looking to the future // Rose Valfierno Mayor Speech

[Kire]

[attr="class","rosehorizontal"]rose valfierno [attr="class","rosehorisontal"]candidate

[attr="class","rose"]She stands behind the microphone, using the thin stand as an inadequate shield from the gaze of the people staring at her. Before she had mounted the stage she had tried to warm up her voice, and the little whispered argument with her sister had aided somewhat in this. Now, though, her mouth was dry and she was trying hard to remember how she was going to start her speech. After an awkward pause the words suddenly clicked back into her mind and she began: "Many of you will know my last name. Some, though very few, may even know my first name - may even know me. I may not seem like someone who understands the struggles many people go through every day and I am young, I know, but I have experienced more than you might expect." She took a breath here, no more than a momentary pause as she ordered her now-moving thoughts into something intelligible. "For the most part, I grew up with enough. Many people here aren't able to say that but I can. For most of my life I have had what I need to survive. Even when I no longer lived with my parents but only my sister, relying on her to keep me safe and protected, I had enough. Knowing this, and knowing how hard they had to work to make it so, I feel bound to provide for others as they did for me." This time the break in her words was caused by a stab of regret, and of subtle anger. Patricia had taken care of her for all of those years and yet she had also stolen what could have been a good family life from her. She swallowed the emotion, turning instead to her future hopes. "I want to make sure that everyone can have enough. I want the kids to be able to play and not worry about taking out tesserae to help their family survive, or turning to other methods to keep enough of an income that they could afford food or clothes. Workers need better hours and pay, a more balanced schedule that gives time to spend with family and recovering from the strains of work while also providing enough money to live on." Now she was coming to the most important point for her. The bits about children and workers were important in their own right, and did come from some of her own history, but this next concern was something that weighed much more heavily on her shoulders. This was important to her, this was the reason why she was here. "This district is widely known for its drug problems, and I know that targeting those who use is not way to solve this problem. Getting pushed into corners, experiencing stress, and being punished for a habit that you can't help is not the solution. We need to provide the opportunities and incentives for those suffering to get clean, and by providing the means to have successful and decent lives there will be less unfortunate souls who get drawn into the darkness of drugs." She fought hard to keep the shadow from showing in her face. Yes, she knew well what it was like to be in that position. That was the reason why she had withdrawn so far from everyone she had known before, especially Patricia. Now, she would use her knowledge to help others like her. "Let me help this district to become something even more than it is right now, something better." She took one step back from the microphone as though she were finished, but one last thought popped into her head and she stepped forward once more. "Your support means more to me than you know." With that, she left the stage, not waiting to see if anyone applauded.

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