Meeting a local politician

 

No, it wasn't happy hour as the wall hanging says.
It was morning coffee and politics.

It would be disingenuous of me to say I am not a political person. I have definite ideas about politics, and I am frequently outspoken about them, especially online. But I actually know few politicians personally, except for one longtime family friend who I value. So it came as a surprise that city council candidate Jared Sloane called and asked if we could meet for coffee or sit on my front porch and talk. I said we could sit on the patio.

This led to much dinnertime speculation last night—what did he want? Why me? Turns out his campaign manager suggested he talk to me, which prompted the observation that said campaign manager is a Republican and I am a yellow-dog Democrat—was conversion the goal? See two flaws in this speculation? One is that someone wants something, and you must be on guard; the other is that the world is divided into Republicans and Democrats when in truth we were talking about a nonpartisan position.

So, Mr. Sloane—okay, Jared (he’s ten years younger than my youngest child)—came by this morning, and we had a nice chat. He did want something—my vote and my support. He was open and honest about that and instinct tells me he answered most of my questions honestly. When I asked how much, really, a council member can do to affect the course of affairs in the city, he said, “Not that much.” We talked about mayoral candidates and I was able to tell him about the TCU area people who blame a council member, wrongly I think, for the proliferation of stealth dorms in the area—he didn’t know about the talk against this particular candidate. We talked about a council candidate who dropped out of the race with respect and empathy. We talked about religion and whether or not it should affect appraisal of a candidate.

And we talked about books and his family—his mom owns a bookstore and his stepmom is trying to write a mystery. There’s that small world again. He told me his background--Indiana, where he was active in politics and then a firefighter--and his family, a wife and daughter. And his civic activities here--board chair of the Arts Council, president of his neighborhood association, an alum of Leadership Fort Worth.  But the conversation was casual and comfortable and not at all a hard-sell, “Vote for me.” I liked him as a person, felt he was sincere, had some new ideas, and he would represent new blood in city government—diversifying away from establishment candidates is a big deal for me.

All in all, it was a pleasant forty-five minutes in the sunshine on my patio. And now there’s a Jared Sloane sign in our front yard. I won’t preach, “Vote for Sloane,” but I will urge friends and family who live in District 9 to give him serious consideration.

And you know what? I admit I’m a bit flattered that a political candidate sought me out.