Mayoral Candidate Jon Mitchell

The New Bedford municipal elections will be held on November 8th, 2011.  A list of the candidates can be found here.   New Bedford Guide does not endorse candidates and we offer our site for any candidate to publish articles.  Articles can be submitted to info@newbedfordguide.com.  Here is an article submitted by Jon Mitchell who is running for mayor.  Learn more about him on his website and Facebook page.

Several months ago I decided to run for Mayor of New Bedford because I believed New Bedford is at a pivotal point. We can keep up the positive momentum we’ve built up over the past several years, or we can slip back and lose the progress we’ve worked hard to achieve. I don’t want us to slip back, and neither do you.

Here is what I offer as a candidate:

For almost ten years, I was a federal prosecutor, pursuing drug dealers, white collar criminals, and corporations that broke the rules.

I went after the polluters responsible for the Buzzards Bay Oil Spill, and I was the prosecutor on the team that hunted mobster Whitey Bulger. Over the years, I led teams of federal agents in many complicated investigations, including several right here in New Bedford. In all these cases, my job was to sort out complex problems, to exercise sound judgment, and to make decisions.

I believe New Bedford needs a Mayor with precisely those skills.

As Mayor, I will make to you the following commitments:

First, I will fight at every point to bring jobs to New Bedford. In my previous job, I sat across the table from corporate executives on multi-million dollar issues and fought successfully to reach agreements. I didn’t back down then, and I won’t back down as Mayor.

Second, I won’t rest until today’s deep, pervasive problems in our schools are a thing of the past.

As the son of two public school teachers, I want the children in our school system, including my own children, to receive an education that puts them on a path to success. To do that, we need to restore confidence and accountability throughout our school system, and it is long past the time for talking about our drop-out problem. We need to become much better at identifying at-risk kids at an early age and giving them the help they need to stay in school.

We won’t get far in growing our economy or improving our schools if we don’t have safe streets. No one wants to live or come to a place where they feel insecure. As someone who has spent a career in law enforcement, believe me: I am the last person the criminals want to see in the Mayor’s Office.

The citizens of New Bedford should know this: New Bedford means a great deal to me. This City is not only my home. It is where my roots are. My family’s story is the same story as thousands of others who worked hard in the mills and on fishing boats, sacrificed for their children, and helped make New Bedford the great place it is today.

This is where my wife Ann and I are raising our three girls. As a father, I want a future for my children where they hold good jobs and live happy, full lives right here in New Bedford. I am committed to being the kind of Mayor that makes that same future a reality for all the children of our City. To do it, I am going to need your help. That is why I am asking for your vote on November 8th.

Stay tuned for our interview with Jon Mitchell next week!