But that little bug in me was a little jealous. He said, dude you should be volunteering more too. And I said, what??? I already coach 3 soccer teams for my kids. And the bug said, yeah, but you can still do more. So I thought about it. And stewed. And contemplated. And then the big light bulb went off. And trust me, I am not trying to one up my wife here. There are a number of issues that have been really concerning me lately. So what do I do about them? Get mad and listen to Nirvana's Nevermind album? Nope. Done that already. Not very productive. I need to get in there and start to work on making some changes.
So change number one....I am running for Mayor of Sunnyvale this November.
I consulted with a former co-worker who served as Mayor in the 90s and served in quite a few other public service arenas. He's got my back and will help be my campaign manager. Now I am looking for a communications specialist. You know, one who can set up that Facebook page that I am so dreadfully opposed to :). I am also enlisting help finding office space so I can bring in my own small crew of volunteers. And then we come to the big gorilla in the room...campaign contributions. This might be the most difficult piece for a number of reasons. Some of the things I want changed can be seen as quite divisive. Here are the top three that I want to work on:
1) More affordable housing. Since when is it alright to have professional home buyers who just outbid the first time home buyers who are looking for an already overpriced home to live in only to lose out to someone who is only going to flip the house for profit. And for the renters, when is it alright for the landlord to raise rent just because everyone else is doing it. If you have not done anything in years to materially add value to the property you should have very little right to raise the rent. So I am proposing housing caps. The lower and middle class need affordable places to live. Not $1 million 3 bedroom one bath 1200 square foot built in the 60s homes that still have the original roof and wood paneling on the inside walls. We need real estate reform that brings housing costs more in line with inflation and the real cost of living.
2) Taxes. I actually believe in taxes. I believe that everyone should pay their equal share for the beautification and protection of the city. This means no more hiding in foreign tax shelters by big businesses and the 1%. But I don't want to just use the stick with this one. I want to incentivize with this carrot: The more community service a company, individual or organization provides to the city and community, the bigger tax break they get (within reason of course...a cap would be in order on this one as well).
3) Environmental sustainability. A report came out recently that showed Sunnyvale as one of the worst water wasters in the Bay Area. That is not acceptable in this time of drought. We need to reign in water usage. So I will be bringing someone in just to help promote environmental sustainability. Not just in curtailing our usage of resources, but helping the community recycle more and helping building contractors re-use what they can and incentivize them to build more Eco-friendly homes and businesses.
So you get an idea of what I am running for. I would appreciate your support in any way possible. And contributions. And your vote, if you believe what I am striving for is worthwhile.
Or you could vote in another way and let me know what you think of this April Fool's post :). Are you kidding me? I barely have enough energy to help coach 3 soccer teams! Ha Ha. Enjoy your day.
Stephen
