On being mayor…

I am going to work VERY hard to make sure that people understand that Mayor is a nonpartisan office, and that I will honor that.

One of the things I have noticed since I've lived in Hudson is that our mayors typically continue to be active in their own political circles and do NOT maintain neutrality during their tenure, so I hope to address that as part of my campaign.

I hope to try and restore a bit of civility, engagement and excitement to government.  It is very striking to me that we have such difficulty finding people to run for office, and such a negative association with doing so.

I hope to find an effective process to listen to all voices and honor all viewpoints. 

I have been thinking SO much about Lincoln's Gettysburg address, and cannot get these words out of my head these days: his hope that "government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth."  (It sure seems like we are on a track to that happening sometimes!)

In the process of working to do this, I also hope to engage young people on a level that we have not yet done in our city government.  They are the future and they need to be empowered to engage in government, find their voice and learn to enjoy (and even love) the process of democracy.

I hope to run a campaign that will help do that along the way, whether I am elected or not.  If the process is true and as pure as I can make it, there is a benefit to the fact that I ran, no matter what the result is.  

And I am not worried about my lack of experience as I know that the Mayor is not the boss of the city, but rather the face of the city.

I trust that I would be surrounded by people who were actually professionals and experts in their positions of city administration and all aspects of it, and so would be able to advise me on all things.   

Thanks for lending your ears!