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…