Paul's Heart

Life As A Dad, And A Survivor

Archive for the category “Politics”

06 Oct 2013

The Homestretch


As a kid, I was very shy, so clearly not very popular.  I did not bother running or campaigning for any elected position like student government.  It is not because I was not interested in a leadership role, just not in the organized hierarchy position.    It was during my battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that I soon realized what my personal definition of leadership would be, by setting example.

When I came to my current employment, my job would require me to join my first, last, and only union job.  Do not misunderstand me, I appreciate everything that my union has negotiated for me, such as group health and life insurance which prior to the Affordable Care Act, I would not qualify for the insurance because of prior conditions.

Being a fighter by nature, a defender for those unable to fend for themselves, I made a decision to run for shop steward in my department.  A shop steward is an elected co-worker, generally quite knowledgeable with the contract we work under, and various other workers rights laws.  Because personalities sometimes conflict, the shop steward also needs to be willing to represent a co-worker regardless of any ill feelings.  In my fourteen years in my current department, I ran thirteen times, and lost all thirteen.  I was the “Susan Lucci” of my department.

In 2009, I made a decision that in spite of not being able to earn forty to fifty votes needed to be a shop steward in my department, I was going to take a shot at campaigning for school board in the school district I live.  (That story is posted earlier this year).  The fact that I would need 100 times the votes to earn a school board position compared to the perennial losses that I suffered at work, I felt I could achieve victory.

I fell short in the election of 2011, as did two of my running mates.  But two other of my running mates did earn seats onto the school board.  And it was their encouragement that convinced me to take another run, this time for 2013.  I lost that election in 2011 by 196 votes.  Only 11,000 voted of the potential 50,000 voters.  But I recorded over 9000 votes.  I personally know maybe a couple dozen people locally, and definitely know less than one hundred people, period.

Besides the personality quirk that I have of not wanting to quit or concede, there is a rush that I get, and I am sure that others get during campaign season.  The schedule is exhausting, as now that we are in October, I am out of my house nearly seven days a week, and usually all weekend long attending fundraisers, public events, and going door to door, meeting potential voters.  There is a tremendous feeling I get, when I am responded to in a positive way.  I am congratulated for stepping up.  I am looked to for hope and help for those struggling.  I am being counted on to make things better.

During my first campaign, there are many memories that stand out in my mind.  And this campaign is no different.  This has been a marathon weekend for me.  So my movements are a bit robotic or automatic.  I was not prepared for one open door that I had today.  I will respect her privacy by not revealing her name.  But after dealing with a late heatwave in the middle of October, today was not one of my fun days, until 5:30 this evening.

I was greeted by a jester.  Well, it was actually a mother who was playing with her children who were also in costume, but the mother was wearing a jester’s outfit.  I could not help but chuckle as she proceeded to explain the circumstances to me, but it did not matter.  She broke the monotony that I had been feeling today.  I explained the platforms that myself and my running mates were campaigning on.  And then she told me what I wanted to hear, that she would support the four of us with her votes.  You see, besides being an outstanding mother to her children, she was also a teacher.  Just one of the many who for years has had to listen to constant unjustified criticisms and fabrications about an occupation that we all rely on for the sake of our futures.

It means a lot to be relied and counted on.  Today is just one of many that I will look back upon and remember vividly.  I hope someday that I get the chance to see that teacher again, only under the circumstances of her congratulating me on a  victory.  And all I ask for, is to be able to look at her and know, that she feels hope again.  Hope that the district’s leadership will be the one to set the example of restoring respect to the teaching profession.

I have never won a campaign.  I won my first election this year, finally of the position of shop steward.  I have not let my co-workers down.  I hope this is a sign of things to come next month.

Posted in Education, Family and Friends, Politics, Recreation | Leave a comment
15 Sep 2013

Ichiro Suzuki, Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and Paul Edelman


Ichiro Suzuki, Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and Paul Edelman.  We all share something in common with each other.  Alright, we have to eliminate the obvious using the method used on standardized tests… which answer does not fit?  Paul Edelman.  The other three names are/were professional baseball players who hit for over 4000 career base hits.  Each time, the impossible became possible.  Ty Cobb hit for 4000 career hits, a record never thought to be broken.  Then Pete Rose achieved that mark, followed by Suzuki.

In 2012, there were eleven quarterbacks who threw for over 4000 yards breaking a record 10 quarterbacks in one season.  Future Hall Of Famers, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers just to name a few.

The late, great Wilt Chamberlain is the only pro basketball player to ever score 4000 points in one season.  The season being the years 1961-1962.

Sorry hockey fans… and I am disappointed as well there are no 4000 goals or points scored.  Goalie Devan Dubnyk of the Edmonton Oilers has stopped over 4000 shots as have Roberto Luongo, Henrik Lundqvist, and bizarre former Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.  I looked for any hockey player who might have racked up 4000 penalty minutes and the closest I could come was a player by the name of Tiger Williams (Toronto Mapleleafs) who retired just short of 4000 with 3966 minutes.

There has been no physical demand on my part to reach 4000 views on Paul’s Heart, just the will to put my thoughts down into written form.  I would like to think that there are more in my household who would be excited for me, especially my oldest daughter who is not really fond of reading.  You would think she would see that so many have read what her father has written and have that motivate her, but to my disappointment, nope.  Nonetheless, for the guy who’s college English professor once wrote while grading one of my papers that I “don’t have the intelligence to get past a comic strip page”, I think I can, and have done so.

I now set my sights on a new goal, 5000 views.  Thank you so much for encouraging me with your comments and support.  Darlene, thank you for suggesting this be my outlet for my thoughts in pursuit of that book I want to write.  And to everyone, I have over 100 more stories already started, not including the ideas that pop in my head daily.

As usual, I constantly run into new experiences that I want to share with you, in hopes that somehow, you will see, you are not alone.

Thank you everyone for reading Paul’s Heart.

 

Posted in Adoption, Animals, Bullying, Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Food, Inspired By..., Politics, Recreation, Side Effects, The Heart, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
21 Jul 2013

And The Race Is On


I have been campaigning for our local school district now, going on my third year.  I learned alot from my first campaign effort in 2011.  We had a great slate of candidates to run against the incumbants, but with all of us having little experience running a campaign, we spent a lot of time spinning our wheels with efforts that could have been concentrated on something else.

I think we have a great start to the 2013 North Penn School Board race because we never stopped campaigning at the end of the election in 2011.  We continued to stay active attending school district meetings, meeting voters, reading articles, and attending training sessions.  And then things really fell into place when along with our campaign manager, several other volunteers stepped up their efforts to help us.

The primary election season went very quiet compared to 2011.  In 2011, the incumbants chose to employ a strategy that they hoped would infuriate the voters and eliminate us from any kind of competition.  They chose to use the picture of a handgun, to promote their school board re-election campaign.  It was truly an offensive piece of literature, accusing myself and fellow running mates, that if elected, we would be “committing armed robbery” on the taxpayers.  To quote one of the former board members (he lost his re-election bid, most likely due to this flyer), “we had a message to get out, and we got that message out.”

I will never forget that smugness.  With annual reports of gun violence in schools, to promote the election of the leadership of the school district using a picture of a murder weapon had no place, not just in local politics, but any politics.

2013 is considered an off-year for elections.  There is no presidential race, no election for governor or any other high profile office.  But North Penn School District is the 6th largest school district in the state of Pennyslvania.  It should come as no surprise that our school district election has attracted alot of attention.  Other school districts are watching to see how a mostly Republican dominated school board stands up to a huge challenge of its power by genuine vested members of the community.  Local government officials are paying attention to this race.  Off-years generally produce the lowest voter turn-out.  But with the momentum from 2011’s election, we are hoping to prove that theory wrong.

The primary this year was indeed very quiet.  Even the election day itself went without issue with the exception of a few questionable tactics by poll-workers representing the party of the school board.  There was not even any newspaper coverage.

Well, the Summer is half over now, and as the school district makes preparations for the upcoming school year, it is also a time for our campaign, to line up on the starter blocks.  We have a huge undertaking on our hands taking on a monstrous machine in the form of the four incumbants.  But we, as candidates, who also happen to be parents of North Penn students, home owners and taxpayers, believe that this is the year, to finally make educating the students of North Penn a priority in the decisions that aer made by the district.

It has been over a month and a half since the election, but last night, we got our feet “wet” again with an invitation to another local office’s campaign.  It felt different than two years ago, when we were trying to get ourselves “known” to the public.  Now I was being introduced as someone with an opinion and direction that matter.

Posted in Education, Family and Friends, Politics, Recreation and tagged , | Leave a comment

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