The first item on the agenda is the upcoming showdown between Senator Lisa Murkowski and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams. Sen. Murkowski was so qualified for the position in the first place, it only took her father leaving the job to become Governor and appointing her as his replacement for her to take office. That's right, this isn't even nepotism, it's, what, filiatism?
Mayor McAdams, on the other hand, is relatively new to me. As I am moving to Sitka, it disappoints me to think that a good leader would be ascending to Washington so soon after my arrival, but he is widely known for being a hard worker and exceptionally honorable. Though he worked in the private sector in Sitka for many years, he never lobbied the state government or pushed for local laws that would benefit his colleagues (a rarity in Alaska, it appears), and he went out of his way to help others even when he wouldn't benefit directly in any way (almost like that's what he was elected to do!). Yes, folks, this is an honorable man working in politics. I hesitate to call him a politician, because that name has lost its luster enough that I don't know if it even applies.
SO WHERE IS THIS ALL GOING
Yesterday, I followed the recommendation of Shannyn Moore and followed Mayor McAdams on Twitter. Shortly after doing so, I posted a tweet recommending that my followers check him out and support him, indicating my impending move to Sitka. Today, he obviously was catching up on his deluge of followers and I was followed not only by him but by his staff.
OK OK SO YOU'RE STAR STRUCK
No, I'm not impressed by that. Following someone means nothing. Politicians do it routinely without ever going any farther than that. What impresses me is that McAdams is interacting with people as people. He read what I posted and wrote back, asking where I was going to be living. Figuring there's no-one better to chat up in a small city than the mayor and no-one better to chat up in a campaign than the candidate, I responded with the general location in town and my intention to volunteer for him. He responded in a matter of minutes by noting that he looks forward to meeting me in person.
I'm not posting all of this to brag, but to point out how atypical this man is. He is not only running his own Twitter account (his staff have their own because, in his words, he "has a day job") and posting his own tweets, but he is also engaging and relating to his potential voters and volunteers. I know that Alaska is a small state and this is easier than in many larger states, but he is conversing with supporters around the country and actually reaching out in a real way.
Alaskans, unless there is something huge that I haven't yet uncovered about Scott McAdams, he is the man to represent Alaska in Washington for the next six years.
3 comments:
Well... to be fair, Wikipedia says Sitka has about 9000 residents. So while I agree it's nice, it doesn't even scale to your average congresscritter representing 500K+ people.
See you Sunday :-)
The politics part here is interesting enough, but I'm curious how you came to be coming to Sitka, and what you'll be doing there.
Having made the trip from Tucson to Arizona once, Sitka is, like, 2/3 of the way to Alaska 8>).
Andy, I'm heading to Sitka in furtherance of my career (and because it presents a number of opportunities for my family, not least of which is an adventure). I'm a music teacher, and I will be starting up a program at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in the fall.
Sitka may only be 2/3 of the way to Anchorage, but I assure you that the 5500 miles we'll be driving in a week are far enough! (And it's about 3000 miles from where we are in AZ to Sitka, not counting our side trip, about 3750 to Anchorage.)
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