Should I run for office?

June 21st, 2017
ea, work
On yesterday's post, one of the suggestions was running for office. I initially thought this wasn't a good fit, but now I'm less sure. Somerville local elections are coming up this fall [1] and I could potentially run for Alderman-at-Large. This would be a two-year term, and there are currently eight candidates running for four seats. In 2015 it looks like you needed 3670 votes to make it, though there were only five candidates that year.

The main thing I would be interested in is zoning: people are getting forced out by rising housing costs, and this is bad for our city. Compare rents in 2017 to 2011! We need to get the new zoning finished, and generally help increase housing supply to keep up with demand.

What do you think? Would you vote for me?

Update 2017-06-23: I've decided not to run. There are a lot of candidates running this year, many of them running very good campaigns, and many of which I'd be quite happy to see elected. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice!


[1] Filing deadlines are in the next couple days, actually: calendar.

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