Personal // Out of the Office.

A personal post along with a few thoughts on this Election Tuesday.  As many of you know, my husband has been the Mayor of our city over the past 4 years and is up for re-election today.  It’s been a long, challenging journey for us personally.  I’ll share a little insight … My husband was working as a High School Government teacher when he decided to make a run for a seat on City Council and get involved in the city that he was born and raised in, Taylor Michigan.  He made it through the primary for that race and barely made the election, winning the 7th and last seat on City Council.  This was a part time position for him and he was able to devote his time to Taylor all while teaching and coaching at Crestwood High School.  During that 4 years on Council, he was witness to neglect and outright abuse of this city’s finances and the most damage being done by the people elected to run our city.

He knew early on that he had to do something about it, and did his best to make decisions to stop the abuse and overspending of our taxpayers dollars.  Fast forward 4 years, and the Mayor then was planning to run again without a challenge.  That’s when Jeff looked at me, took a deep breath and said “I’m going to run for Mayor”.  I remember my initial reaction – big giant alligator tears – as I pleaded for him not to put our young family in the public’s eye.  But as time went on, I could hear it in his voice and see it on his face that he knew this was the right thing to do.  He said “even if I lose my ass, I can’t let him run uncontested”.

And so the race for Mayor consumed our lives for 6 months in 2009.  Jillian was only two years old, I was working full time in another industry.  Our life was chaotic, at best.  But all of his hard work payed off and he won that election by a 60% margin. It was a day and a moment that’s hard to explain.  It’s a roller coaster of emotion when going through an election – fear, excitement, nerves, the possibility of defeat, jubilation – all of it. My mom caught a pic on her phone that I recently came across that sums it up well.  I’ll never forget the relief and excitement when the results came in.

Jeff was inaugurated a few weeks later, and that was one of the proudest days in his life … in our lives.

The excitement and celebration lasted a few weeks and then he rolled up his sleeves and went to work.  He knew he was walking into a city that was in disrepair, but he never imagined the challenges that lie ahead of him.  The city was $8M in debt.  People were leaving Taylor in droves. which meant that our tax base was plummeting.  He was sued by a former city employee just a few weeks into his administration.  He had 4 people on Council that were part of the former Mayor’s “team” that did everything in their power to make sure that he accomplished nothing that would make him look like the good guy.  Yes, I know this sounds dramatic, but it’s 100% accurate.   Taylor lost it’s first Police Officer in the line of duty in that first year as well.  And then another a few month’s later.  It was a challenging time in our city’s history.

In his 4 years as Mayor, he made some of the toughest decisions a Mayor’s had to make.  And his decisions were terribly unpopular with the majority.  He was forced to lay off Fire Fighters and Police Officers, City Employees and his own staff because we simply didn’t have the money to pay them.  He walked into his role as Mayor and demanded a pay cut, and the opt out of the “typical” life time pension and benefits that former administrators were benefitting from.  He knew outright that our city couldn’t afford to pay their Mayor a six figure salary.

And then there was the recall.  Yep, a small group of former employees and Council Members decided they would try to take matters into their own hands and attempt to get him recalled.  After all if they were able to recall him, then they would simply appoint the old Mayor and everyone would be “livin’ large” again.  Well, they managed to get enough signatures to file the petition, but when it came time for the election again the residents spoke loudly and kept him working for their city by a large margin.

Challenge after challenge, hoop after hoop to jump through just to make small strides forward and “right the ship”.  He was sued by former city employees and members of Council a few more times during his term and even willing to go to jail at one point.  Let’s just say our life was chaotic, at best.

Through all of this he’s been an amazing father to Jillian & Nash and has been my biggest supporter in making my own dreams a reality.  I can’t thank him enough for giving me the freedom to do something that i love so much and encouraging me to be a better mom, wife, friend and photographer.  Sure we spent many, many, many nights without him at the dinner table and sometimes he would even go a few days without seeing the kids.  But he always did his best to bring them along to events that were fun and made sure they understood how important it is to be involved and have pride in your own community.

We’ve learned over the past 4 years that his “job” as Mayor doesn’t define who we are.  It is only a piece of our life here in Taylor and that no matter what the outcome we can say with confidence that my husband did the best job he could for the city that he loves so much.  And although he had some of the toughest decisions to make, he did so with grace and poise and did the most honest job he could.  He never once wavered from what he knew was the right thing to do, nor did he ever play political favorites just to make a few happy at the expense of many.  Our city is now functioning with a $2M surplus and plans to restore many services are in the near future. I’m incredibly proud of how he has served this city.  And incredibly proud of him.

And so here we are again, on another Election Tuesday.  Our house is a big ball of nerves and anticipation.  But this time around, there’s something different.  We know that we’ll land on our feet no matter what the outcome is.  If he’s re-elected, he’ll continue to roll up his sleeves and do an honest job for our city, for the residents and for all who call Taylor home.  And if he doesn’t get re-elected, we are looking forward to moving on with our lives and to what the future holds for us.  We’ll have more time for our family and life will go back to “normal”.  And that all sounds really lovely right about now.

So with that, I’ll be out of the office for a few days this week as the election and it’s results unfold.  All e-mails, phone calls and inquiries will be returned as soon as I can get to them.  Proof galleries, peeks and orders are still being delivered on time, if not a few days early.

And as always, I appreciate everyone’s support and encouragement.  We would’t be able to do this without you xoxox