When Democrats, Republicans, and business leaders join together, the collaboration can change the faces at City Hall. Bipartisan leaders in Troy succeeded in electing three of their five candidates last fall. Here's how they did it... 

When A Community Demands Transformational Leadership 

By Michelle Hodges, President,

Looking to the future, the Troy Chamber recognized a need for transformation by taking everything already great about

No longer were politicians sufficient to lead

The Chamber strategized.  How was it to garner such leadership?  Did it even exist?  It became clear a significant effort was necessary to engage people, to attract and motivate such high quality individuals, to turn the tide toward truly remarkable leaders supported by a highly engaged, truly remarkable community.  And, to do so in a constructive way, it was going to take more than one election cycle, for a cultural change was in order and, if the community was to transform itself, it was going to have to engage at a much higher level.

As Election 2007 approached, with five of seven City Council seats (including the Mayor) up for consideration by the electorate, the first step was to put an infrastructure in place that would be empowered to elect such individuals, and to wade through divisive politics, while still emerging victorious.

Local elections are non-partisan, so the Chamber decided a three-pronged effort was needed, and it was fortunate to recruit a strong leader, Bill Cowger, to further the effort.  If the resources of Republicans, Democrats, and the business community could be leveraged, the process of transformation would accelerate.   But, what would bring such divergent interests to the table?  A mutual purpose had to be identified.

Upon thoughtful consideration, the mutual purpose(s) became the need to effectively educate voters, and increase voter turnout.  Additionally, the Chamber considered desirable qualities of preferred candidates, and recognized that the qualities identified by the International Baccalaureate program for its emerging students, were on target.  The desirable qualities include the following - Inquirer, Knowledgeable, Thinker, Communicator, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-taker, Balanced, and Reflective

Armed with its message, a mutual purpose, and the desire to be inclusive of all affiliations, the Troy PAC approached the Troy Democratic Club, Troy Area Republican Club, and the Troy Clawson Republican Club.  It was ultimately successful in securing the support of the

The TLC was successful in jointly conducting candidate forums and evaluations, which led to a joint endorsement of candidates.  Subsequent to the endorsements, the TLC published collateral and advertising.  It also organized teams of TLC members to walk a targeted list of precincts.  A distinct atmosphere of camaraderie, respect, trust and focused commitment emerged.  The TLC absolutely refused to bow to negative campaigning, and was successful in electing three of its five candidates.

The work of the TLC has only just begun.  It is committed to a true and full transformation toward active community engagement, focused on the absolute best leaders the community has to offer.  It will expand its ranks, strengthen its vision for the community, inspire qualified individuals to lead, and effectively ameliorate the elections process to produce statesmanlike leaders, capable of leading