Brooke Blaalid, Co-Director of Ready to Run who Prepares SD Women to Run for Political Office was the guest on Patrick Lalley’s show today. (FF: 35:00)
She talks about her resume and background, and one of the fascinating stories she brings up is serving on the Yankton City Commission. She makes some great statements about local government;
“Sitting at the city level is the most important part of government, I believe, we see change happening first and quickly, at the city level. There’s not a lot of citizen participation, unfortunately.â€
Then she talks about the value of public input.
“Sitting on the City Commission, I thought there would be more social interaction from the community. I think I got maybe one or two emails while serving . . . that’s where all the great ideas come from, public input . . . I think when you have policy developed by people who are not at your educational level or social economic status, they have no idea how to create that, I think that’s where public opinion is so important, because you get good policy than.â€
She also touches on being an Independent and how that makes you more approachable as a (female) candidate instead of being an extremist from the Republican or Democratic party.