The Introduction Bits

Good to see you here and thanks for reading.

My name is Patrick Kuehl and I am a member of the City of Ithaca Common Council. I am a Cornell graduate who studied development and public policy and I worked on a 911 ambulance for multiple years.

While most of the attention in politics is focused at the National level, the really fun stuff happens at the local level. It doesn’t really matter what happens up on the hill, what matters is how those changes and rules are interpreted and implemented by the people in the valley.

This is why I love local and state government. Unlike the federal government, nothing is scrubbed or polished in cities and towns across the United States. Few elected officers at the local level are politicians and most of them ran unopposed. Local government is full of mistakes and people doing really cool things.

I do not consider myself a writer, but I want a place where I can talk and dialogue with others about politics, people and policy from the bottom up. Welcome and I hope you will read my work (though I can promise no enjoyment).