Written by Janis Gibson
Wednesday, 28 September 2011 11:48
This summer, before the local election season began to heat up, the two Weston women from different sides of the aisle put aside party differences and learned the ins and outs of political campaigning, and how it applies in particular to women.
For women interested in community service and politics, there is no better training ground than The Women’s Campaign School at Yale University, agree Planning and Zoning Commissioner Britta Lerner, a Republican, and Board of Finance member Melissa Koller, a Democrat
The Women’s Campaign School bills itself as “a nonpartisan, issue-neutral political campaign training program.” According to its Web site, www.wcsyale.org, its mission is to “increase the number and influence of women in elected and appointed office in the United States and around the globe” and to “provide the very best training in the world for women who want to run for office or who want to move up the ladder to higher elective office … regardless of political point-of-view.”
Weston First Selectman Gayle Weinstein took the program two years ago, and both Ms. Lerner and Ms. Koller were impressed with the differences they saw between Ms. Weinstein’s campaign after the Yale school and the one prior to it.
Ms Weinstein wrote recommendations for both women to attend the intensive five-day program this year, which took place at Yale Law School in New Haven from July 11 to 15.
MELISSA KOLLER
Ms. Weinstein believes that promoting women in politics, giving them the skills to do so, is important. “Women are under-represented overall, and having a program dedicated to promoting women in politics is incredibly important. That’s why I was pleased to write recommendations for two women, one a Democrat and one a Republican.”
Ms. Lerner said she believes the fact she had recommendations from both the Democratic first selectman and former Republican First Selectman Woody Bliss also was indicative of the non-partisan aspect of the Women’s Campaign School
“The Yale course is set up as if you were in the last weeks of a campaign — you don’t have time to breathe,” Ms. Weinstein said. “The Women’s Campaign School truly gave me the nuts and bolts of running a campaign, as well as contact with other women around the country, and around the world. You are surrounded by a global perspective, see how women are treated and progressing around the world. It shows how women can more efficiently affect the political process,” she said.
The school draws participants from across the country and around the world; this year they came from Ireland, Guatemala, Jordan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Slovakia, China, Morocco, Bermuda, Kuala Lumpur, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In addition to serving on P&Z, Ms. Lerner is vice chairman of the Weston Republican Town Committee (RTC) and chairman of its fund development team. Prior to that, she was a community a volunteer for five or six years.
“Being a mother, you tend to get involved in the community in some way. What I learned is that Weston runs on the backs of volunteers; the services we take for granted wouldn’t be there without volunteers. Through volunteering, you meet wonderful people and want to become more involved.”
BRITTA LERNER
Experienced in communications and business, Ms. Lerner ran for selectman in the last race two years ago, but lost. She was subsequently appointed to fill out a term on P&Z.
As a freshman, she has learned a lot, she said, “especially about how important a part the board plays in what Weston is as a community. And as I got involved in the process, I began to get a much better understanding of what it takes to make the town work.”
This summer at Yale, “I met 45 to 50 amazing women, made about 15 friends and worked very hard with five on a campaign. I met people from other countries and learned about their processes, and realize how lucky we are. Even though you’re aware of it, it was surprising to learn first-hand how corrupt other systems are — not to say that our system is without it — but how much bribery is the norm. To talk to women who lived through wars and upheavals, how the sides emerged and are building a new system of government… The people from wartorn governments just blew my mind,” she said.
“I would encourage everyone to become involved in some way, to be connected to where you live,” Ms. Lerner continued. “Pick what you want to do, and set boundaries. That was one thing we learned at the campaign school: You need to learn to delegate and get other people to help you, get them involved as well. Women often ‘feel bad about asking’ and get caught up in too much detail, wanting to get it ‘right’ rather than getting it done,” she said.
Finance board member Melissa Koller, a Democrat, calls herself “a reluctant politician.”
“On the first day of the program the attendees were told ‘Men usually go into politics for power; women usually go into politics to change something.’”
For Ms. Koller, that something was local support for education.
“We had just returned to Weston in 2001 after living in Amsterdam for five years, and the first school building referendum was rejected. We had kids in 24 portables, so I started attending PAC [political action committee] meetings, making copies of things to hand out, and watched and learned from more experienced advocates,” she said.
“Eighteen months later, I was ready to run for the Board of Education… it’s a progression. To me, it was all about the budget, what are we willing to spend to educate our kids.”
Like Ms. Lerner, Ms. Koller was also impressed by the difference in Ms. Weinstein’s two campaigns. “The level of professionalism was so much higher” after Ms. Weinstein attended the campaign school, Ms. Koller said. “I wanted to do better, be more professional as well.”
Because the campaign school caters to such a wide range of women, it covers a lot of ground, Ms. Koller said. “Some of the things taught at the program were not so applicable to small towns, such as large scale fund-raising and media buys, so I originally thought the school was far beyond my scope. But there were some real gems there, some of them quite basic, like: Focus on what’s relevant now; if I do more, what is the bigger picture?”
But in politics, there are also some universal truths. “There were ‘duh’ moments, too, things that are so simple, like: If people haven’t heard of you, they’re not going to vote for you; or, if you mail something, you have five seconds to grab someone’s attention,” Ms. Koller said.
“I didn’t have expectations of who I’d meet, but there were 50 amazing women between 18 and 60 — one was running for president of Cameroon! The women had different backgrounds and views, but every one had something to offer; they [were all] smart women with something to say,” Ms. Koller said.
“All views were expressed and respected; the school succeeded in being nonpartisan; the only agenda was supporting women in politics,” Ms. Koller said, “and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to be more effective in public service.”
