Tom Coale, District 9B

Tom Coale has some great ideas. Whether you have read about him, seen him in a public forum, or talked with him in person, I've no doubt you've gotten a taste of this. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he has many excellent ideas.

For more depth, take a look at his website. His take on the issues facing Ellicott City and the State of Maryland is thoughtful, smart, creative, and dynamic. Two things stood out to me as I tried to sum it up:

Tom believes in the power of smart government to make a positive impact in people’s lives.
Tom will continue to advocate for community engagement to make sure that Maryland’s solutions are your solutions.

And yet--what makes Tom Coale the right choice for Ellicott City isn't just his ideas. It's something more than that. In March of 2012, he wrote these words about an upcoming election:

But I will say this -- beware the temptation of voting for someone on ideas alone. The real measure of an elected official is not in what they think, it's in what they do. Can they get things passed? If they can't, their ideas, and their representation of your ideas, are worthless. If they can, you are one persuasive phone call, e-mail, or lunch meeting away from affecting positive change.

The key is that the really good ideas are almost always group-sourced. Sure, a politician may run on a particular handy phrase or policy concern, but once they are in office, the well inevitably runs dry. The effective legislator/executive will have the ability to tap the community network of ideas to determine where to go next.

Effectiveness and group-sourcing are why relationships are so important. ...your interests may be best served by someone who shares...beliefs, but has the relationships (or relational capacity) necessary to make policy.

This is what makes Tom Coale's candidacy such an exceptional opportunity for Ellicott City. This is why he draws such support from his own district, within Howard County, and around the state. His genuine desire to work with others to make good things happen is the irresistible force of his campaign.

He doesn't just stand for ideas, or for beliefs. He stands for action, and for the relationships needed to make ideas into real, significant change.

What action will you take?

Vote.

Posted with Blogsy

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word. Days passed. They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts. Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public. So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that. But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog