SALZANO '07 WINS SEAT, SERVING ON LOCAL TOWN COUNCIL
Frank Salzano '07 spent part of his summer vacation from Shepherd campaigning for a seat on the Shepherdstown Town Council.

After meeting with various members of the council, committees, and commissions to grasp the issues, Salzano created a pamphlet detailing his perspective on the issues. With pamphlets in hand, the Shepherd student hit the streets, knocking on doors and listening to the concerns of the community. Salzano's door-to-door approach paid off--on June 6, 2006, he was elected to the Shepherdstown Town Council.

The young councilman attributes his election to several factors. According to Salzano, the residents of Shepherdstown voted for him because he showed that he cared and would put time and energy into the job, while also listening to the community and expressing a desire to do something different.

It was this desire that influenced him to run for office. "I believe that corporate globalization has run away and is not sustainable. I don't really think that our federal government is very accountable," said Salzano. "I believe in creating a world based on the power of communities." Community empowerment has to start on the local level and, according to the 22-year-old, there is no better way to make local change than through local government.

It was Shepherdstown's location and atmosphere that brought the Charleston resident to Shepherd University. "I wanted to be near the city, and it seemed like a good school in kind of a laid-back hippie town." The honors student and fifth-year senior in the Regents bachelor of arts program at Shepherd said that while the University has prepared him for his role on the council, it has been his work in grassroots activism that has been the most helpful. "Through Shepherd University I've learned much about job skills. There have been some important classes like renewable energy, community organizing, and social theory. The most applicable skills I've tried to develop and that are now useful, such as critical socio-economic and environmental analysis and facilitation skills, have come from grassroots activism, radical anarchist culture, and other alternatives that escape the status quo."

Just a few months into his two-year term as a council member, Salzano has learned to balance his roles as a student and a member of the council. "It's really not too bad," he said. "I just make a list of priorities, don't party or watch TV, and do what I've got to do." For the new councilman, doing what he's got to do includes improving relations between the school he attends and the town in which he lives. Aside from sitting down with the administrations and keeping open lines of communication, the Shepherd student intends to promote joint projects that will harness a healthy community. Salzano also realizes that parking is a major obstacle for the two. More public parking and transportation are needed, he said, but money is needed to do those things and the capitalist economic system we live in creates scarce resources for public institutions.

Shepherd and Shepherdstown relations are not the only issues on Salzano's agenda. He plans to work on socioeconomic diversity by preserving the working class neighborhood and promoting businesses that actually serve the people of Shepherdstown.

Salzano understands that these are not easy tasks, but feels that not mindlessly gentrifying Shepherdstown is a good start. He wants to get control of and give input on the direction of development around Shepherdstown that effects both the taxation system and property values, while also earmarking some money for innovative affordable housing initiatives.

"Getting the right kind of economy here would be a huge challenge," said Salzano, "but I think that if we marketed the school and the town the right way it would attract the right kind of businesses to the area, the kind of business that works in true-cost accounting and long-term, sustainable fiscal models."

As a proponent of community-supported agriculture (CSA), Salzano wants to improve green spaces for recreational use and prevent the bombardment of development from coming this way. And while there are various models of CSA, said Salzano, the idea that he's trying to implement is more a community-supported garden, managed by a mix of active shareholders and volunteers.

"I'm an innocent kid who wants to make the world a better place," said Salzano, who believes he will return to grassroots activism when his term is over. While he's not sure yet how his time on the council will be remembered, he hopes that people will say that he "shook stuff up a little and tried [his] hardest to create responsible, progressive alternatives."

Bethany Davidson

Frank Salzano