24+ Matt Gonzalez Quotes On Education, Culture And Progressive

Matt Gonzalez is an American politician who was the Green Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008. He previously served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2000 to 2005. Gonzalez is a civil rights attorney and a progressive activist who has advocated for social justice and environmental protection. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Matt Gonzalez on leadership, education, culture.

Top 10 Matt Gonzalez Quotes

1. I represented many of these kids as they become young adults in the criminal justice system when I was a public defender. One way of reaching out is by the mind of experimentation.
2. As a society we're always so quick and able to spend money on lawyers for someone for incarceration, but we don't make the corresponding commitment to the preventative components of it.
3. If you run for mayor, people say you're being egotistical. If you decide you won't run for mayor, people say you're being self-centered and egotistical.
4. As a young boy I won a few dollars in 1972 when Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby. I had overheard someone say he was going to win, and I guess that made an impression on me.
5. You don't have to be wealthy to run for mayor. I'm a Green Party candidate running for mayor and I'm being taken seriously.
6. I really am disappointed when I run into people who are angry I'm leaving office.
7. When I got into politics, it was a shock. People promise all sorts of things and then never deliver.
8. I don't think the schools are getting as much money as they should.
9. It just seemed the timing of it was a little bit of pandering to the public at a time of an election.
10. When in some communities selling drugs is so lucrative that that's a pretty big enticement that we have to break down. Part of that is by making opportunities and paying decent wages.

Matt Gonzalez Famous Quotes And Sayings

I think that when we're talking about youth violence, we're talking about kids who don't have opportunities, so they're engaged in a certain degree of lawlessness, because we as a society have failed them. — Matt Gonzalez

A fascinating challenge facing today's environmental movement is how to best approach the reversal of past decisions that altered once-pristine environmental spaces for the sake of urgent man-made needs. — Matt Gonzalez

Some types of environmental restoration projects are well-known; restored wetlands, for instance, or coal mine reclamation projects. Recently though, larger dam removal projects have started, a number of them in Washington state. — Matt Gonzalez

I have voted to make tough decisions in budgetary times, I've served on two recessionary budgets, my opponent has never served on any a budget committee where there was less money to spend than the year before. — Matt Gonzalez

Certainly other things we can do, we gotta promote after-school employment, give kids an opportunity, raising the minimum wage was part of that, we can't expect that young people are going to feel they can make a living out there for such low wages. — Matt Gonzalez

I think a lot of politicians, rightfully so, understand that their political futures are tied to how many times people see their names in print. The press is so accustomed to politicians wanting those things, it's a surprise when somebody's like, 'Whatever, I'm not really worried about those things. — Matt Gonzalez

I had tried painting, mostly to give myself a greater appreciation of the craft and to inform how I looked at paintings. That led to collaging some of the work I had done on paper, and I found myself mixing in found pieces as well. — Matt Gonzalez

If you are doing well, your business will pay more in tax; if you're not doing well, you pay less. — Matt Gonzalez

This idea that once you get into politics you are now signed up for lifelong duty being in elective office, makes a fundamental error - and that is believing that the only way you can hold progressive views and implement them is in elective office. — Matt Gonzalez

I've run for office, and I've stood on street corners, while people walked by me and didn't want to talk to me, and did not think I was a credible candidate. And then four years later, I was nearly elected mayor of San Francisco, so I know what it takes. — Matt Gonzalez

If you engage people honestly, and you're willing to do the leg work, people will respond to that. — Matt Gonzalez

At some point the rhetoric runs out, and we have to ask ourselves, 'Are we simply going to standby while somebody's rhetoric is good, but their actions are so lousy?' Are we going to stand up for that? — Matt Gonzalez

Running for office is important, and you don't really need more than to be right on the issues, and to be able to articulate what it is you believe. You don't need a certain background. You don't need to be a lawyer. You don't need to have some professional degree. — Matt Gonzalez

I think when judges are in the position of authority, they really get bent out of shape when someone tells them they acted inappropriately. — Matt Gonzalez

Life Lessons by Matt Gonzalez

1. Matt Gonzalez's work demonstrates the importance of staying true to your values and principles, even when it is unpopular or difficult.
2. He also emphasizes the power of grassroots organizing to bring about meaningful change.
3. Finally, he shows that it is possible to make a difference without compromising your integrity or sacrificing your beliefs.