I am running for mayor in Fargo, ND;best wishes, donations

[GacanSareeye]

My name is Ahmed Haji, aka Gacansareeye, and i am running for mayor in my small city of Fargo, the infamous Turkey and Chickehn chopping centers of Somalis. but our little city has outgrown from small migrants to vibrant city, boosting the biggest immigrant group in the Dakotas and attracting alot of out of state residents because of the economic gloom and bust. North Dakota is among one of the several states to have actually grown and expanded in a time of economic anxiety and contraction. i believe this is due to our North Dakotan values and strengths and our heritage and belief in presevarance, resilience and hard work. currently i am in tough race with a well known and popular mayor of the city named Dennis Walaker. I am very proud to be the first somali to take this monumental challenge and be a replica of Barack Obama and what the power of being at the right time at the right place can do for an individual. Through small stops in our few Halal meats and few of our employers i have come to find out what Fargo is all about, see Fargo is like any other place, its representative of small folks doing big things and gambling and struggling with others. Fargo might be small to New York City and San Fransico, but its the biggest city in North Dakota. It's close to over 100,000 people, which 94% are white and close to 2% are african americans. I hope like Obama to appeal to our better angles and hope for the best. it will be a tough campaign and i will do my best to come on top. In the meantime, i have gathered support from my somali fellows, mostly students in UND, to help with my campaign. I will also be visiting Minnesota for assistance.

Little Bio.

I moved to Fargo about 5 years ago when i couldnt take the snow ancd cold weather in Minnesota. I was also fed up with Minnesota because as our numbers grew, so did the economic opportunities shrink. Fargo was a new territory for me. I started slow but have gradually become the head of my own company, and am currently, alxamdulillahi, the head of the Somali Community Development of North Dakota, an idea i gathered, and am afraid to admit, copied from my good old pal Hussein of the ADC. Though the name is misleading we do not only cather to Somalis but to all minorities and the wider population by providing loans, consultancy, advocacy, and other forms of assistance.

i know i have a tough chance of winning, but you will always miss 100% of the shots you never take

[Xamud.]

WTF are you serious?

[GacanSareeye]

In front of my office!

[blitzkrieg]

Paidmonk will vote 4 u.

[GacanSareeye]

Gathering momentum; here is what the Inforum newsletter has written about me recently

A first for Fargo: Somali-American running for mayor


Fargo may have its first African-American candidate for mayor. Ahmed Haji, president of the Somali Community Development of North Dakota, filed his paperwork Monday with the city auditor’s office.
By Heidi Shaffer,
INFORUM
March 30, 2010


Ahmed Haji has filed to run as a candidate for mayor of Fargo. Haji said he hopes to give a voice to the Somali and other immigrant communities. David Samson / The Forum

Fargo may have its first African-American candidate for mayor.

Ahmed Haji, president of the Somali Community Development of North Dakota, filed his paperwork Monday with the city auditor’s office.

Sharon Odegaard, a longtime employee of the mayor’s office, said she is “quite sure” Haji is the first African-American to run, but the city auditor’s office could not confirm it because race is not submitted in candidacy paperwork.

The 27-year-old joins the race as Mayor Dennis Walaker seeks his second term. Robert Gates also filed paperwork in February for the office.

Haji, who has lived in Fargo for five years, said he hopes to give a voice to the Somali and other immigrant communities “by listening to their ideas and their needs and making them all come together,” he said. “Whether they be white, black or Asian or any type.”

Many of the immigrant groups in Fargo are divided instead of working together, he said.

“I think I can make a lot of changes by bringing all of the business owners and nonprofit organizations together (to) have ideas and share ideas and become one community,” he said.

Haji also said he would like to create more jobs and programs for youth.

And in a city defined in recent years by flooding, Haji also has plans for protection against the Red River.

“I want to fight the flood by using new technology to monitor (the river level),” he said.

Though Haji said it’s still too early to know what chance he stands against Walaker, he believes he will get a lot of support from immigrant communities, small-business owners and nonprofit organizations.

The election is June 8. The deadline to file paperwork is April 9.

“I want to make Fargo a better place to visit, live and work,” Haji said. “My main goal is to build and make community a bigger issue in Fargo. I believe Fargo is a small city but with a big heart.”

Source:INFORUM

[siren]

Now we know your little Lake story was a sham...

[ultimatenemsis]

what lake

[Cirwaaq]

Bad day to choose to share that April fool.

Try reposting your intention another day.

[siren]

what lake

Shut up Neocon....

[GacanSareeye]

Xamud, i am serious man, every journey starts with a step. After becoming mayor, I plan to challenge our setting congressman Earl Pomeroy, and then the senate

[ultimatenemsis]

what lake

Shut up Neocon....

make me


Good luck Gacan

[qoraxeey]

Xamud, i am serious man, every journey starts with a step. After becoming mayor, I plan to challenge our setting congressman Earl Pomeroy, and then the senate

Good luck walaalo

btw u look good in that suit

[Xamud.]

Gacansareeye
Sheekadu waa April fool somaha ninyahow

[GacanSareeye]

Now we know your little Lake story was a sham...

miskiin, Siren when did driving become restrictive, that was an observation not a campaign stop

[GacanSareeye]

Xamud and Cirwaaq, this is a decision i do not come lightly or lightheartly, this is a tough decision for me, my family, and all the people that i have given reason to look up to me, that i have come to symbolize and in turn i want to represent. After Obama's election i have come to realize as humans we have more potential than we admit, but we never utitlize it fully. Obama gave a me a purpose in life, but it was Mccain who eloquentaley captured that sense, when he said, paraphrasing, one must look and reach for 'greater than self' i am doing this for every crippled kid, every disappointed girl, every immigrant, and all those who were told they couldnt amount to anything because they didnt have the right uniforms, or the same color, or had the right answers to problems in class.