More Than Words
Last night I did something I rarely do anymore but did often in my youth. I went to a concert. A band whom I have an odd connection with, Extreme, was playing at the Roosevelt so a few guys from my church and I went down.
The connection goes back to my time in Saudi Arabia in Desert Storm. After the war ended we had a lot of time on our hands, I mean a lot of time. Like we worked only four hours every three days and there was NOTHING to do besides play cards, work out, and listen to music in the 115 degree heat kinda time.
I had a Sony Sport Walkman, because it was water therefore sand proof. But I only had two cassettes (kids ask your parents what I mean) and one of them was Extreme. Needless to say I wore them out.
Now you may not think you’re familiar with Extreme but I am pretty sure you’re familiar with their most famous song “More Than Words”. They saved this for their encore and you can see some of it if you follow the link below. I love the premise of the song. In short, it’s a guy saying to his girl, “hey, don’t tell me you love me because anyone can say that. Show me…it’s more than just words.”
And as candidates we need to be about more than just words. There have been and will be a lot of words being spoken in our various county races. A lot of those words not nice, and a lot of them just that…words. And many are often inaccurate. All that aside, to me it’s more than words it’s actions.
I have taken a lot of actions to prepare for being on the Board of Supervisors and continue to do so every day. This may be obvious but anyone that says the know exactly how they are going to do something is either delusional or just lying. I don’t claim to have all the answers, I think I have some and you can check out https://www.spoonhowerforsupervisor.com/soup-recipe to learn more but I did want to share some of the actions I’ve taken.
I’ve been preparing for this, well for decades, but for this role specifically for almost two years. To learn about the county I’ve taken active roles both as a former Goochland Cares board member but current vice chair of the BZA. I am currently certified through the VCU Land Use Education Board of Zoning Appeals Program. I meet minimally weekly but often daily with county leaders and staff to understand the inner workings of administration, finances, and code. I have been attending meetings, community sessions, forums and events to prepare myself as best I can to serve.
While all of this is important the number one thing I’m doing is being out in the community on a daily basis talking to people. I make it a point to knock on doors, have coffee and hear what’s on the minds of people in my district and around the county.
Please believe me when I say I’m doing my best to make this “more than words”.