I didn’t meet Oliver Weilein until recently, sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, when he was considering a run for the March 4 Iowa City Council District C special election.
While that was the first time we talked, I’d known of him for a while, primarily from his presence online where he is entertainingly irreverent, particularly on topics related to local politics. While it explains the distain his candidacy is receiving from local political types, it’s the punching up you should expect from a working-class guy who plays in punk bands.
I found Oliver to be refreshingly humble, loving and thoughtful. He turned out to be a person with strong values about how people in our community should care for each other and he was living values.
No wonder so many people who know Oliver Weilein love him and trust him.
Those are the same folks most at risk in the coming weeks, months and years: trans folks, immigrants, the homeless and working-class people.
Oliver believes we should care for each other, and he is ready to protect our community and its vulnerable members. Not recklessly, but creatively, because “we can’t” and “let’s lay low” and “I don’t know” are unacceptable in this moment in history, when our community and our most vulnerable community members are in the crosshairs of Des Moines and DC.
I’m excited to vote for Oliver Weilein in the March 4 special election, but I’m even more excited for him to serve on the Iowa City Council.