Saturday, July 6, 2013

All politics is local

I spent two years licking my wounds after an election ass-kicking.  In a city election in Severance, you can vote for up to five folks.  In 2011, 1st place got 28 votes, 5th place got 20 votes...and I got 10.

I stewed.  I watched city council meetings, watched the mayor's chair vacated 3 times, watched my name not get called as a possible replacement for council vacancies.  I figured I could do as good a job as mayor as any of the other gentlemen to sit at the head of the table.

And, as the calendar turned over to 2013, I had one major choice to make:  run for council for a 3rd time; or make a bold move and run for mayor.  Two events tipped the scales - a personal crisis, and a call from a neighbor who announced her intention to challenge the incumbent, asking if I'd be running for council.  OK, 3rd time for council.

Then, as the filing deadline approached and nobody filed for school board (3 seats in south district), I figured...ah, what the hell, someone's got to make sure the kids are being  taught right.  So I doubled down, and ended up spending $10 at the county courthouse to file for a seat on the city council; and a seat on the school board.

Even did an IAmA about it.

From multiple sources, I learned one thing.  The town, and the south half of the school district...think I'm nuts.  That certain people thought campaigning would make me look even more annoying.

I finished a distant 4th place for school board.  134, 132, 114, 17. 

And the 9 votes I received in the city council tied for 4th with two incumbent write-ins on the city council.  The tiebreaker was handled by the county commission, and my name was the one of the three not drawn.

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