ILA Proud VCam Campaigns over the Years

---

When I first ran for office in the Local I ran for Recording Secretary.  The shirts from that race are in the history books of time and so aren't available for display.  I won the seat in a special election in 1997 and I worked very hard to honor the faith that many of you placed in me with your vote

My Second bid for ILA office was for Vice President in 2003.  I won resoundingly on the heels of having raised the bar as Recording Secretary and having led a picket against Sea-Star on the eave of their initial start up in 1999.  Then President Charles Spencer called the Picket "amaturish" and stated that the ILA doesn't picket using mammy-made sign etc.  You can see for yourself how that turned out.  Sea-Star is now Tote and they command the Puerto Rican trade lanes...

I 2004, I ascended to the office of President when then ILA President George Spencer had to step down from the seat after pleading guilty to attempted Bribery of a Brutal rape victim.  In 2005, I had to seek the seat for the first time after serving two years.  I had cleaned up a number of things in that time, built the website for the work, switch over to an electronic dispatch and brought in 3 different shipping lines...

I Lost the seat of President to Romia Johnson in 2008 and in a move to save the local from the devastating impact of another 3 years of Romia Johnson and his lavish money drain on the Local's coffers.  I stepped aside from seeking the Presidency in 2011 and ran for financial secretary in hopes to support Lewis "Chip" Johnson in his quest for the presidency against Romia Johnson.  Chip did prevail and Romia was sent on his merry way.  He hasn't worked on the docks since...

One year into Lewis "Chip" Johnson's term as President, Charles Spencer made the claim that the Local was on "Auto-Pilot" and that It needed to be placed under trusteeship.  Once again the Spencer brothers came together and made the case for Trusteeship in a hearing at the Hyatt hotel downtown Jax in December of 2011.  I fought the imposition of the Trusteeship then as Romia "amened" every claimed made by the Spencers thinking that he would become the "acting President" under the presupposed trusteeship.  Charles Spencer outlined after the trusteeship was confirmed that Romia had done too much financial damage to the local and the South Eastern Dock & Marine Council to be considered for the post.  Guess what?  There is no honor among theives...

I won the seat in the Special Election coming out of the Trusteeship and hit the ground running and consequently the membership saw fit to re-elect me 6 months later to continue getting the Local back on its feet.  Now in 2017, some 3 years later the term is ending and I am again asking for your support to continue taking the Local to the next Level.  Despite the numerous accomplishment that we have realized in the last 3 years, there is sooooo much still on the table to accomplish with sound, and steady Leadership.  I am asking you not to get side-tracked with all of the one-on-one sales pitches that these "under-qualified" candidates are making.  In fact, they won't do the homework to adequately prepare themselves for the task of properly representing this organization.  In the 3 years since I became your President, I was elected to the post of ILA International Vice-President bringing further clout and credibility to the port of Jacksonville; "that is a good thing!"  My opponents are selling "dreams" under the disguise of team.  Stay Woke Brothers and Sisters...

I lost the seat in the December election of 2019 to George Spencer.  In the time that George has served he has turned the seat over to his brother Charles, his son Lorenzo and Jim Gray of the JMA to run while he took temperatures in the union hall during the pandemic.  pound for pound this administration has served to be the worst administration to lead the Local.

In an effort to restore the Local back to prominence and get it back on a productive track, I began the work to run for President one last time.  The need to get the local out of its quagmire and the love for my brothers and sisters set the stage for this effort.