kbott_4mayor

Oh, way behind! I was recruited a month ago. This was not on my radar. I released two videos today ( you can see them from my Facebook page: Kevin Bott for Mayor) that I hope will inspire people from across the country to donate a little bit. My two opponents have $350,000 and $15,000, respectively. I'm running on a bet that there are 35,000 who feel the same urgency I feel -- and all those who I know feel -- willing to give $10 to see if we can change the conversation in American politics!

I think the overarching crisis we face is a crisis of democracy. I think we have been conditioned to support and elect managers, administrators, and technocrats. The issue I want to solve, first among equals, is the feeling that all voices are not invited to the conversations about the issues that directly affect their lives. I say "first among equals" because we have major, concrete problems to solve here. 53% of our kids live in poverty, and 36% of all our residents. We've got few jobs for regular folks outside of temp agencies and retail. So we need a plan to support our citizens, materially.... But I know from all of my work as an artist, educator, and organizer, that problems get solved when all voices are heard. And when all feel heard and seen, people are motivated to participate more, to care for one another. People are humanized to one another and see the "other's" problem as their own. I feel we have lacked leadership for a long time that has been able to expand our sense of "we." That's my greatest asset. I will have competent managers and administrators in the office crunching numbers and what have you. I'll be in the streets, connecting people, and trying to inspire people toward a more hopeful, participatory future... And I'll bring those folks' concerns with me when I go back to the office to synthesize and make sense of what my team proposes... Hope that's helpful.

I do think that, actually. And what started me on this path toward being recruited emerged out of a real sense of despair I was having about three years ago. With a young family in a new city, and with 180 inches of snow on the ground, I got deep into some internet rabbit holes that scared the hell out of me... But I am also trained in grassroots organizing and in Freirian pedagogy that tells me that the answer, historically, to oppression, is the collective effort of the masses. We need to organize. One reason I'm running is because, on the side I've been on -- community organizing -- I see that there is no partner in policy-making positions. There is no one in government who knows our communities from the inside, who can convene them to discuss and deliberate and organize. Those are my skills. I think democracy is possible at the municipal level and that if we can gain strength locally and get out of the defensive crouch we've been conditioned toward, we can stand up and speak truth to power at the state and, eventually, at the federal level. (I'm not naive about what backlash actual democracy has faced in this country, but what's the alternative? I'm not prepared to build my bunker yet!)

We're a city in crisis, like many cities. I am trying to lean on that Einstein quote that "The mindset that created the problems cannot solve the problems." I've been pretty successful in my life at expanding the sense of what's possible. I've developed a professional and theater practice that combines my lifelong training at oratory and performance with my passion for freedom and democracy. I'm not scripted, but I am educated and thoughtful and passionate. I am betting that we are so close to the edge -- environmentally, politically, economically, in terms of gap between rich and poor, structural poverty, etc. -- that people might take a chance. We here have nothing to lose. And I will say that the so-called "safe" choice is not doing the same thing -- with the same mind-set -- that got us here. (Plus it seems like the likely loser of the Dem primary here is being tapped to run on the Repub ticket... Could split the Demo vote right in half.) Who knows what's actually possible?

Hi. Thanks. If you go to my campaign site, www.kevinbott.org, you'll see that I am associate director (i.e., second in command) of a national higher ed network of over 100 colleges and universities. I am invited nationally to consult on higher education issues and to facilitate grassroots theater workshops with people from all walks of life. I've been in leadership positions for most of my adult life, but not in the kinds of positions we're taught to believe makes for a "legitimate" elected official. The Greens of Syracuse knew me from my work as founding artistic director of The D.R.E.A.M Freedom Revival, a Syracuse-based political theater project that brings people together to discuss and formulate action around issues that affect their lives. All on the campaign site. Thanks!