- April 24, 2024
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Ray Minami, 18, will be running for mayor in the 2011 city elections. But first, he needs to finish high school.
“This is my first interview,” 18-year-old Matanzas High School senior and upcoming Palm Coast mayoral candidate Ray Minami said. He wore a T-shirt, gray jeans and a brown fedora. In an hour, he would be hopping a plane to New York to attend an annual archeology club dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He laughed. “I hope I’m coming across all right.”
Minami will be the first to admit: He can’t match his competitors in raw experience. But he has ideas.
“My intentions are the first thing,” he said. “I don’t want to have a campaign of slander-talking, but I know the first thing that is going to come out of my opponents’ mouths is my age.”
And he’s okay with that.
“I know I’m a youngster. But when it comes to politics, as long as your mind is right, your age shouldn’t matter,” Minami said.
Minami, who moved when he was 6 from Long Island to Palm Coast, will run on a platform of economic growth and new business development. He wants to reprioritize local government by putting more money into education and the exploration of alternative water supplies, and less into endeavors he sees as frivolous and shortsighted — like the construction of a “fancy” new City Hall.
“Our community is suffering from the economic blow, like all other communities,” he said. “ … But this place is still growing, and we’ve got to have jobs. You’ve got to be able to feed the population, you know? Give them a way to feed themselves.”
As for a campaign slogan, Minami hasn’t given one much thought. “I’m still working on it,” he said. “They told me slogan was a big thing … I thought I’d get up there and let my character be my slogan.”
One of Minami’s ideas to beef up the city’s economy is to put a focus on fish farming. “I’m trying to start an industry here,” he said. “Maybe Palm Coast can become an international trader.”
He also wants to utilize the city’s available resources and existing structures before building on new land. He’d like to establish a local archeological diving school, as well, and foster richer cultural/entertainment outlets for the city’s growing young community.
“(Palm Coast) has a direction to go in,” Minami said, “and in the next 10 or 20 years, decisions are going to be made in which direction we (choose). I want to be a part of that.”
As for drinking water alternatives — such as ocean desalination — to Minami, almost nothing is more important.
“If you don’t have a water source, your empire can’t thrive,” he said, citing water-shortage projections that put Palm Coast in crisis mode by 2020, if not earlier. “Running out of water is our biggest concern.”
In education, he’d like to see more hands-on learning opportunities, but understands that local government has little say in how schools are run and budgeted. “A classroom is a classroom,” he said, “and then you have the in-the-field stuff. That’s when kids really get turned on.”
Minami, who in 2009 traveled to Belize for a school-sponsored archeological dig, believes that students need hands-on activities to truly grow as people.
“Me being in the (school’s) archeological program led to me being in the (international) Explorers Club, which is an amazing thing,” he said.
Minami’s first action if elected mayor will be to set up an public forum online.
“We’re better if we put all our brains together,” he said. “If someone has a better idea, let them be heard. Who am I to say (the people) don’t have good ideas?”
Minami plans to run his campaign “the old-fashioned way,” with a heavy focus on signage and manpower. He intends to have friends and campaign staff promoting door-to-door.
“My overall message is … it’s only as good as we make it,” Minami said. “It’s all about initiative. You need to take the time and not be afraid to try new things … Even if I can’t convince everyone that I’m a man, if anything this will just help me in the future.”
If elected, Minami will be 19 years old come his first day as mayor.
“(My) campaign is to inspire the youth to take responsibility for their world,” Minami said. “If they won’t, who will?”
THE CANDIDATES
According to the city clerk’s office, here are the candidates currently confirmed to run for the city of Palm Coast 2011 Election:
Mayor
Charles F. Ericksen Jr.
Joe Cunnane
Raymond Minami
City Council, Seat 1
Holsey Moorman (incumbent)
William McGuire
City Council, Seat 3
Charles Ballard
Jason DeLorenzo
