Happy Mother’s Day!
For many immigrants like myself, today will be another Mother’s day that we have to celebrate thousands of miles away from our mothers. More often than not, there is no broadband connection on the other end, sometimes, not even a working phone line. Yet, messages of love and deep gratitude will be crossing continents and oceans.
My mother is one of these amazing, strong women who fought and worked very hard to raise her children no matter how adverse and dispiriting life’s circumstances were for her.
I meet mothers who remind me of my mother every day. Being elected during a pandemic opens a unique window of appreciation for the full width and depth of their daily struggles. Not a single day passes that I don’t think about ways our local government can provide better, more responsive, and more effective support, help and relief.
Care-giving is an essential infrastructure that it needs to be recognized as such. I believe that the best way to celebrate this day is to reassure every mother that our local government sees her and has her back.
I voted to fund food and rent-assistance and eviction prevention; to provide the funding to meet the School Board’s needs, to safely reopen public facilities, like libraries; to find ways to provide additional services, from free broadband to childcare to additional mental health response capacity; I strongly supported increasing the minimum wage, providing paid sick leave and giving our public employees the right to collectively bargain for better jobs and working conditions.
I did all the above with the additional sense of urgency and purpose that derives from having listened to these mothers. I owe them gratitude and the commitment to do more and better to support them and their families in these difficult times.
Here’s to the amazing, strong women who hold us, inspire us, and keep us from falling throughout every step of our lives.
Whether you are close by or far away - we love you, every day a bit more!
Happy Mother’s Day!
My mother helping me with my first steps.
Democratically Yours,
Takis Karantonis
