Council Candidate Curtis’ Pitch to West Ward Residents

Daryl Curtis will tell you he’s a political neophyte of sorts. He’s never run for office, really doesn’t pay too much attention to those issues in the local papers,  and is just beginning to understand the dynamics of elections.

One thing, however,  he does clearly understand, is winning an election is about people when you boil it all down to its essential element. And when it comes to people, meaning the ones backing him,  he’s real clear on what he thinks his advantage is in his  to overtake Betty Rodriquez  the current west ward representative on the Bristol Borough Council.

“You’ll always know where to find me, I’m visible in the community every day,  and if I’m here and your there (pointing to a seat in the barber shop business he owns on Mill St.)  you might have to wait a minute or two while I finish doing a shape up or something, but you will get my time, cause my success, will only come as a result,  of my connection to the people in the west ward,  and like I said,  I’m here (in the shop) everyday. ”

Curtis recognizes the influential processes involved in running against another minority as some have said. The Letters and unwelcome advice of some who have asked him to leave the race,  but he brushes that off,  by saying that’s just people being ugly and it’s his job to educate people on why he’s running.

“There are two challenges we face here in Bristol  as I see it. The first is how do we turn  Mill St. into a hotbed for the businesses here, and the ones to come.  Now I like the idea of the docks and all, but the work can’t stop there,  the question is will Mill St become a restaurant district only for those that can afford it, or can we make it an attraction for a number of different groups of people to come to?

“I see the idea of the docks and what comes with it as something great, but the truth of the matter is, there are a lot of people who live in the borough who can’t afford or really don’t feel welcomed by the effort, and that … separation, is something we need to deal with.”

“There are a lot of people here, who feel disenfranchised by their own government. And that needs to end, we need to them too.”

Curtis who’s been in business successfully on Mill St for nine-years now, also thinks something needs to be put in place for kids of  the borough some kind of program that they can attend where mentoring takes place.

“Look I don’t know about you, but those kids going to our schools, living here, if they are anything like those before them, they will stay in the area, live here and raise their kids,  like so many others have done over the years. The only way that tradition succeeds is if we look out for them in every way possible. They are the future taxpayers of the borough you know,  and it seems to me if we’re going to try to increase our tax base to continue the work that has already taken place  it’s also going to come from those kids.”

Curtis was asked about recent comments made by councilwoman on her Facebook declaring herself  “…the West Ward.”  Curtis grinned and said “you’re not going to find me on the internet saying this or that,  but you will find me here, on Mill St. reaching out to my constituents, talking to them about their issues, for me Facebook isn’t the west ward, with all due respect to the councilwoman.”

“I have yet to actually meet her since I’ve been here in business.  People will know where to find me, I’m visible to them right here where I think it matters most. In the west ward on the streets of the west ward.”