A MOPS mom who helped restrict pornography access to minors and was later elected mayor.

Carolyn Cavecche: Mom-Mayor
A MOPS mom who helped restrict pornography access to minors and was later elected mayor.
by Rachel Ryan

Carolyn's first taste of political activism propelled her into more community volunteerism. She continued researching family exposure to pornography. Before long the local newspaper wrote an article about Carolyn, and she received calls from all over her community asking for help. Because of her involvement, she was appointed to the city commission overseeing the local cable franchise and to the Library Board of Trustees.Pushing a stroller, Carolyn Cavecche walked into the mayor's office to meet with a local vice cop, a city attorney and the mayor to address her concerns over how children in her community were given unwanted access to pornography. As the mother of a 3-year-old, Carolyn was shocked to find adult magazines at her child's eye level in a local family-run grocery store. And her hometown of Orange, California, had no laws or ordinances against such displays. She immediately contacted her city hall and met with local authorities to write an ordinance to restrict the display of "Matter Harmful to Minors." That was in 1990.

But it wasn't until she noticed how under-represented young families were on the City Council that she began toying with the idea of running for an elected office. "One day I was speaking in front of the City Council about library funding, and I looked up and realized there was no one on the council with young kids who actually utilized the parks and library," Carolyn said. "I felt like families needed to be represented on the council."

In 2001, after a long, hard campaign and an additional special election, Carolyn was elected to the City Council. "We really prayed about this—my first volunteers were moms from my church and school," says Carolyn. "I shouldn't have won my first race back in 2001. I was outspent; I had no endorsements." And because of a decision of the City Council, Carolyn—who came in third in the regular election—had to go through a special election to take the third open council seat. "We always say God and the moms of Orange were the ones who got me into that first election!"

Carolyn was reelected to the City Council in 2002 and was then elected mayor in 2006. She is up for reelection this November for her second term as mayor. In May 2008, the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported that in cities with populations over 30,000, only 15 percent of mayors are female. That makes Carolyn a minority. She said, "I believe public office is a logical step that most women overlook, but we care about our communities. We care about our families and quality of life issues such as parks, libraries, police officers and paramedic services. And we're extremely good at multitasking!" This, Carolyn says, is a big part of her job.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/momsense/2008/novdec/5.35.html