Over the weekend, I took part in a litter cleanup on a popular hike and bike trail. What was interesting about it was that the request came from students at a nearby high school.
The nearby management district had hosted a youth leadership program in which the students assessed the trail and presented their findings to a mock city council. I was one of the mock council members. It was incredibly rewarding, and afterward, the students asked me to help them organize a real cleanup. I coordinated with the county to run a de-litter event, recruited volunteers, and partnered with the neighboring super neighborhood. The boundaries are invisible to me; the work we do impacts each other, and we should be allies.
During the cleanup, I ended up in a group with a few people from my super neighborhood, and we got to talking. They asked my opinion on some of the candidates running for office. I shared my personal views, separate from my civic leadership role.
The main point I kept coming back to: a politician should be able to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And there are a number of candidates running right now who don’t have the history to show they’re doing either.
Here’s what I look for, and what I shared:
Congressional district
In my congressional district, two candidates would have been genuinely good for the area. I was grateful that either of them would have served us well. Both had campaign staff, but each handled my requests very differently.
Candidate 1 gave me his personal cell phone number because I’m a civic leader, and he wrote a letter to the Surface Transportation Board about a pending railroad merger. He’s been in my neighborhood — showing up to events, listening to residents, and acting on their concerns. If he doesn’t respond personally, his team does.
Candidate 2 was incredibly smart, but neither she nor her staff responded to me. And here’s the thing: this is the campaign trail. If they aren’t responding to a civic leader now, how are they going to respond to a resident later? Residents have the right to contact their representatives. If staff can’t answer during a campaign, what happens once they’re elected? Candidate 2 offered a call about the merger but never followed through.
Now Candidate 1 is running against Candidate 3 in a very confusing vote situation (thanks, mid-census redistricting). Candidate 1 is still showing up in the neighborhood. Candidate 3 hasn’t shown up at all.
County judge
There are two candidates running for county judge. After everything that’s been happening, people are rightfully sensitive to candidates’ ages. I think age should be a consideration — but it depends on the candidate.
Candidate 1 is an older woman who is retired. She has an advanced business education and has served as a city council member, city controller, and mayor. If there’s one thing about her, it’s that she gets things done. She also has finesse to her communication and can work with prickly personalities in difficult moments. I’m not a fan of her age, but after speaking with her, I think she could at least serve one solid term. I’d question a second.
Candidate 2 was a dentist before entering politics, and I believe she ran for the city council with the right intentions. But her time on council is a preview of what she’d be like as county judge. She never accepted my invitations to come to the neighborhood and speak about her goals. In fact, she once called me personally and screamed at me when I questioned her work on trains in our area. She’s been quoted as demanding “quick wins” instead of long-term community solutions, and she’s claimed years of work with organizations I’ve been deeply involved in, but I’ve never once seen her in those meetings.
She also never proposed a single ordinance or pushed for change until she announced she was stepping down to run for a higher office, leaving it to someone else to carry forward. Don’t get me wrong, the ordinance was a good one, just way too late.
That makes me question her ability to handle difficult personalities in challenging situations. During the campaign trail, a group of women elders in a Jewish community asked her to speak with them about how she’d help protect them from hate attacks. The rumor is that she became upset, said Muslims have it worse, said no one cares that she is Muslim, cried, and left the meeting. If she can’t handle that conversation, how is she going to handle a catastrophic weather event?
Politicians need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. I’m tired of showboaters.
Unsolicited Testimony 
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