Dear Libertarian,
Let me share a heartwarming story with you about the difference an elected official can make is someone’s life.
Libertarian Cara Schulz serves on the city council in Burnsville, Minn., and her experience in office provides a powerful example:
Cara writes, “A man who is currently homeless signed up to speak during the public comments portion of the Burnsville City Council meeting last week. He has been sleeping in his car at night in the Walmart parking lot. Walmart is known to allow this at locations across the country. But, recently, he received notice from Walmart that it wasn’t allowed at this location because of a city ordinance.
“Normally during this portion of the meeting, the resident speaks, is thanked for participating, and that’s the end of it. According to the rules, action must not be taken by the council at the meeting on anything that comes up during this time.
“But I’m a Libertarian, and I ignore arbitrary rules when there is a person in need. So I asked the resident and city staff questions to find out what was happening, and to determine whether there is indeed a city ordinance prohibiting the man’s presence in the Walmart parking lot overnight. Once we ascertained there wasn’t, we directed city staff to write a letter to Walmart clarifying that people may sleep in cars and RVs in the lot overnight, if the business allows it. City staff also directed the homeless resident to resources that would help him find a place to park for that first night until Walmart received the letter. The rest of the council also joined in taking this action.”
Public officials so often make people’s lives more difficult, and it is important to realize they can choose to make things better. Sometimes all it takes is someone willing to speak first, to know when to ignore rules that prevent us from helping someone.
Libertarians do not hesitate to speak up, to speak truth to power, to champion the downtrodden, and to help find solutions.
If you are inspired by Cara’s actions, and want to run for office yourself, please fill out this form. Cara herself (she is our candidate recruiter!) will reply to you promptly.
If you don’t want to run for office but want to help, consider donating today to help us recruit candidates, train them, and put them on ballots.
Thank you for your support of the Libertarian Party. Getting people like Cara elected helps make a difference in people’s lives every day.
Nicholas Sarwark
Chair, Libertarian National Committee
