Welcome back to season 2 of My Mayor, the Catalyst series that helps you get to know the person behind the policy. We sat down with each candidate and asked them each the same five questions, with a few follow up questions sprinkled in. For Episode 4, we asked:

  • If you could spend a week shadowing anyone, who would it be? 
  • What’s something you’ve become less certain about as you’ve gotten older? 
  • Tell me about a time you had to choose between being liked and being respected. 
  • What’s a misconception about success that you no longer believe? 
  • What’s a compliment you’ve received that has stayed with you for years? 

Joe: And we are back on “My Mayor,” episode four, the last episode before the primaries. And joining me is the current mayor, Ken Welch. Good to see you, sir.

Ken: Good to be back, Joe.

Joe: All right. Ready to dive into these — get-to-know-the-people-behind-the-policy questions?

Ken: Let’s do it.

Joe: If you could spend a week shadowing anyone, who would it be?

Ken: Jesus.

Joe: You didn’t say living or dead, so… No, that’s a great answer.

Ken: Yeah.

Joe: Tell me about your thought process behind that answer.

Ken: Oh, just to experience his birth and life, the miracles, the death, the resurrection. I mean, that would be incredible.

Joe: So you only get a week — so which week, if you could pick a time in his 30-some years?

Ken: That’s a tough one. Certainly, the resurrection would be phenomenal. But yeah, there could be several weeks in there, obviously, that all of that would be an incredible opportunity.

Joe: Okay. What’s something you’ve become less certain about as you’ve gotten older?

Ken: Man’s capacity to successfully use technology for positive purposes. We’re certainly becoming wiser, but the technology has the capacity to outpace us, and obviously AI kind of personifies that, so that’s something I’m concerned about.

Joe: And is that inherent in the technology, or the wrongdoer’s ability to do more damage with the technology?

Ken: Well, I don’t know why we’re on a biblical tint today, but there was a saying — man will become wickeder and wiser. And that’s kind of playing out, where we’ve got so much knowledge now — more knowledge on our iPhones than an entire encyclopedia before — and certainly AI takes that to another level. But are we intelligent enough not to destroy ourselves with that technology, or allow the technology to determine our fate going forward? And that’s really, I mean, in the next — not even five years. That’s happening right now. There was an AI system that became kind of self-aware last week and hacked another AI system.

Joe: Yeah. I mean, this is “The Terminator” just kind of happening —

Ken: It was a jailbreak.

Joe: — that movie, with the system becoming self-aware.

Ken: So that’s been a concern. We certainly have brilliant people, but we have to make sure we use technology for the right purposes and not allow that to get out of hand.

Joe: And to your point, it could just be technology accelerates a sort of pattern that humanity goes through. I mean, a lot of the great empires have come and gone. You hear about the Easter Island folks who cut down every tree, and basically used up all the resources unsustainably, and ultimately starved out when there was no more materials available. So you wonder how much of that is technology and how much of it is this sort of interesting cycle in humans.

Ken: Yeah.

Joe: Tell me about a time you had to choose between being liked and being respected.

Ken: Yeah, that’s never been a problem for me. I just focus on doing the right thing, and whether you’re liked or respected really isn’t the driving force there. Folks might like you on one issue, not like you on another issue. But I think, at the end of the day, you have to be able to look yourself in the eye and know that you’ve done the right thing.

Joe: So, that’s very pragmatic. Obviously, we’re humans, and there are relationships, and sometimes being disliked can make doing the pragmatic thing harder when other people don’t adhere to the pragmatism as well as you do. So how much can you realistically adjust for that in your operations?

Ken: You don’t. You stick with your principles, and certainly have a conversation with folks to understand why you made the decision you made. But once you start compromising, who’s to say when that ends? I’ve found, even with folks that you disagree on, if you can lay out, “Well, here’s why I made this decision,” you can come back and work with them on different issues down the line.

Joe: Yeah, and that’s where I was getting at. It wasn’t so much compromising the decision, but just the interactions with the folks, and that lens.

Ken: Sure.

Joe: So what’s a misconception about success that you no longer believe?

Ken: Well, I never really believed it, because I got to watch my dad serve on city council, and I also see successful people — a legacy is something I think is overblown. Folks 10, 15 years down the line aren’t going to remember a certain council vote or an item. That’s why they put plaques on buildings, so folks can read who was responsible. But really, the focus should be on impact, not on legacy or recognition, because those things are fleeting. And it ends up on a plaque in a storage room somewhere. I had to clean out bags and bags of my dad’s stuff from his service. And so it just kind of focuses you on what matters, which is making the impact. That’s why community impact is one of my principles that we focus on. It has to be longer than the next election cycle or the next council meeting. It has to be something that’s truly impactful. So that’s been my focus.

Joe: Makes sense. All right. What’s a compliment that you’ve received that has stayed with you for years?

Ken: Well, kind of relating back to the liked-or-respected question we just talked about — even after some pretty heated battles with folks in the past, I’ve had folks say, “I appreciate the respect you showed during the debate. Different with you on that issue, but respect the way you handled it.” Especially when you’re chairing meetings, as I did on county commission — there’s a fair way to allow everyone to be heard in a respectful manner. And so that always sticks with me.

Joe: Coming at the end of term one, how would you compare and contrast being a commissioner and being mayor at this point, now that you have these years under your belt?

Ken: Both incredible jobs. The commission has executive authority in certain cases. The chair is the chief elected official of the county. But there is just so much more focus. I call it the Publix test — I can’t walk into Publix —

Joe: Right.

Ken: — I mean, even church, because everybody sees the mayor as that voice for the city, and that’s the reason the strong mayor was created. So I certainly accept that as part of the job, but that is a difference from being county commissioner for 20 years — not that same level of folks identifying the job. And that’s been the biggest difference.

Joe: And that probably makes you a lightning rod more so than being blended into a commission.

Ken: It does, but it also gives the opportunity to help folks out, because they’re reaching out for help, and you can connect them with resources. And that’s really gratifying when someone says, “Hey, that helped me get the problem solved,” or “Helped me get housing,” or “Helped me get this person help.” That’s very gratifying.

Joe: Very cool. All right. Well, just a couple of weeks before the primary, so enjoy the campaign trail —

Ken: Yeah. Votes are already rolling in with mail ballots, so we’re in it now.

Joe: Yes, they are. As always, I appreciate you taking some time out of your busy schedule to join us on “My Mayor.” And good luck.

Ken: All right. Appreciate it. Have a good one.