You're a Bookseller and You Should Run For Something!

I'm John Cavalier, and I'm running for Mayor of Denham Springs, LA - my hometown. It's a big step for sure, but in many ways it feels natural. There were about a million things to consider before I made it official, but alongside the hopes I have for my city, one of my biggest hopes is to be an example for my bookselling colleagues. I want to demonstrate that running for public office is not as insurmountable as it seems and that we, as independent booksellers, are uniquely suited for the task.

Take me out of the equation completely and replace me with yourself.

Do you care deeply about your community? Are you acutely aware of how decisions at every level of government affect your daily operations? Is your main goal to bring people together to create something larger than yourself? Have you had to make hard decisions based on an ever-fluctuating budget? Have you ever outfoxed a competitor 100 times your size with 100 times your budget? Have you built something from nothing and figured it out as you went? Have you responded to a massive external shock and reinvented your entire business on a dime? Do you already know your customers, neighbors, and community leaders by name?

If you answered yes to most of those, you are more prepared for public service than you probably realize.

Independent booksellers are community builders by nature. We don't survive by undercutting everyone else; we survive by being indispensable. By knowing our neighbors. By showing up. Those are exactly the qualities that good local governance requires.

Denham Springs needs a master plan. It needs leadership that understands what makes a community worth living in. It needs someone who has actually built something and fought to keep it.

I believe that person can be a bookseller. For Denham Springs, I hope that person is me - and for wherever you are right now, I believe that person can be you.

Give it some thought. You've got time. And if nothing else, follow along at https://www.facebook.com/johncavalierformayor while I give it a go - maybe it'll convince you to give it a run yourself. 

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John Cavalier
Owner, Cavalier House Books