Political Philosophy for Maurice "Mo" Weitman

Candidate for
Member, Town Council; Town of Fairfax

Howdy, folks. Thanks for taking the time to read this. There is more information on my campaign web page, and I invite you to check that out, too.

This document is "something like a biography" and "something like my political philosophy." I hope it will explain why I want to be your voice on Fairfax's Town Council.

The process of deciding to run for Town Council has been interesting, long, and fun. I picked up a set of candidate forms from the Town on the Friday before they were due to be handed in, and spent the weekend evaluating whether I should run for office. Obviously, I've chosen to go for it, and I thought I'd explain my reasons for wanting to serve our town in this way.

As some of you may know, after having attended most of the Town Council meetings over the past five years, I've said that the job of councilmember was not for me. I viewed it as very time-consuming (if done properly), energy-sapping, and under-appreciated by many if not most townfolk. I've noted with chagrin the personal attacks and abuse heaped on councilmembers by rude and sometimes uninformed people.

Why, then, would I want to take on such a difficult job? I care about our town and I've always enjoyed helping others and doing service for my community.

My wife Celia, our son Osa, and I moved to Fairfax in early 1994 and we are committed to making this our permanent home while doing what we can to actively enrich our community. Celia teaches fifth grade at Manor School, and Osa, having graduated from White Hill and Drake, now attends San Diego State University.

As General Manager of A.D.P.'s Long Island office in the 1970s I initiated a program to offer free data processing services to local non-profit organizations. I have donated thousands of hours to non-profits over my working years. Shortly after I began my consulting business in 1984, I sought out non-profit organizations for which I could offer pro bono consulting, and in 1987 I became CompuMentor's first mentor.

In 1989, after having been reunited with my birth families (I'm an adoptee), I became the full-time Executive Director of PACER the non-profit organization which helped me find my roots and deal with the loss and difficulties associated with being an adoptee. I did this for about a year with no pay, and am still involved with them, including running the PACER web site.

For several years, I've sought ways to serve Fairfax. Aside from the work I've done at Festivals, I've also been running tofu and fairfax.online for about two years. Over two years ago, I became interested in our Planning Commission, and began attending its meetings regularly. It was a fortuitous time for doing so, since it coincided with Planning Director Elizabeth Patterson's excellent workshops on, among other things, General Plan issues. More often than not, I was the only non-commissioner to attend.

At some point, I became fascinated with the elegance and utility of planning concepts and land use, and impressed with the calibre of Planning Commissioners and staff, and decided to apply for the next opening. This turned out to be the expiration of a term rather than a true vacancy and the incumbent was selected. But I was smitten, and continued attending every meeting and workshop.

At its inception, I was accepted as a member of the General Plan Public Advisory Committee along with the other twenty-one applicants. At the beginning of the year, I applied to fill the vacancy created by Planning Commissioner David Bahlman's resignation (he moved out of Fairfax... imagine!), but missed again when Denyce Codoni, a long-time and better-known Fairfax volunteer was selected.

So, rather than wait for the next Commissioner to move away or die, I decided to go for councilmember, despite the position's drawbacks. I love our town very much, and plan to live here for the rest of my life. I want to do what I can to preserve Fairfax's strong points and take advantage of all available resources to bolster those areas that can be improved upon.

Please vote for Maurice for Fai