By Steven Rosas, candidate for Amarillo City Council Place 4
If you know a first time local candidate, give them a “high-five”! I’ll tell you registering to vote is easy. Voting is easy. If you have access to a polling station. Going to City Hall and speaking at Public Comment is easy! If you can take time out of the middle of your day. Talking to the city secretary and filing for a spot on the ballot is easy. If you have support or $100. Now, I hate to admit, but having written it out, being involved is not that easy. It should be. To be included we must be prepared to do the work!
The Rosas Campaign started with emotional support, advice, and an empty bank account at Texas Plains Federal. Two “Meet & Greets”, a forum, tons of volunteer and meeting hours later I have learn a lot about campaigning and how hard it can be, if you do the work. Campaigning and being involved has inspired people to vote for the first time, it has motivated (more specifically) people close to me, like my own mother and father to get involved after years of “political apathy”.
If your serious and people take you seriously, everyone will be watching you. When I realized expectations from supporters and undecided voters, I can say it was daunting, I had to evolve. I wanted everyone support me (like me), so I found myself trying to change myself like a chameleon to the people around me. Quickly, I found that I’m not one to blend in, I have to create my own style that I am constantly trying to incorporate into my evolution from a concerned citizen to a compassionate representative.
If you’re registered to vote, go vote, then go run or convince someone you admire to campaign. The path to election is treacherous and covered in obstacles from discovering who you are as a representative and fulfilling expectations placed on your shoulders as a spouse, parent, and city representative, but I’m confident in the talent and ingenuity of Amarillo citizens, like you and me to make real and lasting change!
Rosas/Photo by Campaign