Why We Run: Eric Williams
As we get closer and closer to election day, we’re showing off some of our inspiring endorsed candidates in our “Why We Run” series — and next up is Eric Williams. Eric has been working on energy policy in his community for over 10 years, and now he’s running to make great policy from the inside out as an elected member of the Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors.
What problem do you want to solve by running for office?
I’m running for the Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors, Subdivision 6 — which is the northeast part of Omaha. Nebraska is an all public power state, so every location has just one public electric utility. That’s brought tremendous benefit to all of the communities across our state. I want to make sure that public power continues to be a benefit and improve the lives of people in our community. I’m specifically focused on three things:
Fair Rates. The fixed fee for electricity has been going up over the last couple of years. That’s really challenging for low, moderate, and fixed income households. And it means that those who use the most energy end up paying the lowest rates. I want to make sure that we have fair and affordable electric bills for all members of our community.
Engagement. Northeast Omaha has traditionally been underrepresented in lots of public offices, and so I want to make sure that people know who their elected representative is, and that they can get in touch with them if they have any specific issues.
Clean energy and investing in new energy market opportunities — like efficiency, smart grid and electric vehicles. It’s really critical that the utility be prepared to adopt new technologies to help strengthen public power here in our community.
Your focus on clean energy seems especially relevant in light of the terrifying UN Climate Change Report that just came out.
Yeah, that was the sixth version of that report. I’ve been following them over the years. I actually worked as a community organizer for climate legislation in 2009 with the Alliance for Climate Protection.
Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is caused by people, and we need to take immediate and direct action. Every time one of these big reports comes out, it’s a reminder to a lot of people that this is serious. Clean energy and locally produced power are great ways to respond, to strengthen communities and to provide new opportunities in the face of what would otherwise be a very challenging and very dire prediction about our future.
Anything interesting happen during door knocking?
During the campaign, I’ve met two people who told me, somewhat embarrassed, that they‘ve never voted before. They just didn’t really see the reason for it… they had been doing other things… they never felt connected to any of their leaders — all the standard reasons. Now, both of them are registered, and both of them have signs for my campaign in their yards.
One of them is an artist, and he helped me paint a 4’ x 8’ plywood sign for the campaign to put out on a major street. He’s always used his skills to help kids engage with art, and I think he was really excited to use his professional skills in support of a candidate who he knows personally.
That’s not all — he put together an election bingo card with 12 different candidates in different races who he intends to support — starting with federal and working all the way down to the electric utility. I am the very bottom of the card. He also designed a shirt that has the names of all of those candidates on it, and he put it out on one of those on-demand shirt making sites.
It’s really rewarding to know that someone who had never been involved in his life, is now connected directly and personally with candidates, is registered, is going to vote, is excited about it, and is doing great outreach work to encourage other people to get involved in the election this year, as well.
What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking of running for office?
People have asked me how long I’ve had political ambitions. The truth is that I really don’t have political ambitions. What I want is good energy policy. I’ve been working on policy for the last 10 years as a community leader with non-profit organizations, and we’ve had some positive impacts. But, I realized that my next step to making good energy policy in our community is to be elected to the electric utility board. So, I decided to run.
I wasn’t just looking around and thinking, “What office can I run for?” I was more focused on, “What is my personal passion? What specific skills do I have? How have I been involved in the past?” And then, I saw that the answers to those questions match up well with being a candidate for this office.
I would encourage people who want to get engaged in politics to figure out what it is that drives you in your life, what you are most passionate about, and make sure that you’re following that toward a campaign for a public office. When you run, make sure you know your personal story and what really drives you. Be really prepared to tell that story to potential voters, supporters and volunteers. You don’t have to fake it. If your story is totally true, it’ll be very easy to engage with people, because you live it so authentically.
How have you used/worked with RFS in your race?
Through RFS, I see lots of other diverse, young, dedicated people running for all kinds of different races. Knowing that there are so many people out there who are committed to improving policy in their own communities and pushing things forward is very inspirational. All of those people are out there putting in the hours, knocking on doors and making it happen. That’s been really great to see. Just flip over to Instagram and scan through a couple of photos to see who the candidate of the day is, and to find out what they’re up to.
Check out Eric’s campaign website to learn more about his campaign: https://williamsforoppd.com/
