The Politics of Dancing...

Hurray for Heidi! You know, the woman that I voted for in our last municipal election was somewhat like yourself: a parent without a degree (but a ton of great life experience) and a heart that seemed very much in the right place. You'll do a great job, no question. Go get 'em.

p.s. I can always use more hugs too.

Heidi, just questioning whether you know what you're doing puts you leagues ahead of most elected officials.

Those of us who've enjoyed your posts over the last year and a half know that your heart is in the right place. Not to mention -- your ears!

Go get 'em tiger!

Congratulation Heidi!
That's great.
Go Heidi go, and chance the world to a better place.

A frenz always does a good job.

Thanks for your confidence, guys!

If our neighborhood suddenly declares a holiday in the name of John Lennon, or paints all the manholes to look like the earth, you'll know where it came from...hehehehe....(nah, probably not...but it'd be cool, wouldn't it!!!)

I can feel my hug(s) up here in Fairbanks!

CONGRATS Heidi!

Speaking of 80's trivia, I thought this thread was going to be about the song!

Congrats Heidi (I think, I know you were a little unsure about it). It IS good to know that there will be one good politician in our country. How do you feel about running for president? Okay Okay, first things first.

YAY!

awesome! one of the good ones won. maybe there is actually hope for us {if we leave Kalifornikation today} "POWER TO THE PEOPLE, RIGHT ON"!

GO HEIDI!!!!!!! do you have ANY clue how auspicious this is???? you will accomplish amazing things You are such a goddess do you have any idea? I know you'll do us all proud. I'm glad someone in the world is in a political office who is not only well-intentioned but is strong enough to stand by her ideals and truly do her best. It gives me just a little more faith in the world. I'll be thinking of you this afternoon during the eclipse.

Congratulations! To do well, I think you should give staff the benefit of the doubt. Every county and city employee I know works really hard and is proud of their job, and it's really painful to have somebody in who's run on a platform of "there's all this waste and inefficiency and anybody who collects a paycheck is the enemy" In fact, staff will probably be a great source of suggestions for streamlining and economy. Trust them, and they'll support you totally in making a positive difference in your community - you go!

Well, I've already ruffled a few feathers...

Coca-Cola offered to "give" our recreational field a new electronic scoreboard in exchange for logo and a whole lot of other contractual hoo-hah. Before I came onto Council, they were split 3-3 over whether to accept it. If it were a small business that's in our neighborhood and invested in it, doing it to be a good neighbor, that'd be one thing. But this thing smacks of "our neighborhood is for sale." I'd be happy to work with the rec folks to find another way to pay for it (and donate generously myself), a way that would make our whole neighborhood proud to know that we did it OURSELVES without selling ourselves out to some big mega-corporation. So when they put it up for re-vote, I'll have tilted it...(now they all KNOW I'm a hippie...)

Also, they're about to pass a new ordinance to deal with abandoned cars. In the definitions of abandoned car, they said one of the criteria is an expired inspection sticker...which means that anyone whose car is parked on the street could get their car towed as abandoned bsaed on the fact that their inspection sticker expired. Granted, that's not the intention, or how they intend to use the law, but that's one interpretation of what it actually says. So I proposed a different way of saying the same thing that would protect people whose only real crime is forgetting to renew their inspection sticker. (Anyone wanna guess when mine expired?) lolol...

Anyway...I'm not going to post all kinds of Council business here all the time from now on...I just thought it might be interesting for people to see that I'm already trying to tweak little stuff. I may yet figure this out, even though it's going to be the world's biggest time drain my life has ever seen....

Well, Heidi, I for one AM interested in what you are doing there -- anybody else?

This topic isn't about politics. The first two issues you mentioned have come up in municipalities here in California over and over. And I'm also curious about what you confront in your new job as an elected official.

Uh..YEAH! I am very interested in what you deal with. I am interested to see if what you put up with with is any different than what we have to deal with here. Good for you ruffling feathers. and it's good to have a perspective of someone who is an elected official from the point of view of what they is really thinking and not the official image they put out there for the media. I mean, you certainly don't have to mince words with us. Yes you are 1 person but 1 person can give a whole lot of insight! (and more! ) and maybe those of who are critical of our city councils (ahem! guilty! : ) may get a little more compassion for what you run up against. and compassion and prespective are always good things to get.

Well, I've officially changed a law! I suggested alternate wording for the abandoned car ordinance, wording which eliminates that loophole I found, and they accepted it! I know it's tiny, but at least today, it feels huge!

OK, if you're *not* one of those couple of people who said they'd be interested to follow my antics in Borough Council, please disregard.

On my website today, I added a page that lists my voting record and explains to interested parties and constituents why I vote the way I do during Council sessions, gives people an idea of what kind of stuff I do there, and acts as a diary for my personal assurance that after the mega-hours I'm putting in, I'm accomplishing something.

Also, I have a new weekly column appearing in the New Pittsburgh Courier Online, called "My Side of the Table," which is a weekly "humor essay type" series chronicling my trek through the world of municipal politics from the time I decide to run, and going forward. To access the column on the linked page, type "Heidi McDonald" into their search engine, and you'll see the various chapters of the column. It's up to chapter 3 at this point.

Congrats Heidi! You go girl! Just be true to what you know is right, and you'll do great!