Second in a series.
Re: “For Meghan, Term Limits Can Form a Conundrum”
As the only incumbent in the large field of City Council candidates, Meghan Sahli-Wells, who officially opens her re-election campaign on Saturday, will attempt to capitalize on her perceived advantage by “running on my record.”
That tactic is not always automatic with incumbents, who typically tend to mask at least part of their history.
Not Ms. Sahli-Wells, inarguably the most progressive member of the City Council.
“I want to talk about so many issues,” she said, adding that her advocacy on a huge table full of varied environmental topics probably is the most obvious flag she will wave.
“Besides being pretty strong on environment issues, there are the committees and boards I have sat on – the Sustainability subcommittee, which I chair, the School Board-City Council Liaison Committee, which I also chair, the Oil Drilling Committee. Those have been great opportunities to get pretty deep into policy, more so than we do at our regular Council meetings.”
That is business, and then there are the trappings of office as Ms. Sahli-Wells raises the curtain on her attempt to win a second term. Opening Day starts at 2 o’clock on Saturday at the Seeberger home, 10714 Hepburn Circle, Studio Estates.
Her most enjoyable moments in the past 3½ years came during her rotating one-year term as mayor.
“I have to say I loved being mayor,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said.
She laughed and said it again – “I just loved it. It brought a lot of opportunities. One of my proudest votes was when, by a 3-2 vote, we were able to save our rental assistance program that had been defunded. We were able also to save our homeless services.
“That vote,” she said, “was the difference for 58 households whether they would be kicked to the curb.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells could sense a shiver.
“That was a vote that was not at all academic. It was real,” she said.
(To be continued)
