Why I'm running

Why do I want to run? In the last year, I've been galvanized to take action, to no longer sit on the sidelines and complain, but to get involved and make my voice heard.  What's more, I know I can bring my talent and effective leadership to city council, particularly on issues that matter most to me:  economic and community development, which are tied to fairness and equity.

I also believe our council should also reflect the community it represents, and the present distribution of seats on the 16 (soon to be 15) seat council includes only two women.  We can model and demonstrate our commitment to diversity by electing a council that looks more like Appleton.

I've said before that I am progressive, and that  doesn't mean spending as much as we possibly can, breaking the bank in unrealistic and idealistic ways.  It means that we can creatively and innovatively attack municipal problems without leaving behind the people who can least afford it.  It also means that, when matters of principle are on the line, I won't waver--not when our community is counting on us the most. I will never refer an important issue, such as partner benefits, back to committee for political expediency.

Fairness should not be held hostage to inconsistency.

Why should you vote for me?  I'll bring my fierce devotion to progressive ideas to the council, and while I wish to find ways to build consensus, I absolutely will not back away from these fundamental values of equity and equality, or of finding ways for the city to hear and meet the needs of all its residents.  You can count on me to hold firm, and to always explain my votes.  In particular:

• I support the revitalization efforts of the downtown area, including the Exposition Center and Houdini Plaza Renovation.  In both cases the combination of revenue resources and the homework done by the city makes me believe we can make this work in making downtown an attractive destination for the community and business traffic.

• I support, vocally and unabashedly, the city's domestic partner benefits policy and the Diversity Coordinator Position.  I believe both are tied intimately to the successful future development of our city as an attractive place for businesses and families. We need alderpeople who  demonstrate strong, vocal, consistently clear leadership on these issues.

• We need to think outside the box, and sometimes outside the city, to solve some tough issues that are critical to our economic growth as we strive to be the leader of the the Fox Valley.  Innovative business strategies, such as mobile food trucks need to be supported, and I know we can accomplish this without harming the businesses already rooted to the College Avenue business corridor.  

• Regional answers need to be investigated aggressively.  The best, most recent example is the proposed solutions to Valley Transit funding.  We need to look to a new way of doing business, especially when VT is critical to the region's chances at economic success.

• We also need to improve our online presence.  As we move deeper into the 21st century, and as Gen-X'ers and Millennials move here and move further into the work and business communities, we can no longer consider this a luxury.  This will cost money, of course, and has been a difficult problem to solve.  We need to use local (including our universities) and regional resources.  We should investigate the obvious benefits of cost-sharing in even broader consortia of similar-sized communities that can improve our online presence.  We are in desperate need of new and easily used information retrieval and online sharing. 

• Why? We are no longer a Yellow Pages society; we are a Web Pages society. Increasing, the first place people look is no longer the phone book but online--about permits, taxes, decisions about relocating a family or a business, or even keeping track of and communicating with our representatives.  We cannot afford to fall behind any further.  You deserve to know what the council is doing, and what the city is doing, in a transparent, readily available way.  I'm glad to see this idea catching on, but we need to be more forward thinking and much more aggressive in how we move to the future.  This is an effort that needs to be done as part of the council's job, not just part of an election campaign.

I promise, should I be elected, to be the Alderperson of all of District 4.  We might not agree on all issues, but you'll know, either by a revamped city website or by my own site that tracks every single vote--where I stand, and why.  If I've learned anything as an educator and a scientist, it is this simple fact:  all people have the same right to be heard.  I might disagree with your argument, but I will not dismiss out of hand any concern or idea a community member has.

In the end, I want to be the kind of Alderperson whom I'd be happy to vote for, whatever the politics:  someone who may not agree with me all the time, but someone who will listen and will act, showing that necessary blend of representation and leadership we absolutely need in local government.

Thank you so much.  I look forward to meeting as many people in our wonderful district between now and the elections, but in the meantime, please feel free to contact me with your questions and concerns or if you'd like to set up an individual meeting time.

Meg Pickett