I told you so
This political season is shaping up to be more than even I bargained for.
“We’re all terrible politicians. Sadly, many of us are about to pay a hefty price for that reality.”
I said the quote above over the weekend to a friend who asked me about being a local elected official.
Local politics are nastier than ever
I wrote the paragraphs below to a friend in 2023 after seeing how contentious local elections were becoming and witnessing the brewing intraparty conflicts. I love being proved right, but I won’t enjoy the pain it brings.
“Local politicians—myself included—are often ineffective in our roles. This, in part, will lead to more incumbents being challenged by members of their own party in local elections. Just like on the regional and national levels, constituents are increasingly willing to punish elected officials who they feel are out of alignment with the party’s or community’s core values and goals.
“This will result in even well-liked and popular candidates being unseated by lesser-known opponents who are more attuned to the priorities of the frustrated constituents.”
Campaign season is open
In 2021, two years after I was elected, I started saying “There is no such thing as a non-partisan local election anymore.” I believed it then. I know it to be true now. The following paragraphs, which are part of the “Should you run for local elected office?” blog post, are no less true today than they were in 2021, when I wrote them.
“The current level of political division nationally and locally has made even local politics—where party affiliation isn’t supposed to matter—louder, nastier, and even personally destructive. You have to be prepared for not only vicious political attacks but personal and professional attacks as well, which can threaten livelihoods.
“Therefore, anyone planning to run for office has to consider far more than ‘Should I run?’ They must think through how painful it could be if people start harassing their kids at school or their spouse online, in addition to potentially having calls made to their boss or co-workers—all because they disagree with a stance they took, a post they shared on social media or their vote on a controversial topic.”
Finally! I met a book-reading goal.
I met my book-reading goals for the year: 52 books. I’ve been in the 30-35 range for the last few years. Nailing one a week shouldn’t be as tough as I’ve made it to be. Hopefully, the trend continues. I’ve reviewed most of them here; I plan to have them all posted by month’s end.
Quinn Ewers declares for NFL draft.
A story I tell often is of being on the sideline at Carroll Dragon Stadium in 2019 and seeing QB Quinn Ewers throw a deep out and saying to my friend next to me, “That young man will one day play football on Sundays. The following year, Ewers took the Dragons to the state championship, which we lost to Austin’s Westlake High School.
“No big deal” I said to my daughter, who was seated next to me in the suite at AT&T Stadium. “We’ll certainly be back next year.”
I was wrong. Ewers reclassified early to graduate early in 2021. He spent a year at Ohio State, then transferred to UT and was the starter for the last two years, leading the Longhorns to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024. I hate to see him go, but I’ve enjoyed watching him the last two years and will continue to follow him in the NFL.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman expertly handles inane question
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman could barely take in his semi-final victory over Penn State before he was asked how it felt to be the first Black head coach to play in the upcoming national championship. His answer was best in class:
“I've said this before. I don't ever want to take attention away from the team," said Freeman. “It is an honor, and I hope all coaches…minorities, Black, Asian, white—it doesn't matter—great people continue to get opportunities to lead young men like this."
It infuriates me that Marcus Freeman, the Notre Dame football coach, was asked about being the first Black coach to appear in a college football championship. There are a few reasons why this question is so problematic.
First, Freeman is of mixed race—Black and Asian—and even if he weren’t, we should refrain from reducing his achievements to his racial identity. Like most Black individuals, Freeman likely doesn’t view his success through a race-based lens. His experiences, while shaped by his background, are not defined solely by race. Furthermore, even if he did, comparing his experiences to those of Black individuals from decades ago—when opportunities were scarce and barriers were often insurmountable—doesn’t make sense. His path to success is vastly different from theirs, and that comparison does a disservice to the progress made.
A Black man competing for an opportunity today, alongside individuals of any race, cannot fully grasp what it was like for Black men decades ago. He can only speak to his own experiences, and I’d wager those experiences have little to do with race. What frustrates me the most is the knowledge that, for most of us, our race is never on our minds until someone else brings it up. And once it is brought up, it’s a no-win situation.
If Freeman were to answer truthfully, saying something like, “I never thought about my race being a factor in my success,” he would likely face backlash—both from the media and from minority communities—accused of “running away from his race.”
This is why I’m asking reporters, for the sake of the interviewees and the conversation, to stop asking about race when it has nothing to do with the story at hand.
Eight
I have only eight city council meetings left as an elected official. (Actually, it’s seven since my final meeting, on May 6, is procedural.) More than 5,080 days ago, I was elected to the Southlake City Council. In just over 100 days, I will sit on the dais in my current capacity for the last time. I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m ready for what’s next: The five F’s. More on that in the coming weeks.