I Need Political Advice...

Post Reply New Topic

Background:

I live in a small town in the Southeast, and in November 2010 I was elected (without opposition) to the city council. I'm halfway through my term now, the mayor is retiring this year, and she would like me to run to succeed her. If I'm successful, (and it's possible that I'll have no opposition again) I will become the first Mayor from a third party in my state. As possibly the only politician (or anti-politician) on WP, I'd really like to use the publicity for good (I might also mount a congressional campaign)... but what can I do? I need as many suggestions as possible!

Meanwhile, even though I'm not a cop fan, I have joined a statewide public safety committee. It's my hope that I can get some guarantees of protection from local police departments, or at least make them aware that their textbook definition of a "suspicious" person is practically a description of an autistic person. Are there any policy recommendations that you could suggest on this front? Is there a curriculum around that could educate cops about this?

Thanks for all your help. My next chance of making a "public safety" proposal is this weekend. In general, though, I'm just getting ready to go public about my diagnosis, and need advice.

well done on your achievements thus far. unfortunately my general outlook on things tends towards the notion that reformism is ultimately futile, but i would hope there are people here that might give you some prudent suggestions.

This is a very important issue
an autistic person is always in danger of a gung ho cop
that gets riled up when folks don't show sufficient fear of his badge and gun.
such folks are known to kick and bludgeon.

Fortunately, I live in a town with no police department (and plan to keep it that way.) My town is also really small and mostly elderly, which is partly what's clearing the field for me right now: the state is requiring campaign documents to be filed electronically, and none of the other councilmembers know how to do this, suddenly making me everyone's campaign manager.

So, there is not as much of a chance of repercussions from "coming out." I'm more interested about becoming an autism advocate at the regional level. I'm already in a magazine this month because of a play that I'm involved in, and the same mag has been featuring people with autism, so it seems like the next logical step.

A few pieces of advice from my career in public service:

1) Listen to your bureaucrats--when it comes to the administration of government. They have been doing their jobs for decades, they have seen councils and mayors come and go. They have a strong sense of what is practical and what isn't; what can be afforded and what can't--and at the end of the day, what will work and what won't.

2) Don't listen to your bureaucrats--when it comes to policy. It is the job of mayor and council to set policy, it is the job of government to carry out that policy.

3) Decide now whether you want to stay in the job. You can be very, very effective if you are free to make good policy decisions even if they are politically unpopular. But if you are going to run again, then make sure that you have your network in place to have your back when you make politically expedient policy choices that have negative administrative or policy consequences.

4) Always keep your eye on your obligations. Government exists to accomplish certain purposes--make sure that you know what those are, and that your decisions don't impede those purposes.

5) Separate yourself from your office. Every elected official comes to office with a set of beliefs, biases and prejudices. That's an important quality. But at the end of the day your personal views and your official views will not always align. Be prepared to "hold your nose and vote" when the decision that you know to be right doesn't align with your personal views.