Letter to the Editor

Published 7:03 am Wednesday, September 13, 2023

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When you enter into the political arena, you have to be prepared for the work it takes to have your community rally behind you and come out to vote for you. If you do not know me, please let me introduce myself as your neighbor.
Please allow me to share what defines me as a person – not what defines me as a “candidate” for office. Please also let me convey my first and foremost reasons of “Why” I am seeking office to serve my community because of my love for my community and my belief in God. Therefore I seek a life of purpose, as your voice in state government.
I am smart enough – I have a lifetime of 55 years of experience; I graduated from college in 1991 with an associate degree in Paralegal studies – graduating with honors with a 4.0 GPA. I worked as a Senior Paralegal for law firms in New Orleans until 1996, when my first child was born. As a first-time Mom, I knew that I could not work full-time as a Paralegal in downtown New Orleans and commute from my father’s property in Vacherie where I was living at the time of my first child’s birth. Therefore, me and my family decided to move from Vacherie to LaPlace, and we purchased our first home. This move allowed me to be much closer to my work in New Orleans. I was surrounded by a new community when I moved to LaPlace. We were welcomed to this community with open arms and with pride. The River Parishes then quickly became my home and each of you, over time, became my beloved neighbors, friends and now my extended family. I was blessed and honored to pass the notarial exam, when my first-born daughter was just a toddler, and was then nominated, constituted, appointed, and granted a lifetime commission as your Civil Law Notary Public, by Governor Murphy “Mike” J. Foster, Jr., on January 27, 1999. I have and will continue to serve my community as your Notary Public for the past 25 years, and I now ask to serve you as your State Representative for District 57, for the Louisiana House of Representatives.
I am old enough. At 55 years young, I have the lifetime experience to be “old-enough” for this office. My two children are now grown, have moved away, they are both engaged to be married, and they both have grown into successful adults, with lives of their own. Therefore, this is the perfect time in my life to pursue a public office to represent my community in the River Parishes, in a much greater way. I am here, for the first time of my life, brave and determined enough to step into a political arena, not as a “politician”, but as your neighbor and your voice. My intent is to add value to our communities – without doing harm. I am now available for my community 12 hours a day, seven days a week, as I reach out to each of you to ask you to get involved. You can get involved by: Registering to vote – if you are not already registered; Please come out to vote – Early voting begins at the end of this month on September 30 through October 7, 2023; and Voting Day is October 14, 2023. I hereby ask for your vote of confidence, so that I can serve our community in this capacity to represent you as your State Representative for District 57. Your voice can and will always be heard. Please come out to vote and rally behind a candidate that you know and that you trust to represent our District 57 – which includes communities in the River Parishes – in both St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes.
I respectfully come before you now, ready to serve my community in a much greater way, and committed to serve my community with honesty, transparency, dignity, and dedication. I have qualified for this position through the Louisiana Board of Ethics and with the St. John Clerk of Court’s office. I am at the perfect age for this commitment and have the legal and writing skills necessary to excel in this position and to be your voice as state representative for District 57. My education, legal work experience, and my 55 years of lifetime experiences, also qualify me to serve you to become your State Representative for District 57. As for me, quite new to the political arena, I am answering a calling and a need for a life of PURPOSE (not politics). Thank you for your love and support, I promise to make you proud and to relay your voices with integrity, compassion and with my love for this community that I call home.

Michelle Sweeney, Candidate for House of Representatives District 57