Meet the Candidates for #TLHTwitterMayor

What does being a mayor mean? It depends on who you ask and what type of mayorship you’re referring to. For example, my 2016 Swarm review revealed that I accumulated 91 mayorships!

And except to my ego, these mayorships mean absolutely nothing. Other United States mayorships, of real places, having responsibility for real issues, are different. Whether mayor-council, commission, or council-manager, US mayors have responsibilities impacting law enforcement, housing, and a variety of other municipal issues relating to quality of life for a community.

What Does It Mean to be the #TLHTwitterMayor?

There’s a new mayorship in town here in Tallahassee. It’s *possible* it is more closely related in significance to my 91 Swarm memberships than to any of the mayors of our 19,429 municipalities, but you would never know that from the passion, drive, intensity (and trash talking) of the race’s four candidates.

I’m not exactly sure how the #TLHTwitterMayor race was born, but earlier this week, one tweet led to another and a campaign was born, leading to this story in the Tallahassee Democrat.

Now, I love Twitter (maybe my 100,000+ tweets back that  up), and really wanted to be one of the four candidates was immediately enthusiastic about supporting my four fellow Tallahassee Twitter friends, so I offered to give them each an opportunity to promote their platforms on my blog.

This is what each candidate was asked:

What is the biggest strength you bring as a candidate?

What is one thing each Tallahasseean could do to improve our community?

Where did your favorite Tallahassee memory take place?

How would you describe Tallahassee in a tweet?

What local charity do you want people to know more about and/or donate to?

As part of the candidate forum, we will be collecting canned goods for America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  What canned good best represents you and why?

Here is what they said in response. The two who responded are  presented in the order in which I received their answers. The other two are getting special Big Green Pen treatment!

@WakullaWriter (Rachel Sutz Pienta)

What is the biggest strength you bring as a candidate?  My Big Bend, North Florida sensibility coupled with my willingness to subvert dominant paradigms and blur traditional lines of separation is my biggest strength of a candidate. I moved here 22 years ago from an area known as a larger metro suburban and rural region that converged on an urban center – similar to what Tallahassee is for the Big Bend area and Eastern Panhandle.

What is one thing each Tallahasseean could do to improve our community?  One thing each Tallahasseean could to improve our community is to choose one organization to give their time to for 5 hours a month for one year. Imagine what such an investment of time and talent could do for our community if every resident chose some way to give back like this!

Where did your favorite Tallahassee memory take place? My favorite Tallahassee memory took place at the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella.  My husband and I held our wedding reception for over 200 family and friends there.

How would you describe Tallahassee in a tweet?   #Tallahassee – come to learn, fall in love, stay for a lifetime!

What local charity do you want people to know more about and/or donate to?  I would like people to learn more about the United Way and support it more fully. There is no organization that helps so many people across so many different sectors across the Big Bend area as the United Way does.

As part of the candidate forum, we will be collecting canned goods for America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  What canned good best represents you and why?  Canned pumpkin. Like canned pumpkin, I can be savory or sweet.  Pumpkin can be made into soup, sauce, pies, cakes, bread, and so much more – how is that for versatility?

Connect with Rachel on Twitter at @wakullawriter.

@DannyAller (Danny Aller)

What is the biggest strength you bring as a candidate?  I once ate 50 wings from the old Buffalo Wings & Rings spot on East Tennessee Street — and then went out and played three sets of tennis (without throwing up). I’m also an excellent tennis player.

What is one thing each Tallahasseean could do to improve our community? I don’t agree with the line of thinking that we “Have To Make [Someplace] Great Again.” Tallahassee is already great.

Where did your favorite Tallahassee memory take place? I caught a 22-pound, state record large mouth bass at a private Tallahassee lake owned by a wealthy retired professional sports star. I also may not have had permission to be fishing there — but ongoing litigation prevents me from saying anything more.

How would you describe Tallahassee in a tweet? #Tallahassee is a place I always took for granted & didn’t truly understand how great it was — until I left. But Tallahassee is home.

What local charity do you want people to know more about and/or donate to? I’m not a very charitable person in general. I mostly like to take … wait, don’t print that.

As part of the candidate forum, we will be collecting canned goods for America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  What canned good best represents you and why? First, to even participate in this forum, I shall require four things — per my standard celebrity rider: A bowl of peanut M&Ms — with ALL the orange and blue ones removed!; FIJI Water, chilled to 37 degrees; warm towels; and a gold scepter.

Also, America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend is a great charity to support — they’ve received many a cans of mushroom stems from our family over the years — but, you know, there are so many charities in the world that are worthy and have so much to offer and are so wonderful … for instance, I even started my own charity called “The Human Fund” and we work tirelessly behind the scenes and do a lot of gre–

Wait, what was the question again?

Connect with Danny on Twitter at @dannyaller.

Editor’s Note: I did not receive responses from candidates Greg Tish and Jay Revell. Because I am sort of a stickler for closing loops, the best thing I can think to do is to match tweets I have seen from them with the questions. REPEAT: This is me, guessing. Take it for what it is. 

@Greg_Tish (Greg Tish)

What is the biggest strength Greg brings as a candidate?  Having his priorities straight, as in this recent tweet: “Thank goodness for seat warmers #hummer.”

What is one thing each Tallahasseean could do to improve our community? Get out of his way, apparently. Greg has a tough commute, judging by this recent tweet. “Some days I just hate my three minute commute home. Traffic can be so awful.”

Where did Greg’s favorite Tallahassee memory take place? See? This is where I am such an inferior chooser of responses than Greg himself would be. But, because I have to soldier on, and because this tweet includes 50% of the #TLHTwitterMayor field, it’s the winner: “Boys night! @DannyAller @RyanLaPete @BrassTapTLH #tlhtwittermayor.”

How would Greg describe Tallahassee in a tweet? Again, the challenge with leaving it to me is that things can get taken out of context. Here’s my choice: “She has ash trays and a rear facing seat.” (And click here to see the tweet so you understand the context.)

What local charity does Greg want people to know more about and/or donate to? From May 1: “It’s #FADay ! Help us spread the word about the fight vs Fanconi anemia. Share w/ “Why #IFightFanconi” http://Kidz1stFund.com  to learn more.” I agree – Kidz1stFund is a great choice. Click here for the tweet.

As part of the candidate forum, we will be collecting canned goods for America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  What canned good best represents Greg and why? Okay, this is a stretch because it wasn’t a Greg Tish tweet (although it mentioned Greg Tish) and it isn’t about a canned good (although it has the word can in it), but I am a HUGE fan of The Red Shed (who sent the tweet), so it’s in! “[I] know a great spot where yall can have an actual event.”

Connect with Greg on Twitter at @greg_tish.

***Editor’s Note*** I am not sure he complied with the 50 pages of codification dictating how one withdraws from the #TLHTwitterMayor race, but I believe this tweet means Jay has taken himself out of contention. I hope there’s a support group for this kind of occurrence; I am not sure I can process it alone. I am leaving Jay’s profile in because a) I think he’s a pretty cool guy and b) I want Making Light Productions to still be mentioned. I love editorial discretion!

@JayRevell (Jay Revell)

What is the biggest strength Jay brings as a candidate?  This was a tough one where Jay is concerned, because he tweets about so many great things but apparently was not considering the fact that I would have to figure out a potential answer to this question when he did not respond. Going out on a limb here and choosing “faith” as in this retweet he did of Dean Inserra: “If your politics and faith collide, go with your faith.”

What is one thing each Tallahasseean could do to improve our community? Vote for him, apparently, as per this tweet: “Join the Revellution…”

Where did Jay’s favorite Tallahassee memory take place? Another tough one (work with me here, Jay!). But he looks like he had a blast at the Florida Sunshine Ball, as evidenced by: “Great times tonight at the Florida Sunshine Ball! Thanks @FLGovScott for having us.”

How would Jay describe Tallahassee in a tweet? Full disclosure: this one is taken totally out of context but hey, I’m flying blind here: “Welcome to the future…” (but here’s the tweet if you want to understand).

What local charity does Jay want people to know more about and/or donate to? Okay, I’m taking a total point of personal privilege here and linking to a local non-profit I adore, that he linked to in a retweet. Here’s to you, Making Light Productions. (And here’s the tweet.)

As part of the candidate forum, we will be collecting canned goods for America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  What canned good best represents Jay and why? Honestly, I’ve got nothin’ at this point and can’t find anything on Jay’s Twitter timeline to help me out. So I’ll tell you that if you bring 5 canned goods to the May 7 mayoral forum (details here), the clients of America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend will benefit and you’ll get a pint of beer.

Connect with Jay on Twitter at @jayrevell.

“But I Want to Hear From the Candidates Directly — How Do I Do That?”

All four candidates reportedly plan to attend the Tallahassee Twitter Mayoral Town Hall Debate May 7 at 2 p.m. Click here for details. Remember, bring 5 items to donate to America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend and get a pint of beer from Deep Brewing Company!

How and Why is Prince Murat Involved?

I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Let me know when you do.

What About Voting?

You vote on Twitter of course! Here’s a link to the poll. I haven’t exactly figured out Twitter’s calendar magic for calculating when voting will end. I *think* the poll shuts off late in the evening of May 7. If you vote as soon as you hear the candidates at the town hall, you should be fine!

Update: The Town Hall Happened!

The Town Hall happened (thank you, Deep Brewing Co.) and I was asked to be the moderator. Here we are, in our town hall glory.

Update Two: The Votes Are In!

Following an hours-long filibuster in which the options were discussed a sip of a Deep Brewing BA Octopie and one person’s suggestion, a term limit of 140 days was agreed upon.

Congratulations, Danny Aller, on your election! Start kissing those babies and cutting those twibbons.