In reflecting about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor yesterday (67 years ago!), and the Village’s incredible turnout to honor 3 survivors yesterday, I was additionally honored to see that General Eric Shinseki has been nominated by President-elect Obama as the new Veterans Affairs leader.

My sister just retired as a Lt. Colonel after 20 years in the U.S. Army.   I am so proud of her service and accomplishments.  Her last position was Deputy Chief of Staff for Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  She was elevated to this position as part of the turnaround team to help improve medical care for our wounded warriors coming back from Iraq and Afgahnistan. 

She saw so much and brought so much to this position.  As she has evolved from military life, she is promised by news like General Shinseki and may be able to help Veterans and the VA like never before.  I am excited to see her become a part of the answers in Washington and she may have that opportunity, now, given the General’s potential appointment, to work in the VA or as part of the new Health/Human Services agency, where her medical background (she is a nurse practioner) could also help change this world.

How are you thinking about helping?  How can we do more at a time that is calling on all of us to contribute more to change education, local government, the environment, etc.?  Let Beth and I know your ideas and how we can help foster and support them with local leaders.

From all of the post November election excitement, one of the biggest pieces of news for me was an old political friend that won his election for U.S. Senate, Mayor Mark Begich, current mayor of Anchorage, AK.  With Alaska such a HUGE news item during the Presidential campaign, I am completely happy to see him win this race after 35 years of Republican reign. 

Check out his website and all the news on his victory to swearing in at: http://www.begich.com/ 

Go Mark!  Here’s to the next generation of leadership in the US Senate.

I attended the Village of Suffern’s Democratic Party leadership meeting this week.  It was created to reorganize the party and select the Chairperson and his team.

The process was a bit long and a big unorganized.  I was impressed with both sides interest to lead our local party.  With a Mayor’s race in 2009 and 2 Trustee positions, we have a lot of opportunity to influence and drive change at our local government level.  The economy will continue to put the issue and at our Village services level…we will have to prioritize what we spend taxpayers’ money on.  In addition, we have such an incredible downtown…we need great stores, boutiques, unique commerce value that, again, the Democratic party locally should be helping motivate and move our slate of candidates to.

Stay tuned. 

Tonight is our Village Democratic Party meeting.   We are looking forward to attending and meeting other party committeepeople across the neighborhoods of Suffern.  Tonight there will be nominations for Party Chair and Board.  We want to see the future, faster, with the right choices that help this Village find the talent and means to build on the strengths of our Village…for Mayor, for Trustee, for downtown commerce, for growth, for sustainability.

I like this article in Chief Marketer online today.  Some points are worth bringing to the conversation this evening.

http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/branding/1125-obama-marketing/index1.html