My Writing Politics teacher, Micah Sifry’s friend and colleague, Andrew Rasiej is running for the Public Advocate of New York City.

Now don’t go slinking off and yawning because you don’t know what the Public Advocate is, and you don’t care. Fault the New York Post for relentlessly deriding the position, if indeed you become detached when you hear the title. But stay in the room for just a few minutes and listen. Rasiej wants to put the Advocate part back into the position’s job description. And that could definitely affect your life as a New Yorker.

New Yorkers need someone to raise the Public Advocate into the public consciousness.

Rasiej aims to provide that lift. He wants to connect New Yorkers to the function of government so they don’t feel like they need a secret code to get something done. Just the way professional journalists are learning to appreciate and respect input from citizen bloggers, Rasiej considers everyone a potential public advocate. He sees himself as a coordinator