Guest column

Here's my guest column that ran in the Free Press and The Camden Herald:

“We couldn’t do it anymore,” my friends told me as we packed up the U-Haul truck. “We spent all last winter looking for work and now with the price of heating oil – forget about it.” I was in the same boat; there were only so many days of house painting left on Islesboro before the weather would turn, and I would have to find winter employment.

It was early November as we drove south out of Camden, headed to where so many Midcoast economic refugees have gone before us: Portland. Although the last of my childhood friends were currently leaving the area, Maine was where I wanted to be. My former university classmates thought I was crazy to live in a state with so few employment opportunities and some of the lowest wages in the country. Before I made the decision to run for state representative, I have to admit that I had second thoughts about moving back to Maine. For the first time in my adult career, I would be without health insurance and stable employment.

During the following months I cobbled together several different part-time and temp jobs while simultaneously searching for full-time employment. I shoveled snow, worked on a factory assembly line, did customer service for a supermarket chain, did maintenance work at a warehouse, and manned the front desk at a homeless shelter. At all of these jobs I met other people like myself who relied on seasonal work to make ends meet. They were carpenters, house painters, landscapers, waiters, and waitresses, slogging along, making 7 or 8 bucks an hour with no benefits. Unfortunately, for many of my former coworkers, the spring, when they intended to make “the real money,” never really came this year. As the economy has slowed, so have the construction and tourism jobs, which sustain so many of us in Maine.

Then one night this spring, back home in Lincolnville after my winter in employment purgatory, I decided to stop complaining and do something. Since Maine is one of only two states in the country with a Clean Elections Act, I could apply for those funds and run for state representative.

After talking with several veteran legislators, I was at first intimidated by the countless grueling hours I would have to commit to my campaign. Going door to door to meet constituents in my vast rural district seemed like a full-time interview for a part-time job. But after a few false starts – a door slam here, a dog bite there – I suddenly realized how lucky I am to live in such a warm, welcoming community and began to look forward to “doing doors.”

Soon I was bringing home jars of homemade pickles, hand crocheted doilies, and fresh vegetables from gardens around the seven towns in my district. By the end of August I had to practically fight off constituents bearing zucchinis and cucumbers. I sat in kitchens discussing the economy and the fuel crisis. I’ve listened to elderly folks worried about how they were going to pay for heating oil, yet vowing to “make-do.” They don’t want to take state aid and thus deny help to low-income families with children. In the same town low-income parents told me that they feared most for the old folks this winter.
But I’ve met very few members of my own generation. Sometimes I’ve seen an old high school classmate’s name on the voter list, but after I visited the house, I learned from the parents that their son or daughter had long ago left the state. The most common refrain I heard from folks across the political spectrum has been, “I wouldn’t want to be a young person starting out today.”

My run for the Legislature has been eye-opening and inspiring in another way though. I’ve learned about so many innovative ideas that can reshape Maine. Offshore wind turbines to generate electricity, geothermal heating systems for homes, Opportunity Maine’s exciting plan to train young workers for the new green economy, grassroots organizations such as Maine People’s Alliance and Midcoast Health Care Reform that are working for change in the way we pay for health care.

We’ve got to restore our faith in the power of democracy. We can make affordable health insurance accessible to all, by setting up our own democratic insurance pool. We can start investing in energy that is clean, renewable and affordable, produced right here at home. We can provide more opportunities for young people and keep our communities strong.

So many of you have told me you want these things; now let’s work together to solve the problems that plague our beautiful area. Please consider voting for Andy O’Brien on November 4.
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