by troubled mind 7 Replies latest jw friends
I am thinking of running for Alderman on my city council . The Mayor had a meeting with me yesterday and is anxious to replace the Alderman in my ward . She liked what I had to say at a council meeting a few weeks ago during public comments . I am toying with the idea ,but politics is so new to me .
Any personal experiences you would like to share . This is small town politics .Town of 7,000.
Um, does being president of my HOA count? Just joking, but if that interests you, why not?
I live in a small town and we had some shenanigans going on that convinced me that you do need to be involved and it does make a difference. A city councilman was instrumental in having the city start a low income housing project using state redevelopment money plus their own money. The only problem was he owned the company that was going to get the contract to manage it, he claimed it was owned by his daughters, who were college students. He got sick (since passed away) and then things really went haywire, the recession hit, redevelopment money dried up and the city couldn't even finish the project. It sat for six years, a blight and a monument to greed, it's only now getting completed.
So if you think you can do some good, why not go for it?
I was ask to run for City Councilman. How did this come about.
Well I moved to serve where the need was great to a community of
ten thousand. After two years the congregation grew, so we were able to have
a KH. It was quick build. The folks in that city had a town meeting and question me
and the other elder, how will this be done with such a small congregation.
A year or so after the KH was built I was approached by a city councilman and asked
if I would be interested in running for city councilman. At the same time I was invited
to meet with the local ministers( all denominations ) once a week for breakfast.
Of course I turned down both, they were the devil.
Today, I would welcome the opportunity. I live in a much larger city now and
no chance of me becoming a city councilman but I try to get involved.
I would say ,go for it, make a difference.
* Update *
Well I decided to run for the Alderman position ,and won ! The incumbent had been there for 14 yrs . I will be sworn in in two weeks . Lots of new things to learn ,and I am excited for the opportunity to help my community .
The campaigning was interesting to say the least ! I was a natural going door to door speaking with my neighbors in my ward :) I admit I kind of had a guilty pleasure placing my election signs next door to many of my old JW friends homes .
Wow that's fantastic! Congratulations! I'm so genuinely happy for you!
In Australia they had this absolute crazy xjw who had never been linched(DF). This man had been in loonie hospitals ,I knew his sons. This happened in the 80s first thing he did was he rang Rolls Royce in Britain and impersonated as a leader at bethel and ordered a brand new roller for our dearest brothers, the craziest thing about the story is that Rolls Royce actually sent one to Sydney. Second mad thing this guy did was he ran for local election with a placard that read local representative of Jehovah's Witness.
There's gay Phillip Di Biase who is currently campaigning for Hune City Council in Australia.
Elections take place 22 October 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct1aTK5arPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFmNVklnSMs
Congratulations, troubled mind. I am not surprised that the voters saw your abilities.
I have worked behind the scenes but not run myself. I was a government worker so that put obstacles in my way. Our neighborhood is trying to resurrect the old association and combine with 2 others. Mostly people in their 80's except our subdivision. I was disappointed that no wisdom resided in these people who just thought they could express a wish and someone else would make it happen while they did nothing. We were the only people from our subdivision that came, so many young families busy with kids, not much time. We have some law enforcement issues lately and I worked in law enforcement for 8 years and in corrections for 5 years.
So I am giving it some thought.
