Tucson painting by Felix Pasilis
“I turn in my petition”
Well it is one moment before 6 am on desert. Morning dove is calling. Birds are twittering in nests. I do not see any out and about yet. The sun must have risen above mountains, because leaves are lit up, but floor of my yard is still is shade. O the first sparrow has arrived. And there is a big quail. I think it is happy miracle that now the quail arrive each morning in my yard, it gives me such a thrill to see them. They are the size of pigeon, which is big for my yard. Pigeons are huge compared to the other birds in my yard, when pigeons arrive the other birds scatter. My birds are little. The quail looks lordly or king-like because it has a crown. The crown actually looks like a helmet or visor the Vikings of old wore. It is red, and has something coming out from the middle of it, like long hook.
For me it is such an honor when they visit my yard. I don’t think they live here, but who knows! It’s possible they built a nest in the huge tree in middle of yard, where all the birds have their nests, like a big apartment building in New York City, where so many families live. I don’t know who does live there, I just know I always see birds flying into or out of that big tree. By big I do not mean that tall. Desert trees do not grow that tall but they grow very wide, there are big branches sticking out sidewise. Almost all desert trees are at eye level, which is why you watch so much of the birds’ activity. It is one of the neatest things about the desert, that you and birds share the same world. When you are outside, they are always flying right past your head, and when you look out the window you can see their whole life.
Well even tho I only had 5 signatures to my petition and I knew Cora’s husband Floyd would sign too, and I had planned to have him sign before I turned it in-- since the minimum number I needed was 3, I decided yesterday to just get it all over with already. I had finally bought my clipboard for carrying around my petition but I never took it out of the bag. Because yesterday I got email from Ted, the member of our Ron Paul Tucson group, who has been supervising and helping me in becoming PC for Ron Paul.
PC means, I now find out, precinct committeeman. Which now means, I find out, I guess an officer in the Republican Party in my voting district. Precinct means a person’s voting district. Everyone who votes at the same place you do, is in your precinct. What a committeeman actually does, I have no idea. But I am assuming it is the bottom rung of being an officer in Republican Party. I would be allowed to vote which plans we want in our platform here in Arizona and which candidates we want on the ballot. Since this is a Ron Paul Revolution, I am guessing that we are trying to be a power bloc within the Republican Party. I don’t see how the Arizona Republican Party alone can bring world peace, altho the same thing is going on in Republican party in every State. But we sure can work for liberty here in Arizona, and join the Ron Paul Revolution in other States for liberty at the federal level.
I am just guessing about all this, because all I know is a call went out to every member of our Tucson Ron Paul group to run for precinct committeeman, and I simply answered that call. I had no idea what a PC was when I answered the call. And I did not even know it meant running for office. I thought I was gathering signatures on petition for the sake of gathering signatures. It wasn’t till I showed up at GOP Headquarters to get my petition and affidavit, I found out it means I was running for office. Which of course takes it to much higher level than standing on a New York City street corner, getting signatures on petition, which is something I used to do all the time in my early twenties, and which I watched my mom and dad do my whole life.
For me it meant I had to have a minimum of 3 Registered Republican or Independents who live in my voting district, sign my petition. Which now that I turned it in yesterday and read what we all signed to-- how interesting that neither me, nor my 4 fellow signers, bothered to read it. It is in fact a petition for me to be on the ballot for September 2nd GOP Primary and then in General Election on November 4th. Who knew!
The affidavit I had to fill out and have notarized with it, wasn’t as hard to fill out as it looked. There were just blanks for me to restate what it is in the petition. The name of the office I am running for, Precinct Committeeman. The number of my district, 102. That I want to be on the ballot in primary, I had to give the date again, and in the general election I had to give the date again. (O there is that quail again! what a trip he is!) And then I had to say how long I have lived in this County, and how long I have lived in this Precinct, and sign and date it.
O a sparrow has arrived on my desk, he flew in from the doorway. There are no toast crumbs for him, he had to fly out window.
Luckily for me the girl at the Elections Office for Pima county was completely helpful. I had received so many warnings on email that if all was not done perfectly it would be disqualified. "Even if you photocopy the petition and the lines are not exactly the same distance apart it will be disqualified." And who knows that may yet happen when the petition is sent to where it goes now. But girl at Pima County Elections Office had zero desire to disqualify me, she just wanted to help me.
I had tried to fill out the Affidavit myself before I realized it had to be notarized. And the only part I understood was “sign your name here and date it.” So I had done that two weeks ago. It turns out that is the part which has to be done in front of the notary. But since she notarized it for me, she had no problem with it. “Aren’t I supposed to sign in front of you” I asked. “OK you can sign it again above” she said. And she checked it all for me and had me sign and fill out things I hadn’t noticed, “put your address here” she said. She was great.
I can’t say the elections office was exactly hopping, maybe because it was the day after Memorial Day week-end. And I have never been in a Tucson municipal building which is so fancy, maybe it was recently built. You entered into huge hallway, which had not one soul in it. By a huge roundtable desk area which had not one soul in it. Which was carpeted and looked out on nice garden with tables and chairs, floor-length wide windows looked out on it.
I appreciated that huge desk area with not a soul in it or around it because two people had changed their registration to be eligible to vote for me. And we decided I would put the date they signed my petition 10 days after they changed their registration, so the registration would go thru. So I put the date 5/25/08 next to my friend Jim’s signature and next to my neighbor Rick’s signature. I found out from reading Rick’s signature that his real name is Ricardo, who knew! And I learned Cora’s last name because she had forgotten to print it in the space next to “print it!” Her husband Floyd is Norwegian and it is Norwegian sounding name, like Luntz. Cora is actually Mexican/American from South Tucson. She and I both have last names now, because of our husbands, which are very different from our family last names.
After the huge lobby area, with huge desk area, and huge windows looking out on garden with tables and chairs, all very fancy and not one soul in it at all, you walked down a hall, and there was door which said Pima County Elections Office. Which also seemed to be deserted, you did not hear a sound or see a person. But that lovely young woman arrived instantly I did, and she sure helped me a lot.
Hahaha it was all like a ghost town, but a very very fancy ghost town.
Not one bit like Tucson municipal offices are like.
Obviously our town has come into money and this is what they are building now to house their city and county employees.
Bill waited in the truck in parking area behind, he didn’t want to come in with me. “Just do everything right!” he called out when I set off. “Wish me luck!” I said. But when I left she gave me a receipt or certification, small piece of paper, saying I had done all this. I put it in my purse, and I raised my hands high as I approached the truck. Not a soul was in the parking lot either, altho some cars were parked there. “Your wife is running for office” I called out to Bill, “I am now on the ballot. You can now address me as ‘your majesty office holder.’” And we set off for Fort Lowell swim pool to finally have our swim. “Don’t you have to campaign like Hillary Clinton is campaigning?” he asked. “I don’t think so” I said, “that is if anyone is running against me, I don’t know if anyone is running against me.”
And then late in the afternoon I emailed Ted “Success!” and told him it was all accomplished and thanked him for all his help and he was proud of me. And said his wife is having a birthday party for him on June 7th and she asked for his email list so she could invite the Ron Paul members to it. And he said he doesn’t want any gifts, and I am invited. And sure enough there was an invitation from his wife Jacqui.
I'll ask Jim and see if he wants to go, but the party is at 7 pm and Jim goes to bed at 8 pm.
Also Ted said he started a group for PCs for Ron Paul to meet and plan together, and do I want to come to that meeting.
I'll have to press the link he gave in his email to find out about that.
So I guess today marks the beginning of my new adventure into public life.
Love, Annie Precinct Committeeman (to be)
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