Candidate: Dave Siebert W/D

Independent City Council candidate Dave Siebert has lived in Jacksonville since 1981. Dave looks at the position of city councilmen as the most accessible elected person who has the responsibility of convincing you that government works and that government is for the people. My experiences tell me that most people think government is failing. Further proof of that is low voter turnout, and lack of consistent turnout at city council meetings and school board meetings. For five years I attended most every city council meeting and most school board meetings. At that time I had the bills and the responsibility of being a single parent. I have spoken on hundreds of issues, very few of them I had a financial interest in. Mostly I spoke at the meetings on what I thought was in the best interest of the community. I established many friendships there but honestly I didn’t make the connections required to accomplish much. Two years ago I quit going to meetings and now it is my opinion that no one can truly be an effective public servant unless it is their full time job or they are surrounded by people willing to make a commitment to help. My past commitment to local politics included hosting radio talk shows. I felt I was doing a great service to the community by giving the community opportunities to hear local elected officials and candidates. Many of those interviews lasted an hour so we could get past rehearsed speeches and on to necessary information and real details on issues. It is my opinion that I have done more long interviews then most people who get credit for wanting to inform the public. My past experiences have lead me to the conclusion that people would demand more out of government if they thought they could get more. I ran for this office four years ago and my biggest shortfall was not organizing people who feel government isn’t working but could work better, if people got organized. My opinion then, was focus on people who want to get involved in local issues. I have matured and now I understand that if a city councilman is willing to work full time and is willing to help a person get a response or a reaction from a government official at any level, they will then get involved. It is my hope that I have convinced you that my past experiences drive me to be very passionate about allowing you to expect and demand more from me. I deeply resented feeling like an unproductive concerned citizen in the past. I have seen many concerned citizens get involved in one issue they have an interest in and then become apathetic because the system failed them. I will attack apathy by giving people who would have otherwise been apathetic a voice in government. Don’t be surprised when I ask you to help and give you an opportunity to have a voice that matters. Email weekdays6am@yahoo.com Cell phone 904-387-2848