Some of you have perhaps already heard that Andrew Rasiej, the founder of Personal Democracy Forum, has decided to run for Public Advocate of New York City. A big part of his motivation is to try to put into practice a lot of the ideas and tools that folks at PDF have been talking about. Needless to say, this is very exciting news for those of us involved in PDF, as well as his larger circle of friends, associates and practitioners interested in the personal-democracy revolution.
In the interests of full disclosure, here are some particulars:
-While Andrew has not yet made a formal campaign announcement, his website AdvocatesforRasiej went live this past Wednesday. For more details on his campaign, go there.
-Since deciding to run, Andrew has mostly turned over day-to-day operations of Personal Democracy Forum to our team, but remains involved where possible.
-I have been helping Andrew organize his campaign on a volunteer basis since early April. From that point forward, I have recused myself from any PDF editorial decisions touching upon New York City politics, and put those in the very capable hands of Kate Kaye, our associate editor.
-Other campaign volunteers from the PDF crew include Elizabeth Caputo, our marketing director, who has been helping him navigate NYC’s political waters, and Hart Hooton, our (unpaid) general manager, who, though focused mainly on the business of building Personal Democracy Forum, has volunteered to be his campaign treasurer.
-Alas, we have lost our web-mistress, Jennifer Vento, to full-time work on his campaign.
-Contributing editor Michael Bassik has also been retained by the Rasiej campaign to work on its online advertising.
-Whatever happens in the election, we all remain committed to building PDF both as a nonpartisan online publishing venture devoted to exploring the intersection of technology and politics, and as a face-to-face (and virtual) gathering place for the people who are at the center of this transformation.