Critics have Laura Miller all wrong

This semester I signed up for Government 2301 solely because it was required. I had never gotten into politics nor did I have any desire to start.

My professor, Gabriel Bach, a politically passionate man with a crazy accent, assigned us to do a team project to get us involved in major issues that have affected or are affecting us and our country.

My group, wanting a relatively easy topic that wouldn’t require a ton of research, picked Laura Miller. We got her with no resistance from the other classmates; however, my only question was, “Who is Laura Miller?”

Finally, after about a week, I was told she was the mayor of Dallas. Next major problem, I knew absolutely nothing about Laura Miller, what she stands for, what she’s accomplished, and what she’s trying to accomplish. If only I had picked terrorism-- at least I know what terrorism is!

So, not having any concept of the scale of politics in Dallas, I thought I would give the mayor a call, and certainly the second lady to ever be elected mayor in the ninth largest city in the United States would be able to meet with me for an hour or two in the next few days. Man was I ever wrong. It took five weeks of emails and preapproval of interview questions and for all I know background tests and drug screenings before I could get an agreement to 30 minutes of the mayor’s time. After all that and after reading anti-Laura Miller literature written by people who had worked on her mayoral campaign, my opinion of her was quite low.

The day of the interview finally came. After getting large quantities of invaluable advice and tips from Professor Bach, my nerves were completely uncontrollable. I had never in my life done anything like this. My political interview knowledge base extended to Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson on Good Morning America.

I was expecting it to be formal, uptight, intense, impersonal and any other descriptive word along those lines. This was largely due to the fact that that’s how, through my studies, I perceived Laura Miller. I was pleasantly surprised when she came in and the nerves immediately went away.

First of all, she is very pretty, slender and wore this beautiful suit that tempted me to ask where she purchased it so I could get one just like it. She seemed like the type that, had she not fallen into a journalism then political career, her next choice would be fashion. On top of that, she was very kind and inquisitive of my life and my pursuits in education. She made me feel completely comfortable, as if we were having a conversation as friends instead of an interview as colleagues.

She really let her personality show when answering my questions. She was strong and firm when necessary, yet personable, and used humor at other times. One of the things I truly respected was that she was passionate about her answers. She gave me the feeling that not only did she really care about the city and the people that live in and around it, but that she cares in an honest way.

She truly believes in “people having a level playing field, not being discriminated against, not being mistreated, not being forgotten because they don’t have the resources or the know-how to take care of themselves.” That’s what drives her as mayor -- the citizens. She wants to make sure that the Dallas legacy continues and grows stronger over the years to better the lives of the future children of Dallas.

The interview was over as quick as it began. We went 10 minutes over, so she had to rush off to her next appointment with Mitchell Rasansky, whom I was lucky enough to meet. Mayor Miller and I had actually talked briefly about him at the beginning of our interview because Professor Bach worked on his campaign. It was really neat to be able to meet him afterwards and hear him go on and on about how wonderful Gabriel Bach is.

This experience really gave me a different perspective of politics and the government in general. I owe most of it to my government class and my team members who kind of sort of knew who Laura Miller was, and thus picked her for our presentation. I didn’t realize the magnitude of this interview and what a huge opportunity it was to be able to speak to her.

The mayor of Dallas, who is a citizen just like us, truly cares about her fellow citizens and the future of Dallas. I have also realized the importance of getting involved, even on the city level, and learning about government and the issues that directly or indirectly affect you.

Laura Miller is there because the people believed that she could get the job done. If you disagree, then get out and vote! As for me, personally, she thoroughly impressed me. Maybe that is why she is so good at being mayor, I don’t know, but if I lived in Dallas, she would have my vote.

— April Austin is a student in Gabriel Bach’s Government 2301 course.