Heidi Harmon’s grass-roots approach scares old-school Democrats

How refreshing to see Tom Murray finally go public with his antipathy toward Heidi Harmon (“Jan Marx has the skills and good faith that Harmon lacks,” Oct. 27), which he has previously restricted to cowardly sniping from the social media swamp. Like many involved in the local Democratic Central Committee he resents and fears Heidi’s truly grassroots citizen-centric approach to politics. Her belief that people come before party scares them to death. Because it jeopardizes their backroom, old-school approach to control of local offices.

His letter goes on and on about governance, but neglects to mention the most essential qualification for the position of mayor, which is leadership. The role of the city council and the mayor is to provide the conduit between the residents and the management of the city.

Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with Heidi knows her abilities in the social realm. These skills of listening and responding to everyone in the community will far outweigh any purported lack of bureaucratic experience. The very fact that she has not pursued endorsements from any political party demonstrates that she will represent all. She is approaching the office as nonpartisan, which is how it should be.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Heidi Harmon’s grass-roots approach scares old-school Democrats."