In political circles, there is a fairly complex formula for determining successful candidates for office. Are they fundraising well? Working the phones? Do they have a good field plan? Do they stay on message? Do they have a clear, concise message? How are they viewed in the community? Who are they connected to and how?
And who do they have on their team? An experienced crew with a decent track record?
It's all a messy soup that ends up being tough to tease out in any practical sense.
For the rest of us, when we're talking about evaluating a candidate, there ought to be a couple of pretty easy questions: Is he or she an indelible part of their community? And does he or she have a fervent desire to serve the public good?
If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then even a political novice can tell -- that is usually the right person for the job.
Electorally, it's an exciting time in St. Petersburg. The race for mayor is heating up, and the question of whether or not we'll build the Lens is on the ballot.
Political insiders are talking about the mayoral race, sure, and making predictions about what's next for the Pier. For entertainment purposes, a lot of folks are watching the City Council race in District 4, where Darden Rice, a smart, progressive leader with a bright future is almost assuredly going to wallop racist tax scold David McKalip.
For my money, you're not going to find a better race than the one for City Council in District 8, the one being vacated by term-limited Jeff Danner. Right now, it's a four-way race between Steve Galvin, Amy Foster, Alex Duensing, and Robert Davis.
Heading into the primary next month, there's no denying that Amy Foster leads in some polling. But that's inside baseball talk.
I'm keeping a close eye on Steve Galvin, and you should, too. Why? Because when you're asking yourself those two big questions, and you look at Steve Galvin, the answer to both is: yes.
Steve has been a resident of North Kenwood since 2003 -- he and his wife renovated a house there. In fact, when faced with a choice of moving away or helping their neighborhood, they chose to stay. Steve and his wife have renovated several houses in their neighborhood.
Helping rebuild the houses on your block? That's being an indelible part of your community, for sure. So is being a part of the neighborhood association, as Steve is. So is tutoring at your local elementary school, as Steve does.
Any time I go to a campaign website, I almost always click the "about" button first. Who is this person, anyway. The second place I invariably go is to the "issues" page. A weak issues page is a turn-off for me, every time.
The very first "issue" Steve lists on his page is: Improving our Neighborhoods. After rebuilding houses in his neighborhood, we can say this is a guy who knows what he's talking about.
Second issue on Steve's page? "Fostering small business." As a guy who just started his own business, this speaks to me, too. ("Jobs" is third, by the way -- smart, given the slow recovery we're in; and lest you think he's ignored the Pier issue, there's an entire page dedicated to it, here.)
Steve talks about these issues like a guy who wants to see his ideas put into action. He wants to help St. Petersburg Neighborhoods, he cares about jobs, about small businesses.
He cares about the public good.
For political junkies like me, Galvin may not be the most conventional candidate we've ever seen -- but when it comes to the fundamentals, Galvin's got it.
