Know Your Neighbors

The results from walking my neighborhood precinct for the Right to Vote on the Desalination Plant are found in more than just the number of signatures I collected. Three hours of walking netted 25 valid signatures, plus those that two neighbors will give me when they return the petition forms they offered to circulate. Most of the people I talked to signed and some went into their house to get their roommates to sign also. Today I will walk again.

The other more important result came because this was not the first time I contacted these folk. Last month I had walked my neighborhood precinct for a very hotly contested supervisor race. This classic local contest is between a candidate backed by a very big business and the landed gentry versus a candidate of the environmentally concerned grassroots.

I received a lot of push back because my candidate has taken an unpopular stance in my neighborhood. Her missteps in office have left the door open for the opposition. She allowed the other candidate for big business and the ‘develop land for private profit’ forces back into the political arena.

In the spirit of full disclosure she knows I am actively organizing to change her position and that of the rest of the board of supervisors regarding my neighborhood. My house, literally, and my neighborhood are divided.

But yesterday my reception in the neighborhood was much warmer. Once folks realized that I was walking for another cause they were willing to listen. And something happened for me. These folks were no longer the opposition, no longer unclear thinkers, nor did they have a heated rejection of my existence on their doorstep.

What I learned is what I have been preaching but not practicing for some years now. When you walk your neighborhood and get to know your neighbors on a political level you become a powerful new form of opposition media. You become a means to put humanity into the political discourse. You open doors with folks that you disagree with on some issues and agree with on others. You build trust. You break down isolation.

Rose Aguilar said at a recent forum of people she interviewed for her book, “Red Highways: A Liberal's Journey into the Heartland,” once you get past the sound bites you hear a more true story. I found this to be true yesterday.

I owe thanks to an organization and two great political women who a few years ago separately taught me about walking a precinct. Thank you Barbara and Liz. And thank you Know Your Neighbor.