Southpinellas: Don't be content, Democrat = advises

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Don't be content, Democrat advises

Demand better government, ex-U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek = tells the=20 Suncoast Tiger Bay Club.

By MATTHEW = WAITE, Times=20 Staff Writer
Published March 25, 2004

ST. PETERSBURG - Former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, the South = Florida=20 Democrat who served for 10 years in Congress, on Wednesday = said=20 everyone should push for better, more equitable = government.

Meek, in St. Petersburg to accept the Suncoast Tiger Bay = Club's=20 Benjamin Franklin award for outstanding public service, said = it is=20 the duty of elected officials to treat all people = fairly.

"Elected officials are supposed to take care of the = people's=20 business, and they are supposed to do it in a way that's = fair and=20 equitable," she said.

Meek, 77, retired from Congress in 2002, making way for = her son,=20 Kendrick Meek, to replace her in the Miami district. The=20 granddaughter of slaves and the child of a sharecropper, = Carrie Meek=20 won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 1979, = was the=20 first black woman elected to the state Senate and the first = black=20 woman to be part of Florida's congressional delegation.

Meek recalled growing up during segregation, "but I'm not = a=20 victim," she said. "I came up through the system."

Meek said she was shown little fairness in her own life, = and she=20 felt she should be fair to all during her life in public = office. She=20 listed among her accomplishments changing Florida affordable = housing=20 policies, increasing funding for elderly food assistance,=20 championing equal rights for women and congressional = redistricting=20 to help minorities gain political power.

Answering a question from the audience, Meek said that = black=20 political power aligned almost exclusively with the = Democratic Party=20 wasn't a good thing.

"I think we need black people at every table," she said. = "I do=20 not think African-Americans should restrict their = affiliation to one=20 party."

Regardless of who is in Washington, people need to always = push=20 public servants to do right by people, she said.

"Don't get too happy about the situation you're in," she = said.=20 "You need to press for better government."

[Last modified March 25, 2004, = 01:05:44]

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