Ok, I'm back and talking politics and real estate. I've been gone for awhile. For those following, I sold the assets of my business and I'm now an agent in the office I used to own, doing what I love...listing and selling real estate. If you haven't been paying attention, you can read about all of that in some of my past blog posts. If you don't care, that's ok too.
While I was away from Active Rain, I completed the sale and moved to a home office which was a challenge since I had so much crap* to move. My truck still doesn't fit in the garage but I promise it will before the snow flies. I am thrilled with the transition. I mean, how lucky was I to be able to pull this off in this market, huh? And the first Friday I didn't have to put out the garbage was so rewarding.
I wasn't sure what to write as my first post having been away from Active Rain for so long. Wow! The place has changed and looks very different. It will take me awhile to get back into the swing of things and come up with a worthy Carnac post. Since I'm a political junkie, I thought I might write about a favorite subject of mine...mixing politics and real estate. I'll fess up and tell you this is a semi-reblog since I wrote about the subject here 18 months ago.
This is really quite the election. Everyone has an opinion and sometimes it's hard not to get into the debate. Most bloggers that follow me here know I'm a bit conservative. Ok, I'm a lot conservative and a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Ledyard is a small town with 15,000 people. I'm a past Chairman of the Ledyard Board of Education and now serve as an elected official on the the Ledyard Town Council. When I am in the local grocery store and someone stops me with a question, it can be to ask about the price of their neighbors home... or whether their street will be repaved soon.
I've managed to juggle politics and real estate for a number of years. It was probably the hardest juggling act when I served as Chairman of the Board of Education. In that position, you can easily make as many friends as enemies. Since then I moved on to the Ledyard Town Council where I serve as Chairman of the Land Use and Planning Committee.
Most people in town know my politics but I have listed the homes of the most liberal among us. It is easy to make enemies in politics, but I find that disagreeing with someone shouldn't necessarily harbor bad feelings. There are very few people I wouldn't want to join for a morning cup of coffee.
There is, of course, the ugly side of politics. It can be hard to make progress in a small town where egos are large and personal agendas can get in the way. In addition, our meetings are televised and there can be a certain amount of grandstanding for the camera. I hate being on camera and at times need to remind myself not to get caught picking my nose or reading the email on my Blackberry. I also prefer only to speak only when I have something to say which is rare for a politician. The best part of speaking only when you have something to say is that people actually listen.
The biggest benefit of being involved in public office is gaining current local knowledge that would be hard to obtain in other ways. Serving in public office is also my way of giving back to the community that has been so supportive of my business.
P.S. I hope to catch up with all of you again by reading your blogs and making comments. Keep in mind, Carnac is now watching so be on your best behavior. Ok?
