Local Voting!
Nothing tends to bore people like local elections, so I'll cut to the chase early: maybe tomorrow give voting in this one a shot! If you're an Iowan, you can find your voting place here: https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx
Maybe you'll bump into someone you know. Maybe there will be cookies. There will definitely be an old person or two.
Paradoxically, nothing seems to interest people quite as much as local activity -- stores and restaurants opening in their city, buildings going up, civic projects. A City Council will have their hands somewhere in the process for any of those things.
Des Moines has seen some substantial growth since 2000. What are now local fixtures are often less than 10 years old: The Sculpture Garden, the World Food Prize, Zombie Burger, Dwolla, the High Life Lounge, the Vaudeville Mews, and the 80/35 Music Festival, to name a few.
This resurgence comes from a merging of traditional city leadership and a new, youth energy.
RAYGUN, has been part of the East Village development that was set in motion years before me by local developers and the City Council. The two sides have worked in tandem, and I’m pleased to see that part of this youth energy, and good friend of RAYGUN, Chris Diebel, will be on the Des Moines City Council ballot on Tuesday (TOMORROW!).
We have known Chris for years, since our store's inception in 2005. Though young, Chris has already been at the center of some of Des Moines’ most dramatic progress: from working on the development of the Temple for the Performing arts, to working with Orchestrate Management -- the company behind Centro, Django, Gateway Market, Zombie Burger, and more.
All of us at RAYGUN are 100% behind Chris Diebel for Des Moines City Council. But we also encourage you to just vote in your local elections, wherever they are, and whoever is running!