A Permie for Mayor

Good Afternoon,

I have recently been courted by some friends and some local political activists to run for an upcoming Mayoral position for a rural based village. While I'm not sure if I want to take on that kind of responsibility, the potential for help guide lawmaking and solve really local issues is appealing.

What kind of permaculture inspired things would you like seen brought to a local level? What might be beneficial for everyone?

Any inspiration is appreciated.

I understand that it is commonly illegal to grow a food garden in the front yard. A permie mayor would surely act to fix that. If it's a place that still makes it illegal to keep a small backyard flock, that could also be fixed.

I have the sense that code adoption and enforcement is typically done at the county level, but I'm not really sure how constant that is across the land. Even if so, a permie mayor might have the social capital to allow/reward more vernacular architecture and systems -- roundwood construction, rocket mass heaters, etc.

Think in terms of baby steps. My thoughts go with Christopher.   Take some common sense issues and nudge them forward.

Timothy Norton wrote:... the potential for help guide lawmaking and solve really local issues is appealing.

Sometimes the bigger challenge is "law repealing" rather than "law making".

For example, how do we get people growing edible landscapes in their front gardens if the "law" says the need a bunch of lawn?
How do those plants grow without toxic gick if the "law" says they aren't allowed "farm animals" inside the town limits?
How do those plants get fertilized if the town tells people they can't have honey bees and that they should destroy wasp nests if they see them?

(yes, I have family in a city that has done both those last two - they've even banned pet rabbits, although there are plenty of wild rabbits around.)

On the positive side of things, any actions that can improve local resilience - like encouraging rain gardens and swamp restoration for water management, and for open areas being turned into food forests (assuming you can find people to care for them so they don't attract bears) are great ways to permaculture an area.

Thank you for your thoughts so far.

If only a magic wand could be waved and change would happen the way we would want! I'm lucky enough to live in a spot where the village and town boards work very well together. Thirty years ago this place was an area where people retired in to live out the rest of their years. Great strides have been made with families being able to create homes and bringing the village up to the modern era has been sluggish but persistent.

I'm one of a handful of people that have chickens through a permit process. There are also some local bee keepers but less than chicken owners I believe.  The permit process is painless but there could be improvement because there is a lot of grey area undefined. Free roaming birds have irked some people and it isn't defined.

Lots of things to think about!

My city, like many others, has a "no chicken" ordinance. They're lumped right in there with cows, horses, and pigs. The history of such laws is interesting, and they were repealed in most places during WW2. After the war was over, what was proven to be sustainable was ripped away by the Henry Potters of the world. Is it time for a scrappy, grassroots push across the U.S. to have these ordinances repealed? The easiest way would be at the state level. It would take several years. It would require constant presence and pressure. But it could be done.

The reasons for being able to keep chickens are compelling. Of course, if you don't have the space and you don't take care of your birds, there should be limits and repercussions for offenders, but simply banning them is wrong.

What would really be great? If the state overrode local HSAs on the matter, stating that such entities *do not* have the right or legal ability to pass such bylaws.

j

Kind of putting a bow on part of the story.

I decided due to time commitments and where my skills lay that I am not running for office this year but I am involved in more of the background local political machine participating in advising the candidates and helping shape the flow for our little village.

An exciting thing happening is gathering a group of volunteers to manage the different gardens throughout our village. I'm going to be doing my darndest to involve native plants as well as food producing plants into this. I've got my hands on a bundle of bareroot pawpaws from the county that might end up in some locations.

Sometimes you can get more progress by working hard behind the scene than being the focal point - good luck! One year, some sneaky person put mini-tomato plants in the flower planters on our main street. I thought it was wonderful!