{"id":1560,"date":"2011-09-01T11:43:27","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T15:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/what-it-takes-to-run-for-mayor-of-valdosta.html"},"modified":"2011-09-01T11:43:27","modified_gmt":"2011-09-01T15:43:27","slug":"what-it-takes-to-run-for-mayor-of-valdosta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/what-it-takes-to-run-for-mayor-of-valdosta.html","title":{"rendered":"What it takes to run for Mayor of Valdosta"},"content":{"rendered":"People ask me: what does it take to run for mayor of Valdosta?\nA few qualifications, a few skills, and a vision would sure help.\n

\n\n<\/a>\nWell, you have to qualify.\nThat costs \n$750 down at the Board of Elections.<\/a>\n

\nAccording to \nthe City of Valdosta’s website<\/a>, there are a few other requirements:\n

\nQualification Mayor.<\/strong>\nTo be eligible for election or appointment\nand service as Mayor, a person must be a minimum of 21 years of\nage, be a resident of the City of Valdosta for one year prior ro\nthe date of qualifying, and a registered and qualified voter of the\nCity of Valdosta at the time of qualifying.\n<\/blockquote>\nThen you have to campaign and win.\nSome people will doubtless spend a lot of money running for mayor.\nHowever, some recent elections to Lowndes County Commission and\nValdosta Board of Education indicate\n\n\nthat it is quite possible\nto win a local election while spending very little money.\nPeople don’t pay a lot of attention to paid advertising when\nevery candidate is doing it, and they do pay attention when\nthe candidate shows up at their door or on their favorite\nradio show, for example.\nIt would help if you’re already well known.\nA strong platform would help.\n

\nSuppose you win. What does a mayor do?\nThe mayor of Valdosta only votes \non certain elections<\/a>\nand to break ties, which seldom happens\n(although it did just happen at\n\nformer Mayor Fretti’s<\/a>\nlast\n\nValdosta City Council meeting<\/a>).\nThe mayor does what, then?\nPresides over meetings, signs things when council approves them,\nmakes speeches, etc.\n

\nIt would be really nice for a mayor to have a vision,\ndeveloped in conjunction with the people, that people could support.\nHere’s\n\nwhat that looks like,<\/a> by the way, in case you’ve never\nseen a mayor with a vision:\n

\n\n<\/a>\nEvery now and then, perhaps once in a generation, there presents itself\na moment, an opportunity, for those cities that are willing to seize it,\nto truly benefit the region for generations to come.\n<\/blockquote>\nMayor Julian Castro of San Antonio identified “the nexus between\nsustainability and job creation” as such an opportunity,\npromoted solar power, and got several companies to move to town,\nproviding knowledge-based jobs.\n

\n\n<\/a>\nMayor Fretti had\n\nan opportunity to do just that,<\/a>\nbut did not recognize it.\nThat opportunity is still open for someone else to seize it,\nsocialize it among the people of the area,\nand win for all of us with it.\n

\nThere are many other possible opportunities here.\nThe new\n\nlibrary and theater at Five Points<\/a>\ncould be used to promote the area as a theater center halfway\nbetween Atlanta and Orlando.\nYou’d think TitleTown U.S.A. could get more jobs out of sports,\nfor example, how about a winter camp for a baseball team?\n\nDowntown Valdosta Farm Days<\/a> connects Valdosta to one of the\ntwo fastest growing industries in the country: local and organic food.\nThe other is solar energy.\nMaybe there’s a way to connect the two, perhaps also with\nthe two local hospitals and Moody AFB: the U.S. military is\na world leader in green energy, and Moody is already\nmoving right along with that.\nThese are all things knowledge-based employees and their employers love.\nMaybe there’s some citizen of Valdosta who can, in conjunction with\narea citizens, organizations, and other local governmental bodies,\nwrap some of these\nthings and probably other things into a vision that will attract\njobs for our high school and college graduates and for newcomers.\n

\nHere are some more details about what the Mayor of Valdosta does,\naccording to the\n\nMunicipal Code for Valdosta<\/a>:\n

\n

ARTICLE II. – MAYOR AND COUNCIL<\/H2>\n

Chapter 2. – MAYOR<\/H3>\n

Section 2.14. -Powers and duties.<\/H4>\nThe mayor shall be the official head of the city government and chief\nrepresentative of the city, and it shall be the mayor’s duty:\n
    \n
  1. \nTo preside at meetings of the mayor and council, where he or she\nshall have all the rights, powers, duties, and responsibilities of a\ncouncilmember, except that the mayor shall be entitled to vote on matters\nbefore the mayor and council only where there is an equal division on\nthe question, and then the mayor shall determine the matter by his or\nher vote.\n<\/a>\nThe mayor shall also be entitled to vote on the election of\nthe following officers and employees of the council, mayor pro tempore,\ncity manager, city attorney, municipal judge, and city auditor;\n
  2. \nAs provided by law or by action of the mayor and council, to sign\ncontracts on behalf of the city in the absence of the city manager;\n
  3. \nTo keep informed about the financial and other affairs of the city and\nfrom time to time to present information about the affairs of the city\nand to recommend such measures as deemed best for the city, including\nstatements and reports to the citizens concerning the affairs of the city;\n
  4. \nTo serve as a member of boards, commissions, and committees required by\nlaw or by action of the mayor and council; and\n
  5. \nTo perform such other duties consistent with this Charter and as may be\nrequired by the council.\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\nThat’s what the city charter says.\nFor more practical detail, talk to somebody who’s observed it up close\nand personal, such as city council members or ranking city staff,\nor people who either have or have not successfully gotten mayor\nand council to do something in particular.\nThere are some examples on this blog, as well.\n

    \nAs you can see by the charter, the mayor is not the day-to-day\nmanager of city business: that’s the City Manager.\nBeing mayor is more marketing than management.\nThe mayor needs to be a big picture person capable of socializing\nideas with the community and promoting them to the outside world.\nA people person can probably do the job, at least as far as\nhelping keep things running.\nSomebody who also has a vision and the reasoning and debating skills\nto promote it would have a great opportunity to help turn Valdosta\ninto a leader in knowledge-based jobs.\n

    \nSo, if you think you are qualified and want to do this,\nyou’ve got today and tomorrow to make up your mind.\nIf you know somebody you think should do this,\nyou’ve got today and tomorrow to help convince them to run.\n

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