05/08/2017
VICTORY IS WON
(Written minutes before we came up short of the vote count)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as a pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul (1)
Soon, the votes will all be in, and the campaigns for three contested Katy, Texas Independent School District (ISD) Board Seats will have bore it’s fruit.
As a neophyte to political candidacy, I can say now emphatically, as I indicated from the start, that running for office has been a seminal pride point for me as an American. The thought that the framers of our great land, some 220 years ago, got this for-the-people-by-the-people governance experiment so right is amazing to me. So much so that a citizen such as I can walk into an election office with a few sheets of paper, and emerge from said office as a candidate for public office. My patriotism for These United States of America, which was already elevated, now has even greater depth.
As proud as I am of the liberty in action of our election filing protocols, I am equally disappointed in the behavior of some who would tarnish this liberty. Freedom to them is something so cheap that they seek to shackle the words and deeds of others through discouragement and bullying. They would seek to impede the liberty of someone like myself at the mere mention of an idea or course of action that is different from what they or their clique would prescribe.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
No matter the unprompted bludgeonings incurred while campaigning, I found a way to DO it. Fear was indeed ever present as I met with many citizens I did not know, asking questions that would cause even the most seasoned politician to pause. The apex of this anxiety was during a “mandatory” campaign activity, the Katy Parents of Gifted and Talented Kids Forum. There I stood, fidgeting like a Young man at a prom without a date. Alone. Bare. Sweating. The questions were thorough, tough, and plentiful. Fortunately, my nervousness at the onset was snuffed out with a haphazard gaze in my wife’s direction. I saw her lip sync the Young family motto…”The Young’s Win”, and it brought me to a higher level. And so again it happened, that which has happened throughout our marriage, Yvonne inspired me to go well beyond what even I suspected was my natural limitations. It was at this very moment that I realized that I do have the experience and capability to lead this district. My purpose now solidified, I was able to articulate my vision for the district with analysis and emotion that mattered.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
From then on I ran as someone, however Young to the office, who has God-given talents and battle tested bravery to lead this fair community toward a more fiscally responsible course. It was mine, and my team’s job now to sell this new brand of board governance to the masses. So we dug in signs, mailed flyers, engaged with citizens on the internet, and did phone banking. We knocked on doors, shook hands, and met with both aisles of our political system. We gave interviews to local writers large and small. And after it all was done, we found ourselves all at once energized with anticipation, and exhausted from many nights of restless sleep.
4,000 votes or so is what the count is as of 8:10pm on this election night. Final votes are still left to tabulate, but any number near 5,000 represents 0.07 votes per student of the district. Said differently, with more than 75,000 students in this district, we have allowed a small portion of the electorate to determine their fate. I have no idea why this is, and it is a point of some sadness for me.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
What I do know is that for those of us who ran the good race, and introduced ideas with transparency and love for these citizens, students, parents and teachers: Our Victory is already Won, and we all have learned to be Young @ Heart.
Thank you all immensely for your support.
God Bless America, Texas, and our beloved Katy!
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(1) "Invictus" – William Ernest Henley
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MAY 6
Victory DAY!
