The Wright campaign (District 3) ... Sunday at The Forum

For any of you that follow politics closely, you are acutely aware of the fact that politicians, particularly at the national level, spend a significant amount of time on the fundraising circuit.  Campaigning seems to almost have become nonstop at the presidential level, and with the expense of getting your message out on TV, fundraising has become a critical part of both running for and staying in office.

When I was deciding whether to run for city council, one of the first questions I asked myself (being a finance guy this was probably natural) was ‘how much is this going to cost me?’  The thought of asking people for money made my skin crawl, so I decided early on I would simply self fund the whole campaign.

What I quickly learned however, is that campaigning is quite expensive and that with four kids and all their associated expenses that I still had to keep paying, I would certainly require some outside assistance in order to run a competitive campaign. 

My campaign team brainstormed various ideas about how to raise money and ultimately we settled on having a one-time event that would be about friends and supporters having fun together, with good food, in a great atmosphere with minimal talk about things like trash and zoning. 

The end result was our fundraiser held at Grace 1720 this past Sunday. 

You can view some photos from our event here http://www.wright4pccouncil.com/photos/gallery/a6290624-816d-487b-8a6d-4a7fca515772

Let me just say, if you have never eaten at Grace 1720 http://grace1720.com/  you are missing out.  I can’t say enough good things about the owner/executive chef, Barbara DiJames, and her staff.  Everything they did was top notch – food, wine, ambiance, service, etc. 

While the staff at Grace 1720 did an excellent job, the part of the whole night that was the most fulfilling for me was the opportunity to spend a few hours (kid free mind you) with 75 close friends and supporters who were all there to support our campaign.  It was a very humbling feeling to know all those people were there to support you and your team. 

One of the promises I made to people who attended was that I would not give a long, boring political speech about code enforcement, sign ordinances, etc.  However, I did take a few minutes to thank some people and share a few thoughts on our campaign so far. 

One of the main things I wanted to share with everyone that night was what a great experience campaigning had been so far.  That, even though it was hard and stressful at times, that it was worth it (win or lose, hopefully win) because of a real sense of community that I felt was being created from the whole experience. 

Relationships with friends were being strengthened as we worked long hours together, striving toward something that was important and was not simply about making money.   New relationships were being formed with people I would have never met if not for this campaign.  A whole series of networks and relationships were being formed across our new city that had not existed previously.  The sense of community that would be needed in order for our new city to be successful was in fact, already occurring. 

Many of you have probably read where I once served as an officer in the United States Navy a long time ago.  Being deployed at sea for months at a time is a really hard life that you can’t really explain to people.  But in spite of those hardships, one of the things that kept people going was that what they were doing had a purpose to it.  It was bigger than they were.  However great my current job is, helping a company increase their profits simply does not provide that same sense of purpose and I have found that to be a real shortcoming in my civilian work life.    

Striving together with a great group of people toward a common goal (being on the city council and having the opportunity to get our new city off on right foot) that can have a real positive and profound impact on people’s life is very rewarding.  That sense of purpose is there and I am grateful to be able to share it with both old and new friends. 

Please review my background and position on the issues at www.wright4pccouncil.com.

I hope you will consider me for City Council District 3 on March 6th.