elderly citizens that are on a fixed income, must decide between paying the electric bill, buying food or buying their medication.
As City, County and State leaders, we need to be aware of the generational poverty rate that plagues District 40. Some of the families are working simply to survive and have not reached a point where they are thriving. We have to work together with the fam- ilies currently living in poverty to enhance their ed- ucational, social, and pro- fessional skill-set to actively decrease the number of families and youth living in poverty within District 40, which is the City and County sections of Lake- land.
With a bold commitment to not just looking at the fig- ures, but engage in policy and programs that focus on education, social and eco- nomic improvements, the number of family members and youth living in an im- poverished state of being will decrease dramatically.
DR. SHANDALE TERRELL Lakeland, Florida
Features
State Senate Candidate Ready To Move On
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last week, registered vot- ers in Hillsborough and Pinel- las Counties elected a new State Senator. The winner of the race was determined by a recount that showed 77 votes separated the two candidates.
In the final analysis, Rep. Darryl Rouson, of St. Pe- tersburg walked away with the victory. He will face Republi- can candidate John Houman in the General Elec- tion in November.
Ed Narain said he is not bitter about losing the race. “I wouldn’t be completely honest if I said that losing this race so closely wasn’t very disappoint- ing, my faith allows me to be- lieve that there is always a silver lining in any dark cloud.
ED NARAIN
God may have something bet- ter for me.”
Narain said that he is looking forward to all of the good things that will come out of this setback.
“I enjoyed my time in the Legislature representing our community and believe that together, we accomplished a lot. It was an honor to lead my peers in the Black Caucus and
earn the respect of so many on both sides of the aisle. Being able to pass legislation that will make a lasting difference and secure funding for vital proj- ects was very personally re- warding,” he said.
Narain said that although he will not be representing this area in the State Senate, he re- mains concerned about what happens in his community. And, he plans to continue the fight as a private citizen.
“My commitment to mak- ing our state and community better for our children and families will never waiver,” he said.
Narain was elected as State Representative for Dis- trict 61 two years ago. Voters elected Sean Shaw to replace him in November.
First-Time Candidate Called Election A Learning Experience
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
It has often been said that things appear different when you are on the outside looking in than when you’re on the in- side looking out. And, that has been the case with Ms. Di- anne Hart.
Ms. Hart recently ran for the State Representative Dis- trict 61 Seat and lost And al- though she wasn’t victorious this time, she said she will run again at some point in the fu- ture.
“It was a pleasure to partic- ipate in this process and I re- ally enjoyed it. But what is more important is what I have learned. And, there are some things that I can’t wait to bring back and share with the com- munity.
“Our people need to under- standing the importance of participating in a Primary Election. There were several races in which the race was de- cided in the Primary Election and this was one of them. Peo- ple just don’t understand how
MS. DIANNE HART
critical it is to vote in the Pri- mary Election.
“I still have people coming up to me and saying that they are going to vote for me in No- vember. I’m keeping count to see if the number will reach 101, which is the number of votes that I lost the election by.”
She further stated that she plans to hold workshops to ed- ucate the community about the way things are done and to let them know what they can do.
One of the things she plans to discuss is the issues of over voting and under voting.
“If a person marks the wrong box and then crosses it out, that ballot is thrown out
and it doesn’t count. There were more than 480 votes that were not counted because of this. But, no one tells the vot- ers that if you make a mistake, just ask for a new ballot and your vote will count,” she said.
As far as her overall experi- ence, Ms. Hart said she is grateful that she had this op- portunity to participate in the political process as a candi- date.
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016