Back a while ago, I was asked to run for the State House. I was approached while working at a hockey game by two people in a party who were a little higher up the chain than me. I wasn’t in a “party” at the time, I was the Mayor Pro-Tem in Roosevelt Park however, and I was honestly shocked to hear what I was asked. I flunked 7th grade for crying out loud. “We think you’d be really great at this….you should get on the ballot”. I spoke to the wife, nearly in tears over it….. “You’ll never guess what I was asked tonight…..they see enough in me to be a State Representative…..can you believe it?” I felt proud. Maybe for the first time ever.
On the other side of that conversation was a hand-off. I went from the local guys who thought I was a great candidate to some hired guns from Lansing who worked for the party caucus. We met up at Biggby on Henry Street. They handed me a proposal. In it, it said in no uncertain terms, “Go raise $125,000.00 in cash, that we can spend any way we choose, and IF you win the primary, we will get on board and help you.” I sat there looking at these two, in dress shirts from Walmart and sock ties and said “Excuse me? Do you know where I am from?” “Ya”. “Do you know what I do?” “Kinda”. “Well, I just did a news story about Orchard View Schools who need $20 million to fix everything. They asked for $4 million and we couldn’t afford it as a community. Do you think for one second I am going to become beholden to anyone who can give me that kind of money or pick this towns pockets so you can have $125K to spend as you choose? I actually didn’t even take the proposal folder in the house. I drove to the dumpster at our condo and tossed it. I knew it was over before it began.
Jeffrey Alexander Martin on the other hand….never really planned on running for an office. He saw some things he didn’t like and wanted to make better so he tossed his hat in the ring in Dalton Township and won. What do you do when you win something you didn’t want? Well, fist you set a countdown clock on your phone for the day it’s over which Jeff did. Then, you get to leaning how it all works. What you need to know procedurally and how things move through systems and stuff gets accomplished. You need people skills, you need business savvy, you need patience and perseverance and vision. All of which Jeff posses and then some….however….. there was something about Jeff that made me instantly dismissive. His “party”. Which in reality….well….listen to the talk.
Jeff and I might not be eye to eye on politics stuff. If we were, it would be a pretty wallpaper paste world wouldn’t it? However, Jeff is beyond intelligent. He’s a global traveller and learner…along with being a global educator. He spends months living among other cultures and learning how their system works compared to ours and does so in an objective way seeking to understand humanity from an anthropologists level. His knowledge of AMerican History I’d put up against anyone’s and his ability to carry on an intelligent conversation without flipping out and name calling….amazing.
Why are we here together in this? Easy. We’re telling you the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Both within our own “parties” and outside of them. What kind of bait? What kind of blackmail? How does Motley Crue fit into it? Give a listen. It’s an open, honest and friendly conversation. We got in to it to do what was right. Around us…well, one of us couldn’t even get a picture with the people who asked us to run in the first place once we were identified as a “troubled candidate”. True story.
You saw in the title too, that Jeff is an author. That he is. He’s written a children’s book. “The Tortoise and the Hare V2.0“. The tortoise is now grown and is regaling his kids with the stories of yesteryear. It’s available on Amazon and it’s the first of a series. If you’d like your kids growing up with reading material that’s not garbage, I’d recommend them reading Jeff.
Jeff also has a blog. If you are of intellectual intelligence and want to see life in a much broader scope, I would highly recommend bookmarking his site. It’s deep with history, culture and viewpoints that make your mind work. My many thanks to Jeff for the interview and his incredible insight on so much. I am a smarter person for knowing him. JEFF’S BLOG
