(Community Matters) Tuesday was a Gov Tim Kaine day – to San Antonio for a luncheon hosted by Ellen & David Lake and Henry Munoz, closing with a late dinner in Austin w/ close friends. Gov Kaine is running for the US Senate. Steven and I became friends with him during his tenure as DNC Chair.
Tim’s a common ground guy – his tenure as Virginia’s governor demonstrates an ability to reach across the aisle and get stuff done. VA was #1 for business in the middle of an economic slowdown during his four years, and (as a former civil rights attorney) he doesn’t believe in trading social safety net infrastructure – in fact believing it made his state strong and competitive.
It was great to see so many friends in San Antonio (I need to spend more time there) and to finally meet Ellen’s husband, David Lake (Lake Flato Architects). David told me a bit about the Austin library design which they are presenting on Thursday to the Austin City Council. Comforted to hear they’ve spent so much time imagining libraries in our future and maximizing the flexibility of space (who knows the future of hard copy books & quantity), benchmarking both domestic and European libraries. “Libraries are about knowledge and a place for community.”
A guest reminded the Governor and the rest of us that while those of us in white collar jobs probably believe (especially given life expectancies) that 65 might be too young to retire and that social security payouts can be postponed, for a brick layer and other manual laborers, 65 can be their final years of productivity. Also liked Tim’s philosophical stand on social security – as opposed to individual retirement accounts. He explained how he saw social security as our collective taking care of our parents and elders. How as a community we come together to provide certain (minimum) safety nets for our country’s seniors.
Adrienne, Tim & I drove to Austin together, then to Lynn & Tommie Meredith’s last night for a fundraiser in their Austin abode overlooking the city. Much fun catching up with good friends like Lew Aldridge, Chris Long, Suzanne & Marc Winkelman, Alexa Lange, Wyeth Wiedeman and many more. The co-hosts stayed for a quite, casual dinner. Alas, the cone of silence prevents my sharing any details of those conversations but no surprise we were inspired by Amy Rudy’s authenticity and candidness.
Community Matters 