Eager to get to work.

Welcome to my new blog!

This is a new experience for me, but since I have this great opportunity to participate in the Kennedy School's Senior Executives in State and Local Government program, I thought I would share my experiences with the public. Plus this is a good way for me to stay in touch with Long Beach during my 3 weeks - yes, three weeks here in Cambridge.

My first day was wonderful! The weather is great and the program is definitely all about advocating and nurturing the democratic process. The actions we as state and local elected officials take provide us with a glimpse of the future of democracy in our country. Locally our actions every Tuesday tell us if democracy in our city is being weakened or getting stronger. The ability to exercise the freedom of speech every Tuesday and the freedom to experience the reactions of
those speaking is the essence of democracy.

Although I will be gone for 3 weeks, I know you carry the torch for democracy during your 3 minutes at the microphone, along with LBReport.com, The District Weekly and even the Press Telegram newspapers. Keep up the good work.

I will not be with our Mayor and City Council at the meeting on Tuesday, but I will begin my classes tomorrow with another mayor, Mayor Daley from the city of Chicago.

I leave you with best wishes from Cambridge and below is the quote that hangs as we enter the gates of the Harvard Kennedy School that I know fits for all involved community members in Long Beach, and even some of my colleagues:

"The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us."
John F. Kennedy, Amherst College, Oct 26, 1963
35th president of US 1961-1963 (1917 - 1963)
Source JFK Library, Boston, Mass.

Tonia Reyes Uranga