Madam Mayor:
How I Learned to Love Government and Hate Politics in Ten Intriguing Years.
By Marcy Meffert. Leon Valley: the author, PO Box 680262, Leon Valley, (printed by Watercress Press http://www.watercresspress.com/), 2006. 182 pages, paperback $15.00 (all costs included) ISBN 978-0-934955-68-3. Contact: marcellaa@aol.com
Men with low self-esteem should not read this review. Women, however, who’ve found their shoes, should read on. Meffert, now 72, wants you to consider public service, because she found it wonderful. Her book reflects on 50 years of community service and focuses on her time in elective politics on the Leon Valley city council and then her mayoralty. Her 12 chapters are informative and entertaining and insightful regarding matters in her near-San Antonio small town. But politics is politics wherever you are. After reading Meffert’s volume, you’ll be better equipped to stand up, speak, take stands, maneuver the snake pits, and pull yourself from quagmires. It is straight talk on how she did it and the kind folks and real jerks she met along the way. She wrestles with the Good Old Boys, the Citizens Against Virtually Everything, grateful citizens, keeping taxes low, improving the environment, and a few meetings from Hell. “How Not to Be a Sitcom” may be her best chapter. But “Quotes from Officials and 10 Basic Rules” is delightful for its human insight. Inspirational and down to earth, Madam Mayor should be read and on shelves where little girls grow and big women command. (Thanks to Joyce Miller Trent for the lead on this volume.)
Her Honor relates by email to WTM a special volunteering effort, “While every Christmas is special when we share it with loved ones, sharing Christmas with strangers can be a truly memorable experience. For me, Christmas, 1956, is forever in my heart as one of the most rewarding volunteer efforts I have ever experienced. We were stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Naha AFB, Okinawa, and I volunteered to chair the Naha AFB Catholic Women of the Chapel’s project to share the Christmas spirit with a local group. The event was “my choice,” and I chose to have a party for the island’s Airakuen leper colony.” The balloons, cookies, carols, and dancing girls must have brought joy and delight amid the celebrants; and certainly love was spread deeply. Leon Valley is a lucky place.
Men with low self-esteem should not read this review. Women, however, who’ve found their shoes, should read on. Meffert, now 72, wants you to consider public service, because she found it wonderful. Her book reflects on 50 years of community service and focuses on her time in elective politics on the Leon Valley city council and then her mayoralty. Her 12 chapters are informative and entertaining and insightful regarding matters in her near-San Antonio small town. But politics is politics wherever you are. After reading Meffert’s volume, you’ll be better equipped to stand up, speak, take stands, maneuver the snake pits, and pull yourself from quagmires. It is straight talk on how she did it and the kind folks and real jerks she met along the way. She wrestles with the Good Old Boys, the Citizens Against Virtually Everything, grateful citizens, keeping taxes low, improving the environment, and a few meetings from Hell. “How Not to Be a Sitcom” may be her best chapter. But “Quotes from Officials and 10 Basic Rules” is delightful for its human insight. Inspirational and down to earth, Madam Mayor should be read and on shelves where little girls grow and big women command. (Thanks to Joyce Miller Trent for the lead on this volume.)
Her Honor relates by email to WTM a special volunteering effort, “While every Christmas is special when we share it with loved ones, sharing Christmas with strangers can be a truly memorable experience. For me, Christmas, 1956, is forever in my heart as one of the most rewarding volunteer efforts I have ever experienced. We were stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Naha AFB, Okinawa, and I volunteered to chair the Naha AFB Catholic Women of the Chapel’s project to share the Christmas spirit with a local group. The event was “my choice,” and I chose to have a party for the island’s Airakuen leper colony.” The balloons, cookies, carols, and dancing girls must have brought joy and delight amid the celebrants; and certainly love was spread deeply. Leon Valley is a lucky place.
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