3 surprising things canvassing has taught me about my neighbors
So I’ve been hitting the doors, by which I mean I’ve knocked my way out of the blocks around my house and am now in the ward proper. One of the key things about running for local office in Montana is that it’s all “small-town” politics, it’s all grassroots. Here’s why: in my ward only…
What we talk about when we talk about revenue
Throwback Thursday! Here’s something you may not know—in 2010 this woman with pixie-short hair (me) and her husband (Johnathan) started their first business: a fair trade importing company. After years of living in Japan, then Australia, we traveled through Asia and brought home goods from India and Nepal. We loved running our small business —…
Hi, I’m Not Political, and who are you?
“All candidates are the same.” “My vote doesn’t matter.” “Nothing will change anyway.” To the person who has lost faith in government, Hello, I see you there: feeling alone and unheard. Nobody’s taken the time to crouch down to exactly where you are, and when you speak up it probably seems like all anyone wants…
“Step right up and select your race!”
On the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage I can’t stop thinking about how we should develop a board game like Monopoly called “Privilege” where you have to draw your gender, age, race, class, job, orientation, immigration status, health & family history/connections at random. Each trip around the board is one year. My thoughts so far:…
The race is on!
And the race is on! Looks like I have my first opponent. Conventional wisdom tells me I’m supposed to feel competitive about this, but I can’t get down with all that partisanship sniping. I’m running my own race. My job is to present myself, and my vision for Billings, to as many people as possible;…
City Council needs a raise, but not for the reasons you think
Last night Billings City Council voted for a pay increase to go into effect in 2022. I used to think raising pay for government officials was ridiculous. But the more I’ve learned about local government and salaries this last year, the more I’ve come to realize that keeping City Council (or legislature) wages stagnant is…
What does City Council actually do, anyway? Part one
The office I’m running for is not a “big” one—in fact most people (myself included) make it to adulthood without ever understanding exactly what City Council does. We never learned that City Council is the voting body for zoning decisions—not just controversial ones like casinos, medical marijuana, and micro-breweries, but also multi-family housing, and new…
How “The Walking Dead” convinced me to run for office
A year ago today I never thought I’d be running for City Council—I had a two-month old. I was nursing. I was watching a lot of “The Walking Dead” which I’d never seen before and which reminded me how we’re all just humans trying to survive day-by-day, seeking food, water, shelter, companionship. That’s our baseline. …
Why City Council is the most important office you know nothing about
The other day I was walking home from a meeting when I happened past the abandoned shell of what was once the Good Earth Market Co-op. A co-op that sold organic tomatoes, bison steaks, kombucha. The building has been vacant now since fall 2017—the outside is covered in graffiti. It struck me, staring at the…