On January 3, 2014, I announced my intent to run for Mountain View City Council. The first month was dedicated to setting up a campaign infrastructure. I now have a campaign manager, a book keeper, a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and word of mouth. I spent the last two weeks meeting face to face with the current council members (I already know them, but in this context, it was like starting the relationship from scratch) and other leaders of Mountain View.
The election is 270 days from today. It’s not an official candidacy (from the City’s perspective) until you file your election papers but the window to do so isn’t until late June. Given that my city will have 3 open seats (all 3 incumbents are terming out), it is expected that between 8 and 12 people will eventually be the field.
I am presently, in addition to a myriad of other things I do around town, a Commissioner for the City’s Human Relation Commission. I was advised to email every commissioner and committee member and ask for their endorsement. I did. I received 9 endorsements right out of the gate. That’s astounding because the election is so far away. I arrived home last night after a series of meetings at 9:30 to receive an email from the District Attorney of Santa Clara County (Jeff Rosen) who said “I endorse you and hope you win.” That was quite a statement and a wonderful thing to say.
The rest of this month will be dedicated to a few more face-to-face meetings and setting up “meet and greets” at people’s homes. That is, I will ask people who know me to call up their neighbors and host a coffee. I think the whole campaign concept really hit home when I ordered my remit envelopes (for donations) that I will of course have with me at these events. To me, that makes it more official than nearly anything else.
So far, and this is largely because I am not accustomed to it, the hardest part is when people ask you how “you’re going to solve [xyz problem]. The truth is that one council member can’t solve these problems by him/herself. But having a position, an opinion, on so many very very complicated matters is essential. I was asked yesterday how I would help protect Mountain View from the expected increase of San Francisco Bay waters due to global warming. I mean, I’ve never thought about that before. Given we’re on the coast, that is an important issue (turns out the City already has a plan for it). I was also asked to give my opinion about the state of senior citizens in Mountain View, a topic of which I know very little. This kind of thing will continue to happen. My job is to do my research and form an opinion.
My campaign is off to a great start. And I have to admit, for my part (and for how much work it truly is) I’m having a wonderful time.
If you’re interested in learning more or helping me out, please visit my webpage at www.mountainviewken.com. Contributions welcome! I’ve already spent over $1500!!
Thank you fellow Kossacks.
This is the 3rd diary of my campaign. I will post periodically to record my activities and memorialize the journey.