Nathan Blecharczyk Quotes

My mother at the age of 65 decided she was going to run for mayor. She had never run for public office, and she decided she wanted to try and do some things for the community.

Representing the people of Welwyn Garden City makes me intensely proud.

I've been hearing from people saying they see me more than they do their city council member.

On my show, I often discuss all the ways one can get involved politically on a local level, precincts, et al.

In city hall and in local government, you have to get things done without drama.

You have the biggest impact on controlling, on affecting local lives as mayor. It's so much more important than being a state legislator.

People underestimate the impact they can have on the process through contact with legislators. By being part of an organized group in an area that you have an interest in, you can multiply the impact of your own ideas.

The first lesson in civics is that efficient government begins at home.

When I went to Harvard and studied planning, I found I didn't have the skills or the strength to become the kind of public person who could go out and lobby government agencies.

The work I have done in private practice has been assisting companies and organizations to work with an incredibly complex federal government. I'm proud of the impact I've had for these organizations, including organizations here in Pinellas County.

I get along great with all of my exes. That's really cool. That's a good sign.

Read the editorial page of your local paper. It introduces you to opinion and can be terrifically provocative and perhaps a great motivating force for you to get involved in your community, regardless of your political ideology.

A citizen is a political and moral agent who in fact has a shared sense of hope and responsibility to others and not just to him or herself.

My town hall meetings are with friends and neighbors, fellow Americans. We engage.

Never you mind about the country, or about the state, or the city, or about the ward. You take care of your precinct.

Parishes can help lift up the moral and human dimension of public issues, calling people to informed participation in the political process.

You can't run a city by people who do not live there.

People do not dislike their local government, but they do think it could do better.

I ran for Congress in 1992, but I lost the election, and I really dropped the idea of ever serving in Congress. Eventually, I went home and became the mayor of my city, West Palm Beach. I was mayor for eight years.

I think it is important the communities are listened to and that their voice is heard, particularly with local government boundaries more than parliamentary boundaries, because you are talking very much about communities. It can be a very emotive thing.

First thing that I put up in my office here at City Hall was a poster from 1971 when my mother ran for city council.

Trying to learn from communities and engage with policy makers and community organizers all across the country is really important to me.

Some city-council people are really awesome, but most are uninspired.

The issues that most impact the average person are made at the local level.

We are not a battlefield and we will not allow anyone to use our territory against any of our neighbour, but we will not allow our neighbours to use our territory this way either.