It has been said that writing is a lonely endeavor. But I find it to be a joyous exercise.
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
– Anaïs Nin
I have always loved to write.
I find it relaxing and cathartic.
Whenever I have a strong emotion—stress, anger, happiness, excitement, sadness—my first inclination is always to find a corner and write.
I’ve had fallow periods where the words didn’t come easy, but I can honestly say I’ve never been blocked. The words just flow. Sometimes the prose is terrible, but the well never runs dry and with patience I can usually get something to sound reasonably passable.
I write to order my thoughts, to quiet a busy mind and because I like the interaction I get.
Some of you comment on the blog itself, some of you text or email me and some of you comment on social media. I enjoy it all. Thank you and please keep it coming.
A few years back, I wrote a book about my experiences in Delray entitled “Adventures in Local Politics.”
The book was my attempt to capture my story of coming to Delray Beach and working as a local reporter before deciding to run for office in 2000. I wanted to get it all down before the years dimmed my memories. I wanted to leave something for my children to read and I wanted the book to be a resource for other people who may want to run for local office.
I was proud of the book and although I had no expectations and only limited time to spend on promotion, the book found a niche. Students in an urban planning class at FAU used to buy it, people I met in business would sometimes order it on Amazon and a few candidates from near and far managed to find it.
I appreciated their support.
The publishing company I used went belly up during Covid and I found out that other than buying used copies online, the book would be out of print. Since I still get the stray request for a book, I didn’t want that.
So, after a few inquiries I signed a deal with a California publisher. I’m going to do three books: we just finished an updated version of “Adventures” which includes some stuff on Covid, then I’m going to flesh out a book I’ve already written about my relationship with a well-known local entrepreneur and finally I’m going to team up with some colleagues on a book called “Letters to a Candidate” which is underway.
Here’s the introduction.
Please let me know your thoughts. And thanks for reading this blog, which is a labor of love that allows me to clear the cobwebs every Monday morning.
Letter to a candidate…
Once upon a time, we used to admire just about every candidate who threw his or her hat in the ring.
Running for office is not easy and we respect that.
Campaigning is grueling, nasty, and personal. There are easier ways to serve your community. So, we had some reverence for those who stepped up and put
themselves out there.
Not anymore.
We’ve seen too many bad candidates.
We’ve suffered too many fools, egomaniacs, buffoons, narcissists and empty suits.
We’ve seen the damage they’ve done.
We’ve also seen the opportunities they’ve squandered and frankly we’re tired. Bad politicians make us cranky.
We’ve all seen the memes and the funny Gif’s poking fun at the clown car of elected officials who embarrass themselves (and us) with their bad behavior,
failure to get anything done and inability to serve the people they promise to help. Yes, we’ve laughed and yes, we’ve shared a few jokes ourselves.
But when you think about it, poor leadership isn’t funny, it’s tragic.
In the case of war or pandemic, poor leadership gets people killed.
On a local level, you may not be making life or death decisions every day, but if you tolerate a bad Police Department or fail to invest in Fire Rescue services you can cause people to die.
Yes, serving as an elected official is a big responsibility. So, while we are glad you are thinking about taking the plunge, we think you ought to know a few things.
That’s why we’ve written these letters to you.
Each letter contains a lesson that we’ve learned through practice as former elected officials and through observation as involved and engaged citizens who have been keeping an eye on all levels of government for decades.
We’ve seen the great ones. The special people who move mountains and leave a positive legacy for others to build upon—or destroy.
We’ve seen the ones who could have been great but fell short.
And we’ve seen the ones who have made a mess of things.
What you are about to read is a distillation of our combined knowledge and what we’ve learned from others who have served.
Over our many decades inside and outside the arena, we have known council members, mayors, county commissioners, state legislators, members of Congress, governors, cabinet officers, senators and we’ve even seen a president or two up close. We’ve also met a slew of presidential candidates during their trips to voter rich South Florida.
As former elected officials who remained involved in the community we are also often called upon by aspirants and office holders who want advice, endorsements and money—not necessarily in that order.
This is the book we’ll hand to them now that it’s written.
We wish that this book existed back 20 years ago when we ran for local office in Delray Beach, Florida. It might have saved us some pain and heartache over the years.
We hope you will learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. Along the way, we did get a few things right as well. We’ll share a few case studies on themes that you are likely to encounter as you begin your journey.
Enjoy and thanks for being interested in serving.
Note to readers:
We’d like to send our condolences to the Gallo family upon the passing of John Gallo Jr. February 12.
Mr. Gallo was a wonderful man, with a great sense of humor. He will be deeply missed by his many friends and admirers.
I got to know John through Lynn University where he worked over 30 years after a successful career in retail management. Mr. Gallo was the GM of the Jordan Marsh store in Boca Raton before joining the staff at Lynn.
He was active at St. Jude Catholic Church and at the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. He was also a proud member of the Boca Raton Sunrise Rotary Club.
A line from his obituary grabbed me: “We will miss our father greatly; he defined what it meant to be a good husband, father, and friend.”
You can’t do better than that.
Rest in Peace my friend.
I voted for the first time in Boston in 1960 for Jack Kennedy. Many of us truly believed we could help make the world a better place for all. I went on to get two degrees in political science and public administration because I believed government service was an honorable profession. I have run for office, managed voter registration campaigns, helped elect others as their PR person. Over the years, I have seen the good and the bad in our elected officials, primarily on the national level. I moved to Delray Beach in 2013 from Boca Raton because I liked the sense of community here in public forums. I have always believed in citizen input as a guide in community development. In fact, my first job after grad school was in city planning. The past 6 years have been very discouraging on the national and local levels in the quality of elected officials.
Thanks for sharing.
What an impressive background!
I too, agree that politics should be an honorable profession. Unfortunately, we seem to be attracting some bad characters who are not there to further humanity, but to demean it.
Everybody wants to be a celebrity rather than be qualified for the job. Self promotion seems to be the primary impulse with a lot of people.
Love the idea of a letter to a candidate for office. I might offer one suggestion. Include the admonishment not to “keep your own council” – one is better served to get lots of input and advice before finalizing a position that effects others.
As to the value of writing – thanks for the reminder to use a very powerful device when things go wrong, right, or just plain crazy. Writing can be very therapeutic and helpful. A mentor, in my past, once suggested that pent up frustration, anger, disappointment, etc. needs to be flushed out and put aside quickly before it does some damage. It’s akin to the old “count to three” routine. Writing can often be that relief valve. The main thing is to “get it out and onto paper” as soon as time permits. The same applies to great moments and achievements.
The vast majority of times, after 24 hours or so of “thinking it through”, the best thing may be to just shred or tear up those well-crafted pages (maybe with a chuckle). If there is true merit or value evident, it will be clear, and then you can work on some refinement. Don’t forget, our keyboards come with a helpful tool it’s called …. “DELETE”.
Wonderful advice. I’d add don’t hit send for 24 hours. 😉 As always thanks for a wonderful comment.