A resident who received my campaign card while I was canvassing this weekend emailed me to ask for more specifics about me. Here is some of what I had to say:
... OK, so political affiliation. I'm on the ballot on two lines, Democrat and an independent line called the Middle Party. I'm asking people to consider meeting me in the middle so we can find common sense solutions to problems.
I think that one of the things that have gone wrong in politics is that it has become too polarized to get anything done. Too often politicians focus on playing to their base, whether that is left or right, and they don't make a message that is meant for the voting public as a whole.
Too often politicians want to tell you what to think rather than listen to what you have to say.
These are two reasons why so many get disillusioned with politics and sit out elections. I'd like to turn that around. I know that'd be like trying to push back the ocean with a broom, so I can't make the big changes. But I can make a small change and deal with the issues that are right in front of me. So, I'm running for county legislature.
Why did I decide to run?
It'd be easy to stay home and focus on my family and my business. Politics is just so toxic, why would any sane person want to run for office? But what happens when too many people sit out elections? You get bad government.
It took me a long time to realize that my background and experience had prepped me to run for office. I spent 25 years in journalism, including a stint covering the Steuben County legislature for the Star-Gazette, but also writing for other newspapers in other states, from everything from planning and zoning meetings up to the federal level. I'd also been a copy editor, layout designer and a journalism professor. So much of this had to do with diving into complicated public policy issues and explaining to the public how government action affects their lives. One of the important lessons I learned from many county government meetings is that public officials need to be mindful that every decision they make could ultimately affect the tax levy for the county and impact the tax rate for the homeowners. That number was always the lede whenever I wrote a story about the final budget package for the Star-Gazette.
... in 2009, I was laid off from the paper -- along with many of my colleagues -- and I had to reinvent myself. It took some time to figure it out, but eventually I became an entrepreneur. I now have a laser-cutting business that also makes board games. That's been another useful set of lessons. Running a business is very much about survival of the fittest. You have to find a product customers will buy, and you have to provide that product in a cost-effective way so that you can make enough profit to survive. A friend of mine describes being an entrepreneur as "Jumping off a cliff and trying to invent the airplane on the way down."
But as I've gotten involved in the entrepreneurial community, I've realized this is an untapped resource for the county economy. We should do more to help people who already love living in this county to start a business and pursue their dreams.
So, for now, I'll end by sharing my approach to dealing with any problem:
1) Get your facts right
2) Listen to all sides
3) Have an ongoing conversation with people
Do you have any local issues before the county government that are particularly important to you?
Ed Bond
