Sunday, February 25, 2007

What a weekend

Sometimes the end of busy weekend is something to look forward to.

Saturday morning started out great. For the past two years, my wife and children and I have been feeding the homeless. What started out as a one time thing has turned into to a once a month event. We recently teamed up with Graceland Baptist Church
of new albany. Having the additional resources of the church has allowed this ministry to grow even more. The additional people allow us to distribute clothes, hats, gloves and other items. Graceland has one of those backpack drink dispensers, and hot chocolate with fresh marshmallows is a huge hit! We were able to feed 150 people homemade soup and sandwiches. It's a great opportunity to spend some time encouraging those that are going through difficult times.

After that, I rented a moving truck to pick up some equipment I bought off ebay that was in Chicago. A friend of mine mentioned some bad weather heading toward chicago, but heck the sun was shining and the weather was warming up so how bad could it be? I found out a few miles north of Indy. What started out as rain very quickly turned to sleet. In no time at all the roads were solid ice. The fastest I could travel was 15mph. The 5.5 hour trip to Chicago ended up taking almost 11 hours, and to pass the time my son and I counted how many cars were wrecked. The total was 30 cars and one trailer.

The trip gave me another reason to love where i live. New Albany is affordable. I felt bad for the guy I bought the equipment from. He was closing his business and selling off all the equipment. His lease kept going up to the point where it just didn't make sense to stay open. When he told me his property taxes were $6,500 on a home smaller than mine, I invited him to move down here!!!

This really is a great town to live in. It's been so long since I've lived out of state, I had forgotten what a bargain New Albany really is.

The one thing I have not forgotten is the efficiency of other local governments in the towns I've lived in.

As for as "platform" issues, they will come. This medium is a great way to get to know the person behind the vote.

I'll start posting them after I have an opportunity to really meet some folks and hear their hearts on issues. To speak without hearing would be foolish.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Let's get it started...

Today's the day that I officially "Filed" for the 2nd District City Council position. I'm on the ballot and it's time to get to work.

I was very excited to read about the "Meet the Candidates" event hosted by the Uptown Neighborhood Association on Thursday, March 1st at 7pm.
Here's the posting from View From the Highway.
On thursday March 1, 2007 the Uptown Neighborhood Association is hosting a "Meet Your Candidates" event.

We are inviting all of those folks who have registered to run the the May 2007 Municipal Primary Election for New Albany. So far all we have contacted, save one, has indicated they will attend.

We will have tables set up around the perimenter of the room with placards in front of each candidate with their name and the office they are seeking.

We are inviting the public , other neighborhood groups, as well as our own members to come by and discuss with the candidates individually whatever is on their minds concerning New Albany's future.

The Uptown Neighborhood Association is neither endorsing nor sponsering any particular candidate for any particular office. We are doing this solely to give the public a chance to meet those seeking office personally and for the seekers to hear what is on the voters minds up close.

The meeting begins at 7:00PM and light refreshments will be served. So come join us and bring your best questions to pose to the candidates.

My bad! The meeting will be held in the basement of the Silver Street United Methodist Church.
It is located right behind the Swifty Gas Station at the corner of Spring & Silver Streets.

I hope to see you there!!!

I would like to thank Vicky from the Uptown Neighborhood Association for extending an invitation via email so quickly. I would also like to thank "bluegill" from
NA Confidential for being so resourceful and so quick to create a link to this blog. Great job updating the NA Confidential site with candidate information, it's where I've been keeping up with who's running!!!

It's been an exiciting day! The support and enthusiam is very encouraging!

Somebody stop me if I start sounding like a politician!!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Please allow me

To introduce myself.

My name is Peter Lyons and I am running for the New Albany City Council, 2nd district.

I've decided to run for city council because I love this city. I believe this city can be so much more than what it is now.

I've been reading the blogs and forums and developing an understanding of the wants and needs of the people of this community. It's a fair statement to say that there needs to be some change in the political climate of this city.

The definition of "awaken" is to "rouse from sleep" or to "make someone aware". I feel it's an appropriate theme for the changes that need to take place in New Albany.

This blog is not just for the election. If elected, this blog will continue to inform the public as to what's going on.

Feel free to post your comments. I only ask that your comments be respectful of others.

I've also created an email address for direct communication. You can reach me at newalbany2nd@gmail.com.

The first thing on my list of things to do is have a "town hall" meeting, so that I can get to know you and hear your concerns. I'm already looking for a location to have this meeting, and I'm open to suggestions. This is NOT a fundraiser. This something that I would continue even after the election. Your input is extremely important to me.

I'll be posting campaign issues in future posts. The one thing that I will promise is that I'm not going to list off all the things you want to hear. I'm not going to "soundbite" everyone I talk to and create this really impressive but totally impossible list of campaign promises. It's impossible to make everyone happy, and I'm not going to pretend or lie to anyone. I can't tell you I'm going to work hard to clean up New Albany AND that I don't believe in enforcement for the Offenders (Landlords). I will tell you that I'll take the position that will benefit the community, and I'll stand by it.

Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself, and I hope to meet with you soon!
pete