James Johnson wins Long Beach council seat
June 10th, 2010 at 10:33 pm ETCongratulations to James Johnson, whom I’ve met professionally and who was elected this week to the Long Beach (California) city council.
I’m always cheered by “local boy goes away to get edumacated, moves home and gets city staff job, sees opportunity for positive change, runs and wins” stories like these. With all the cynicism in politics (and especially in the coverage of politics), it’s important to keep in mind that government and politics are not the same thing. And the matter-of-fact desire to invest in and improve the community where you and your family live — the desire to pick up part of the task of governing and carry it forward — is still a powerful force pulling people into elective office.
And that’s probably truer the closer to the neighborhood level you are — truer in city council than in the county council, truer in county council than in the state legislature, truer in the state legislature than in Congress. In Congress, way out there in Washington, it’s possible to drift away from true north as seen by your constituents, but that’s much harder to do if your job is to approve zoning applications and sanitation contracts and oversee the Streets & Roads Department. Potholes can’t be wished away by slick Washington talk, and if you don’t make sure they get fixed, you’ll get sent home.
When term limits first turned over the California Legislature en masse beginning in 1990, I considered running for Assembly. It was never more than a germ of an idea of a plan — and I couldn’t have won — but I thought about it seriously enough way back then that I still really respect people who run for local office. So congratulations to James and his family for investing in the future of Long Beach, and best of luck.
One final note: Although I don’t live in California anymore, I care about Long Beach — my mother graduated from Robert A. Millikan High School — so I sent James a small contribution, a hundred bucks as I recall. In a city council race (really, in any race, but especially in local races that may fall below the radar of the organized interests), even a hundred bucks matters. So don’t be shy about contributing to political candidates in local races — step forward and give your $1000 or $100 or $10 to the candidate you’d like to see win. Sometimes they actually do!
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Rich Mintz blogs on online fundraising and social media, American history and culture, bicycling and urbanism, food, technology, and other topics. Professionally, he's an expert in fundraising, constituency development, and social media for nonprofits, cultural organizations, cause-related marketers, and corporations. He is based in New York, where he serves as Vice President, Strategy, for 
