Curiosity about the Kat

Katjana Ballantyne's announcement back in March was the first one that I saw for Ward 7.  She seemed to hit the ground running with a campaign web site, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed.  Her web site hints at a history of community involvement and a Google search appears to confirm it.

Due to her involvement with the Progressive Democrats of Somerville, I expected Katjana to have a slick, well-oiled campaign in place from the outset.  Instead, it seems like she's struggling through a number of missteps...

In late April Katjana held a campaign kick-off event at Orleans which seemed, from the photos on her Facebook page, to have been well attended.  But, isn't Orleans in Ward 6?  Am I being too picky to think that a Ward 7 candidate should hold her events, especially the first one, in her own ward?  (I will admit, though, that holding this event a few steps from Ward 7 isn't as bad as the Bush family raising money from Saudi oil interests.)

Next up, Katjana showed her support for local artists by attending Somerville Open Studios with her younger daughter (~ age 3).  She posted, on Facebook, some photos of herself and her daughter along with Ward 7 artist Sydney Hardin.  Those photos were pulled down quickly, however, when a commenter pointed out that Hardin's work might not be considered suitable for such a young child.  Hardin has done some work (at left) depicting another female politician so perhaps that was part of the draw to her studio.

Throughout May, Katjana used her Twitter feed to keep her prospective constituents aware of the various community events and projects e.g., the call for comments on the Green Line expansion, the mayor's meeting about the North St. playground etc.  None of these posts gave us any indication, however, of her position on the projects or whether she had similar projects in mind for our ward or city.  Perhaps, she was trying to make sure that we knew she was reading the Somerville Journal.

In late May, Katjana took a bold step by aligning herself with the Boston Bruins just before they earned their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals (so, I suppose it could have been a worse case of pandering had she waited until that berth had been secured).

In June, I expected Katjana to take the difficult stances of being "pro Mothers" and "pro Apple Pie" but, apparently she was too busy gathering signatures.

Just when my cynical heart was giving up hope, July rolled around and Katjana saw the opportunity to wrap herself in the flag - the one that suddenly was flying outside of her house.  Kudos to her for taking it in at night per the Uniform Flag Code.

Where does that leave the voters of Ward 7?

So far, Katjana Ballantyne has regurgitated the committee calendar, aligned herself with popular symbols (the flag and the Bruins) and shown, albeit briefly, that she attends local events (Open Studios).

Will she show us where she stands on any of the issues facing Somerville?  Or, can we expect more fluff (like, perhaps, campaign literature with photos of her and her daughters wearing matching clothing or maybe a photo of her petting a cute dog from Ward 7)?

[Addendum: I just noticed that The Sunsetters are performing in Ward 7 tonight - will we see a Katjana Facebook post about it?]