Email from Scott Lieberman to LNC:
John Inks was re-elected to the Mountain View City Council this past November. (Mtn View is in Silicon Valley)
Last night his fellow Council members elected him Mayor for 2013.
Excluding John Inks, there are currently 8 Libertarian Mayors in the United States.
(2 partisan and 6 non-partisan. Both of the partisan ones are in Penn.)
Just for fun, I totaled up the population of all of the cities in which we have those 8 Mayors, vs. the population of Mtn View.
Total population of the 8 cities where we currently have Libertarian Mayors (excluding Mtn View) = 36,247
Total population of Mountain View, CA = 74,066
Google’s HQ is in Mountain View. You might have heard of them…
http://www.lp.org/campaign-resources
Needs to be expanded, updated and publicized a LOT more.
I agree with Paulie. Thanks for posting that, Scott. I think CA should now be focusing on finding the winnable positions that are open, and campaigning to get someone elected to them.
Dr. Lieberman,
Thanks for answering.
We need to have a central repository for info like that, to have it prominently featured and linked and to refer people to it frequently. While some repositories of such information exist, Tim Doran’s question is yet another example that the people who are looking for this kind of information don’t know where to find it.
“Tim Doran // Jan 11, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Would be a great resource if John or someone from his campaign team could lay out their strategy, budget, and campaign activity as well as an overview of the race, opponents, and voter demographics.
It wouldn’t need to be extremely long, but just give us some insight into what worked and what didn’t. Often times, we are so “grass-roots” that we re-invent the wheel a 1,000 times a year in elections and activism.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
http://www.lncc.org/advice-from-an-elected-libertarian/
It appears the answer is no.
Quick search:
Campaign site http://www.electinks.com/ includes his phone number, bio, priorities, endorsements and more; no mention of LP anywhere that I see.
http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=6512 No mention of any parties anywhere.
Nor at http://mountainview.patch.com/articles/mountain-view-election-results-november-2012-for-city-council-and-school-district
Or http://mountainview.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?meta_id=57809&view=&showpdf=1
Is this a partisan office?
Email link is here
http://www.mountainview.gov/city_council/council_roster/vice_mayor_inks.asp
Would be a great resource if John or someone from his campaign team could lay out their strategy, budget, and campaign activity as well as an overview of the race, opponents, and voter demographics.
It wouldn’t need to be extremely long, but just give us some insight into what worked and what didn’t. Often times, we are so “grass-roots” that we re-invent the wheel a 1,000 times a year in elections and activism.
Anybody have an email address I could reach John or his campaign team at? Or anyone with his info willing to pass along this request?
Oh, and congrats to John Inks on winning the election!
I’m pretty sure Scott did reply to that, but I don’t feel like looking it up again right now.
When Scott Lieberman first posted about this, I sent an email asking what John Inks has been doing in office and what his legislative priorities are. Perhaps he did not get it, as I’m not sure I have his current email address.
I’m delighted he’s been elected mayor, and offer my congratulations as well. But as I’ve told Scott at least a couple times now in different contexts on the LNC when he’s returned to his cherished topic of electing local Libertarians, getting them elected is really only half the battle!
If they don’t actually vote and act as libertarians once in office, these victories count for very little, and may even be counter-productive by tarnishing the reputations of the party and the movement if officials fail to act to advance the cause of liberty, or even worse, cast anti-libertarian votes in office.
The Libertarian Party, and individual Libertarians, have a vital role to play here, by tracking and publicizing the records of elected Libertarians, and keeping in touch with them, so that we can support and encourage those elected officials who are living up to our ideals, and light a fire under those who are not.
As with many things in life, when it comes to elected Libertarians, quality, not quantity should be our watchword!
Congratulations to John Inks!
We’ve recently discovered that my vice-chair of the Pasadena/Glendale region of the LP was appointed as a commissioner to the city council of Pasadena. He’s working with the 4 charter stations in Pasadena (I hope I’m saying it right). He was nominated by a city counceilman, and then was voterd in. For some reason, he didn’t mention it to any of us until he sent out a newsy Christmas letter.
Congraulations, Howie Zechner!
Great job, John! Also kudos to his campaign team! I know T.J. Campbell was very involved.