CLEMENT HAS A PLAN FOR MAINE

 As an advocate for common sense, I believe that we can employ common sense solutions and thereby effect needed change and return freedom to the people of Maine:

PUBLIC SAFETY:

First, we must prioritize public safety. Public safety is the primary reason for the existence of government. Our criminal justice system is slowly morphing into a social justice system which is eroding public safety. Let’s get this straight, criminals are not victims, they are the perpetrators of crimes against society. All crimes need to be viewed as “against the peace and dignity of our great state.”  We have a multitude of laws available; they need to be enforced and enforced fairly and unilaterally throughout our CJ system.  There are two major issues that need to be addressed, illegal drugs and mental health. Solutions such as ‘drug court’ or a court of co-competing harms need to be fully explored, and, if warranted, need to have a reaffirmed commitment from society.

If we can be assured that an offender has taken personal responsibility for their actions, then we need to be able to offer meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation which, after all, is the only long-term solution to crime. These opportunities should set the stage for offenders to turn their lives around and become useful members of society, contributing to their families and communities.

Our bail code needs to be strengthened and not further diluted. The focus on low bail or no bail is not working and must be abandoned forthwith. The primary focus should be on public safety, but we must not lose sight of the fact that there needs to be respect for our judicial system and an inducement to the offender to appear to answer to their charges and not routinely fail to appear. An offender who fails to appear for a court date or who commits a violation of conditions placed on their release needs to understand there are consequences for such actions.

Our criminal justice system has several agencies within that need to be allowed to do their jobs and to do so in concert with each other. From law enforcement to prosecution to the judiciary to corrections.

Each has defined responsibilities, and we need to make sure they are allowed to function as designed.

RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN OUR ELECTIONS AND GOVERNMENT:

Step 1:  We need to establish voter ID. It boggles the mind that you need to produce identification for the most mundane of things yet to exercise one of your greatest rights, that of voicing your choice, no proof is required.

Step 2: The idea of National Popular Vote is nothing more than the abrogation of our right to choose to those states with greater populations. The Electoral College must be preserved, and the unconstitutional process called for by this proposed convention of states. By maintaining our separate and distinct congressional districts we give all within the state national representation and a voice in the choice of our federal executive branch.

Step 3: While Maine has a more secure absentee process than many other states, the recent addition of drop boxes must require absolute physical security as well as monitoring 24-7 by quality security cameras that have functioning recording capabilities.

MAINE’S CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE – TO ENSURE A BRIGHT FUTURE WE NEED TO:

Reinvigorate our education system. I believe we need to educate, not indoctrinate. We need to empower students, parents and educators alike. Greater choice is not only essential, but it is the civil rights issue of our time. School choice should be available to all and not only to the wealthy.

Parental rights must be upheld. The schools should not be “in loco parentis” but rather in a partnership with parents to provide for the educational needs of our children. Parents should not be kept “in the dark.”

Parents do, indeed, have rights and we must take steps to ensure that they are involved in decisions that can be “life changing;” and are  indeed in the best interest of said minor. We don’t allow minors to bind themselves to a contract until they reach the age of majority. Why then would we allow them to potentially ruin their lives at a lesser age without the benefit of their parents’ wisdom and experience?

Restoring true local control by funding the classroom rather than administration. We need to take a long look at the way the Maine Department of Education mandates methods and content which seems to not deliver on the responsibility to prepare our children for adulthood, meaningful careers and lifelong learning.

Not all our children will aspire to lofty professions or college educations therefore we need to increase vocational options at the secondary school level.

LOWER ENERGY COSTS:

Maine’s high energy prices hurt the elderly and families. Parents shouldn’t have to choose between paying an electric bill or providing basic family needs. The high cost of electricity blocks business expansion and prohibits new companies from locating in Maine, ultimately causing the loss of high-paying blue-collar jobs.

We should cut the subsidies to solar power. These subsidies enrich special interest groups and increase utility rates for everyday Mainers. People who can barely afford their own personal electric bills are forced to subsidize solar panels for the wealthy.

Maine needs to lift the cap on clean hydropower. Maine’s existing dams powered by our abundant waters are not fully utilized.

Maine’s renewable energy portfolio standards mandate us to purchase premium-priced yet unreliable wind and solar power thereby driving up the non-competitive electricity prices here.

Perhaps one answer would be to explore the viability and advantages of micro-modular reactors that have already received US regulatory approval. Modern control systems that use artificial intelligence make these systems 100-times safer than those of yesteryear; the small size reduces the potential of collateral damage, and a single unit can produce power equal to one of Maines small hydro dams ranging from 10 to 50 megawatts.

ROCKET SCIENCE ISSUES:

The high cost of home ownership. Reduce costs by fast-tracking permits and removing unnecessary and burdensome regulations.

Allow people to keep the money they earn. Decrease government spending and lower taxes. If the rainy-day fund is full and essential government services are met, the people’s money gathered from over-taxing should be returned.

Democrats have greatly expanded government programs. Bureaucrats expand burdensome regulations and drive up the cost of government. These expenditures, unlike market costs are not subject to downward pressure from price, product, and profit/loss competition and need to be de-monopolized over time by greater competition, consolidation, downsizing, privatization, and other innovative means.

Examine how we run our welfare system. End the “welfare cliff” by enacting policies that gradually reduce subsidies to prevent the loss of necessary benefits, such as childcare, until recipients become established in their employment.

Let’s get able-bodied adults back to work. Realign Maine’s welfare benefits with federal guidelines, Maine should not be an outlier.  Maine has a magnet of overly generous benefits that are counter-productive to transitioning people from welfare to work.

We need to regularly verify eligibility for benefits rather than relying on automatic approvals.

Maine has many problems that need to be addressed. These are but a few. It has taken us years to get into this situation and turning the tide will not be easy, but our current track is just not sustainable. We need to make a statement at the polls. We need to elect conservative legislators that will work to return freedom to the people of Maine. Republicans are those candidates. What we have done for years is not working, A change is necessary. Let’s work together and send representatives to Augusta that want to see Maine return to the way life used to be. 

CLEMENT ANNOUNCES RUN FOR MAINE HOUSE

Kerryl Lee Clement has announced his candidacy for Maine House District 96 for Lewiston. Clement, a graduate of Farmington High School and the University of Maine with a degree in Criminal Justice, has had a career as a law enforcement and public safety officer and executive.  He has been in public service of one type or another in both Maine and New Hampshire since 1970. 

As an elected official, Clement has served two terms on the Lewiston City Council which included one year as City Council President, Finance Committee for four years, with three as chair. Additionally, he was Lewiston’s representative on the Maine Municipal Association’s Legislative Policy Committee evaluating proposed legislation and providing guidance to MMA lobbyists regarding legislative issues.

Clement served on Lewiston’s Loan Qualification Committee; as a representative to the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments General Assembly; the Lewiston-Auburn 911 Committee as well as on ad-hoc panels dealing with numerous issues. For the past two years he has served as Lewiston’s elected representative to the Androscoggin County Budget Committee. Clement sees the cost of everything rising, government spending out of control and not responsive to the needs of Maine’s citizens.

In his time off, Clement served as a National Ski Patroller for 28 years, a Mason for 50 years, where he was Master of Augusta Lodge No. 141, Past District Deputy Grand Master, 11th District, Grand Lodge of Masons in Maine, and Senior Chief Provost Emeritus of Kora Temple Shriners. A Patron Life Member of the National Rifle Association, Clement is a certified range safety officer. A member of the Androscoggin County Fish & Game Association, Clement enjoys hunting and spending time outdoors in Maine.

A family man, Clement has been married to Lewiston native Lucille Leclair for 52 years. Together they have two grown children and four grandchildren. They moved to Lewiston in 2015 and built their retirement home where Clement now serves as the Secretary and a Director of the Apple Valley Estates HOA. 

Clement describes himself as an advocate for common sense and a public servant, not as a politician. He is concerned about some current legislative trends and looks forward to meeting with district residents and learning of their concerns in order to provide them with effective representation in Augusta.