from a speech to the Women’s Club, September 2015
- In smaller cities, city councils and commissions are volunteer positions. Council members and the mayor are paid less than $1,000 a month and have no benefits. Mileage incurred on city business (attending committee meetings and events countywide) is not reimbursed. These representatives’ elected work is in addition to their employment.
- It takes time to do the job right. As a planning commissioner I put in 20 hours a month. I spent 20 hours a week on City Council work and worked full-time as mayor.
- One vote can make the difference – YOUR VOTE – the Pismo Beach mayor won her seat by two votes. The City of Grover Beach lost its charter measure by four votes.
- (I updated this one to the most recent figures.) We have not improved since 2015. The 2021 Council on Foreign Relations Women’s Power Report assigns a political parity score out of one hundred with regard to women represented in elected positions, with 74 being the highest score, and 1, the lowest. The United States is number 36. Rwanda, Nicaragua, Uganda, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, and Cuba, and El Salvador score better than the United States. https://www.cfr.org/article/womens-power-index