Women Getting Involved in Local Politics: Debbie Peterson’s Story

In a world plagued by corruption and a lack of trust in government, one woman dares to challenge the status quo by getting involved in local politics. She uncovers a web of deceit and faces unexpected obstacles in her pursuit of justice. Will she be able to bring about positive change and beat City Hall? Find out in this gripping tale of empowerment and resilience. Show Notes | Transcript "You absolutely can beat City Hall. Unless if you believe you can't beat City Hall, you will be absolutely correct, because if you don't try, you certainly aren't going to beat them." - Debbie Peterson Have you heard these common myths about getting involved in local government and creating positive change? Myth #1: I don't have the time or resources to make a difference. Myth #2: Politics and government are too complicated for me to understand. Myth #3: My voice doesn't matter, so why bother? Our guest Debbie Peterson will debunk these myths and share the truth about how individuals can empower themselves and contribute to positive change in their communities. Debbie is a former mayor and businesswoman turned author who utilizes her firsthand experience in political office to influence positive change. Her book, The Happiest Corruption: Sleaze, Lies and Suicide in a California Beach Town unravels her journey of unveiling corruption in an otherwise ideal community, giving readers an insightful view into public governance. As someone who doesn't shy away from adversity, she uses her strong background in business and public relations to encourage others, especially women, to step up and take an active role in their local governments. In this episode, you will be able to: Discover the crucial role women play in shaping local government and why this matters for your community. Unearth the often concealed reality of corruption in local politics and how it directly impacts your life. Learn to navigate beyond partisan divisions and find the productive middle ground for genuine civic progress. Understand the importance of trust and intuition when evaluating the integrity of local political figures. Obtain valuable tactics to engage and make a tangible impact in your local government. Related Live. Love. Engage. episodes you may enjoy: Mindful Boss Moves: Elevate Your Leadership with Presence Embracing Empathy with Kristen Donnelly Resources: Connect with Debbie here Get Debbie's FREE copy of City Council 101 here Join the Soulful Women's Network here Send me a message here ☕ Support the podcast here ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating here Connect with Gloria: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 - Gloria Grace Rand You're listening to the Live Love Engage podcast. On today's show, why we need more women in local government. Stay tuned. 00:00:12 - Gloria Grace Rand I am Gloria Grace Rand, founder of The L.O.V.E. Method and author of the number one Amazon bestseller, Live Love Engage How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Start Being Yourself. In this podcast, we share practical advice from a spiritual perspective on how to live fully, love deeply, and engage authentically so you can create a life and business with more impact, influence, and income. Welcome to live. Love. Engage. 00:00:46 - Gloria Grace Rand Namaste. I am Gloria Grace Spiritual Alignment coach, and I work with women entrepreneurs to clear the inner blocks keeping you stuck so you can put yourself first and live the life you want now. And I am so excited about today's guest because I've always been interested in politics, and I think it's because even my mom even ran for the school board when I was a little girl. I remember that. And our guest today has some experience in that. She is a former mayor, businesswoman and author of the Integrity 101 series, and her name is Debbie Peterson, and her first book is called The Happiest Corruption Sleaze, Lies and Suicide in a California Beach Town. And it's a number one bestseller, and it tells the tale of the corruption she uncovered as mayor. So I'm very interested in having her come onto the show today and talk a little bit about her experience. So I want to officially bring her on right now. Hello and Debbie, and welcome to Live Love Engage. 00:01:58 - Debbie Peterson Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here. 00:02:01 - Gloria Grace Rand Well, I am so curious to know about you and about what got you interested in politics, because it seems like especially it seems like over the last maybe ten years or so, it's just gotten so well, vicious is the word coming to mind. That's a little harsh. But let's just say, it’s gotten to be, there's a lot of negativity around it and so much where people do not want to work together. They're just out for their own self-interests and not focused in on what their constituents need, shall we say. So in this kind of environment, what got you interested in running for office? 00:02:50 - Debbie Peterson I can really relate to that question because even just now, I'm in the middle of an exchange with a friend whose political views I agree with, who's just fixated and almost to the point of being vicious. And it seems like a lot of us are there now, and that's painful. And I think that what people are feeling right now is, well, can't we just talk to each other? Can't we just disagree gracefully, graciously and respect one another? Does it have to be always so full of angst? And having said that, I've been dealing with some angst or was dealing with some angst. But let me start with answering your question, and it's really wonderful that your mom ran for school board, and I hope that more women will do that, more people altogether, particularly business people. And we can talk more about why I think that or I'm suggesting that later. I got into it because I was encouraged by friends and neighbors to run. I had a background in business as an entrepreneur, and also I'd done a lot of redevelopment work and a degree in communications, primarily public relations. And that's what people needed in my town. And so I worked on the planning commission for four years and chaired it for a couple of years. And then I moved into elected positions. I ran for city council in 2008 and 2012, I ran for mayor, and then in 2014 I ran for mayor again, and I didn't win and then ran for county supervisor and again didn't win and went back to the city council. And so I've had altogether about 15 years. And my motivation was not politics. I've always hated politics. And I have to say I really still hate politics. I don't do politics well. And what I really want to do is to get things done and to serve the community and to make the world a better place. And that sounds like unicorns and butterflies, but that's where I'm coming from. And so if we want to have people who are serving the interests of the people they serve and not serving themselves, you probably want people who are a little idealistic and who believe in the principles and really practice those principles that run behind the United States Constitution. 00:05:06 - Gloria Grace Rand I'm so glad that you did that. And it's funny, as you were talking, I'm thinking that part of the problem perhaps has been that we're focused in on politics as opposed to governing. What do you see is, like, the difference between the two? 00:05:25 - Debbie Peterson Well, good governance is about good management. It's about being good stewards of the money that we are all paying in to provide public services, primarily safety and infrastructure, roads and bridges and sewer systems. And good governance is about good stewardship of those on behalf of the community in which you live. Politics is party, and I think that's what I struggle with so much. I think I truly think that one of the worst things we could possibly have done to one another is to polarize on parties and polarize on opinions and stop looking at how we can make things better for everybody and serve the community and looking only at politics. So I think that politics are actually quite harmful, and I would rather see us working together to make things work that I believe was the original objective. And I think that those views are when I read my history, those views are shared by the founders of our country as well. 00:06:27 - Gloria Grace Rand Yeah, I agree. And at the same time, I can't help but think that in the environment we're in right now, in this sort of caustic environment, what would you say to someone how can you encourage them to still be able to take part in governance, to be able to help out their communities, in particular women? Why would it be good for a woman to get involved? 00:06:57 - Debbie Peterson I agree that it is caustic, and that really comes home to us a lot. On the other hand, being in local government was so much fun, and it was so rewarding because we could do good things. And I met people I would never have met. I worked with people I never thought I would work with. And it, for me, was really heartwarming and rewarding. There's one really very simple, straightforward reason I find myself asking people, why have we allowed this? Why is it that in our country, 28% of the elected representatives are women, and we're allowing that. We are 51% of the population. Why aren't we represented? Why aren't the gifts that we bring to the table at that table? And that's the first one. Let's talk equality. We're talking equality. We're talking Black History Month. But black women are equally as discriminated against as any color of woman. And that's a really scary thing to me, that we've given everybody their rights except women. Everybody. We talk about representation. We're not talking really about women. And when the United Nations started doing studies, happiness studies, because they determined that the single most important thing