From local advocate to elected official – with LeVette Fuller

LeVette Fuller, Shreveport councilmember and co-founder of Re:Form Shreveport, joins the show to talk about her journey from citizen advocate and "land-use nerd" (her words) to local elected official—plus a few specific challenges the city has faced during her tenure.Some of what we cover in this show:LeVette's background in community advocacy and how Re:Form Shreveport was startedWhat motivated her to run for City CouncilHow actually serving on Council compares to what she thought it would be likeAn example of a key issue and how she handled the research, response (voting), and reactionThe importance of downtown to the city's identity and cultureThe role that horizontal expansion and annexation has on city services and budgetsHow last year's budget process compares to what they're going to be dealing with in their upcoming FY21 budgetAdvice for other people thinking about running for CouncilMentioned in the show: The Memphis 3.0 PlanFollow LeVette on Facebook (that's her official councilmember page) and Twitter.--The Go Cultivate! podcast is a project of Verdunity. Find more about this and other episodes (and our blog) at verdunity.com/go-cultivate.You can also find us on social media. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedInAnd if you haven't yet, sign up for our weekly email digest. It's not lame! (Each week we collectively curate a list of the things we read that caught our attention. Then we hand-package your copy, spank a first-class stamp on that baby, and drop it right in your email inbox.) Sign up here!Join us (and your peers!) in the Community Cultivators Network.(This episode features music from No Money, Custodian of Records, and Isaac Horwedel.)verdunity.com/podcast/episode-61