Note: This transcript was exported from the video version of this episode, and it has not been copyedited

00:00:00:08 - 00:00:27:04
Molly Cook
I think the most exciting thing about my journey is that all I've ever really committed to is fearlessness. If you are willing to read the books to show up to these meetings to knock on your neighbors doors, you can affect change. And people sort of told me as I was starting to think about politics and get involved. They said, you'll be surprised if you show up over and over and over again.

00:00:27:04 - 00:00:34:00
Molly Cook
If you call enough, the decision makers will start to call you. And that happened. And it happened quickly.

00:00:34:02 - 00:00:59:16
John Simmerman
Hey everyone, welcome to the Active Towns podcast. My name is John Simmerman and that is Molly Cook. Molly is running for state Senate 15, in the Houston area, and she's going to be in a special election coming up here on May 4th, as well as a runoff. coming up after that. So let's hear from Molly.

00:00:59:18 - 00:01:02:28
John Simmerman
I'm Molly Cook. Thank you so much for joining me on the Active Towns podcast.

00:01:03:05 - 00:01:05:25
Molly Cook
Thank you. I'm so grateful to be here.

00:01:05:28 - 00:01:13:27
John Simmerman
Molly, I love giving my guests an opportunity to introduce themselves real quickly. So let me turn the floor over to you. Who the heck is Molly Cook?

00:01:14:00 - 00:01:33:10
Molly Cook
I'm Molly Cook. Are you? She her pronouns? I am an emergency room nurse and I've been a nurse for about ten years, so that is the basis of everything that I do. I've got a master's in public health policy from Johns Hopkins University, and I spent the last several years in Houston, Harris County, organizing mainly around transport, transportation, justice.

00:01:33:10 - 00:01:57:12
Molly Cook
But, basically anything to do with public health, public safety and environmental justice. And I ran for the Texas Senate in 2022 and primaried a long standing incumbent with a lot of money and did pretty well against him. And in the seat when I had it opened up. So now I'm back to close the deal in 2024 and hopefully bring nursing leadership and grassroots organizing into the Texas Senate.

00:01:57:15 - 00:02:07:08
John Simmerman
I love it, I love it, that's great. And in fact, let's go way back in time to this shot. So Molly is here.

00:02:07:10 - 00:02:23:22
Molly Cook
That's baby Molly. My sister keeps all of our baby photos on her phone, so we love to use them. We have a chance. But I grew up in spring, so in the suburbs of Houston, and, yeah, I ended up going to college at UT in Austin and then moving inside the loop around 2014.

00:02:23:24 - 00:02:47:15
John Simmerman
Yeah. yeah. So then you had mentioned, in, in your intro that your nurse, your emergency room nurse talk a little bit about that experience as a nurse and how that has sort of formed and shaped where you have headed in terms of, a desire to. Well, actually, you know, before I even say that, I mean, I think that let's play this.

00:02:47:17 - 00:02:48:23
Molly Cook
Sure.

00:02:48:26 - 00:02:58:19
John Simmerman
This is a great this is a great way to, to sort of introduce you with that. It's only 30s long and then I'll that'll give us an opportunity to chat a little more.

00:02:58:22 - 00:03:20:22
Molly Cook
When I clock in for work, I know every second counts. I'm Democrat Molly Cook. And in the E.R., it's those seconds that can save a life. And the clock is always ticking in Texas. Will today be the day we're racing to save her after a miscarriage? Repairing the damage of a gunshot wound, keeping neighbors alive after.

00:03:20:22 - 00:03:22:03
John Simmerman
The power goes out.

00:03:22:06 - 00:03:29:08
Molly Cook
I'm Molly Cook, and I'm running for Texas Senate because we don't have any more time to wait.

00:03:29:11 - 00:03:46:01
John Simmerman
look at that. That's awesome. So that kind of answered it a little bit. expand upon that. how much of, you know, being the training the to that you have as a nurse has really sort of shaped and formed and dictated, your desire to run for, for Senate.

00:03:46:04 - 00:04:07:01
Molly Cook
To me, every bit of my experience as a nurse is going to directly translate into success as a legislator and lawmaker, as a public servant, as a leader in the emergency department, you, you end up being a catch all for folks. So the emergency department and jail are where people end up when we don't know what else to do with them or how to help them.

00:04:07:04 - 00:04:26:24
Molly Cook
And so you really see these policy failures play out, have a front row seat to so many different policy failures in Texas, playing all the way out in people's lives and ending up in in a moment of injury or emergency. disease, fear, whatever it is. And so I know, I know what's going on. I know what's at stake.

00:04:26:24 - 00:04:46:08
Molly Cook
I know what people are dealing with that in every neighborhood and every income level because of that perspective that I have. Additionally, I know what my teammates are dealing with and what people who walk in and out of work every day are dealing with, and how hard it is for physicians to practice medicine in Texas for a variety of reasons.

00:04:46:08 - 00:05:07:13
Molly Cook
So, whether it's, you know, directly working on health care delivery reform or addressing public health issues or just being an effective teamwork type of person, the emergency department is excellent training, and we work with a diverse set of teammates. We work a diverse set of patients. And, I'm not scared of that. I'm excited by that.

00:05:07:13 - 00:05:21:20
Molly Cook
And, you know, I work with Republican doctors, I work with Democrat doctors. And either way, we end up saving the lives at the end of the day. So to me, the emergency department is excellent training for what I think I'll be facing in the Texas Senate.

00:05:21:22 - 00:05:46:05
John Simmerman
Yeah, yeah. That's fantastic. And, I, I kind of almost feel like I know you a little bit already. So, and the reason I say that is because of this book that has recently come out, and you were prominently featured in making Megan Kimball's book, City Limits. I've already interviewed, Megan and profiled her here on the Active Towns channel.

00:05:46:07 - 00:06:02:07
John Simmerman
talk a little bit about, you know, this experience and, and I think that'll bring us around to, to, why transportation is a pretty central theme to the reason why you are running.

00:06:02:10 - 00:06:26:07
Molly Cook
Yeah. So I worked on a med search for an Austin as a nurse, for about a year before moving back to Houston to fulfill my dream of becoming an emergency room nurse, and did that for about three years. Worked nights, switch, two days. really just kind of saw everything. And I felt my heart getting small because of the futility of trying to meet people's needs from the bedside.

00:06:26:10 - 00:06:48:08
Molly Cook
And so that's what prompted me to go back to school, get a public health degree, learn about systems thinking and how to address upstream issues for folks. And when I moved back to Houston, I was actually looking for ways to get involved in air quality, kind of bring this new knowledge of public health and community organizing, and figure out how to jump in and help shape change and that led me to the I-45 fight.

00:06:48:10 - 00:07:10:16
Molly Cook
And that fight is extremely profound for me because I grew up in the suburbs on I-45 North, and I remember being seven years old in the car with my mother on the Hardy Toll Road, actually, but it's, it's, adjacent parallel to that I-45 and thinking, why did somebody build their house right next to a freeway? And of course they didn't.

00:07:10:18 - 00:07:34:29
Molly Cook
The freeways were built very purposely and violently through their neighborhoods, and actually destroyed homes that used to stand right where we're driving. And so kind of coming to that understanding, learning about that process in public health school is very radicalizing for me. And when I came back to town and found out the tech start was going to reenter those same communities and provide a very poor solution for a problem that, frankly, that they caused.

00:07:35:02 - 00:07:55:13
Molly Cook
I thought, well, this is an opportunity to be on the other side of this issue and hopefully make it right. And several years later, here we are. And, I was very honored to be in Meghan's book. She is an incredible journalist, very thoughtful, very thorough, and takes great care, with the residents who are facing displacement and other folks who were in the book.

00:07:55:13 - 00:08:21:12
Molly Cook
And so it's a huge honor to have been a part of this fight, to have been a leader of a grassroots, totally volunteer group that has managed to hold off a needless highway expansion for years, and then to have that fight chronicled so that we can then provide hope to other cities who are doing the same thing and share what we've learned and what's worked, so that maybe we can stop urban highway widening in the United States.

00:08:21:17 - 00:08:39:08
John Simmerman
Yeah, yeah. And I have a little blurb here on screen right now that talks a little bit about, some of your most influential moments on your path to transportation advocacy. Go ahead and take it away. We'll talk a little bit more about this.

00:08:39:10 - 00:09:18:12
Molly Cook
This was an article by Doug Bagley, who is the Houston Chronicle transportation reporter. And they kind of profiled, multiple transportation leaders in Houston and Harris County. And the article specifically spoke to the diversity of the transportation leaders, which is which is always a really exciting part of being in Houston. And I was very honored to be featured in this article because I came at this not as you know, someone with an urban planning degree or not, as someone who's worked for a city or county for years, but as a nurse, as an emergency room nurse who just took an interest to understand how this impacts people's daily lives and just decided to to become

00:09:18:12 - 00:09:42:03
Molly Cook
a volunteer expert in this issue area. And I always say that the main thing I've been able to offer to stop tech start. I 45, the grassroots org I've been a part of in this fight is my time and my energy. Nursing has provided flexibility, so I was able to show up to every meeting and take notes and, to run meetings and to drive people around the state to go and advocate at the Capitol.

00:09:42:06 - 00:10:15:17
Molly Cook
And this little blurb right here is just kind of specifically about, these intangible qualities of these land use decisions and these transportation decisions that sort of planted these seeds in me that grew to a real passion for transportation advocacy. And, I think things like traveling to a city that is very walkable or gives you the ability to look back on your upbringing and think, wow, the suburbs actually were walkable, and it really impacted how I was able to interact with my peers of the world around me.

00:10:15:17 - 00:10:34:01
Molly Cook
And, you know, ages 13 through 15 when I didn't have a license yet and I didn't have a car. And so, once you kind of reflect back on this, you understand the history of how we got where we are and what the motivations of decision makers were who built these urban highways. You really can't ever unsee it.

00:10:34:04 - 00:10:47:06
Molly Cook
You just see everything as, you know, either poor or excellent land use. And you see everything is an opportunity for more mobility, for safer transportation and for deeper connectedness in our societies.

00:10:47:08 - 00:11:10:09
John Simmerman
Yeah, yeah. in that little blurb, it does, talk a little bit about, you spending some time on the East Coast, obviously here in Austin during college, but then also in Western Europe, any places come to mind that were really influential, for sort of solidifying that, that ability to, to walk and bike and get to meaningful destinations under your own power.

00:11:10:12 - 00:11:30:03
Molly Cook
I remember being very young and taking a trip to New York City with my parents there. We went to see Empire State Building and, a musical, etc. and it just blew my mind. I'd never been on a subway before, you know, I'm like 9 or 10 or something, right? And had never been on a subway, had never really experienced that.

00:11:30:06 - 00:11:53:17
Molly Cook
And the idea that you could just walk out of your hotel or walk out of your house with your wallet, your keys and your chapstick, right, and your metro card, and just get around the entire city, really just I don't know, it made an impact on me. And then, of course, you end up walking 3 or 4 miles in a day and you're very hungry at the end of that, and you've gotten some exercise in without even meaning to you.

00:11:53:20 - 00:12:12:14
Molly Cook
And you've seen all these sights along the way, and you've you've smelled things for better or for worse, and you've interacted with people. It just gives you this sense of being a part of something bigger than yourself. And that's the same sense that I get when I hop on the train in the mornings and ride with all of these other people in scrubs to get to the medical center, to go to my job.

00:12:12:17 - 00:12:28:14
Molly Cook
So it just sort of opens your eyes to the fact that there's a different way of doing this. And somebody made a decision to cover Houston highways. It was not inevitable. Somebody made that decision. And they're continuing to make those decisions. And those decisions can change.

00:12:28:16 - 00:12:51:24
John Simmerman
Yeah, yeah. And they're continuing to, you know, to re-emphasize they're continuing to add more Lane miles. They're continuing to expand these, these highways. And and that's one of the biggest challenges that Megan, of course, highlights in in the book City Limits is the fact that Texas is continuing to expand, these highways, and, and they probably don't need to be doing that.

00:12:51:27 - 00:12:59:03
John Simmerman
so in Western Europe is, any cities that really, pop, for you in terms of being inspirational for you?

00:12:59:05 - 00:13:23:03
Molly Cook
We visited London in France as, as a child of my parents and, London and Paris. Excuse me. And then, I visited Denmark, sort of as a young adult and traveled around on my own and stayed with a couple that I'd met. anyway, they gave me a car and a tent, etc. but when we were traveling around Denmark, yes, you use a car to get from city to city, but after that you don't use it at all.

00:13:23:05 - 00:13:53:12
Molly Cook
And especially in Denmark, the bicycle was just next level. You could go anywhere on a path. There's bicycles to rent everywhere. It's just very low barrier to entry. And what's most exciting to me about what I felt in Copenhagen or other smaller cities in Denmark was that it was really any level of cyclist. It's not like you have to be a advanced cyclist or willing to sort of fight for your life amongst the cars or something like that, which is what we end up doing.

00:13:53:12 - 00:14:15:00
Molly Cook
And, and so much of the time it was like you could put a child or you could put, you know, someone who hadn't written a bike much on these paths and they could safely move about town. And it wasn't just for recreation, although that was available as well. People are using this as their main form of transportation. And again, you're you're accidentally squeezing in movement and exercise.

00:14:15:00 - 00:14:40:09
Molly Cook
You're interacting with the people around you. You're sharing the common space. You're not isolate it and you're not, in, you know, climate controlled environment. You're really a part of the world around you. And that was exciting to me, especially because specifically, Denmark is not unlike Houston in a lot of ways, very flat coastal plains. it's warmer here, but, you know, it gets pretty warm there.

00:14:40:12 - 00:15:01:03
Molly Cook
And but the population size of Houston is actually very similar to the population size of Denmark as well. And so that to me, you know, I moved back home and I thought, wow, Houston should be the most bikeable city in the United States. And I don't want to hear it from people who talk about the heat, because some of the highest ridership times, for bicycles in Houston ever was August of 2020.

00:15:01:06 - 00:15:14:23
Molly Cook
It was really about people being off of work and having time to go and spend time outdoors. we we will bike in the heat. And that was just very eye opening, exciting. And I was glad to bring that ethos back home with me.

00:15:15:00 - 00:15:51:07
John Simmerman
Yeah, yeah. I'm glad you mentioned, you know, the, you know, the pathways that can be built, can be multifunctional, that can be used for, recreation purposes, of course, you know, sport and recreation, but they can also be used for utilitarian purposes. I know when I interviewed Commissioner Rodney Ellis, here on the podcast, we talked about the power of you getting those bayou paths, you know, established and then starting to get into the on street network and creating safe and inviting all ages and abilities facilities.

00:15:51:09 - 00:16:16:09
John Simmerman
And again, not for necessarily the confident, sport, you know, cyclists really talking about doing this so that we can, sort of empower everyone to ride, just like in this photo here from your 2022 run. Is is like, you know, get out on the bicycle bike and, you know, and, and or pull that bike out of your garage and ride.

00:16:16:15 - 00:16:25:10
John Simmerman
It doesn't matter what you're wearing, you know, it doesn't have to be fancy, but is is so empowering to be able to get to meaningful destinations.

00:16:25:13 - 00:16:55:04
Molly Cook
Yeah. And it's really wild to a friend of mine who's an expert estimated that overhauling the entire bike network of Houston probably being fairly inclusive of a lot of Harris County and towns within Harris County, there aren't eastern as well, 450 million, something like that. which is a chunk of change. Right. But it just pales in comparison to we're estimating now $12 billion to widen 24.5 miles of road to make it objectively less safe and, increased flooding and all of that.

00:16:55:04 - 00:17:14:24
Molly Cook
So we could take cars off the road. We could give people the enjoyable experience of being able to cycle around and get to their jobs, etc., which which I also do. I either take a bike or transit to work. it's the easiest, cheapest and fastest way. And that's the reality. You don't have to pay for parking, you don't have to haul your car around with you.

00:17:14:24 - 00:17:23:00
Molly Cook
So I'm, I'm very grateful to to Commissioner Ellis's leadership on all of this. And he's great. And we can do so much better for the way cheaper.

00:17:23:05 - 00:17:52:17
John Simmerman
Yeah. And you know, I like the fact that you, you sort of, you know, channeled a little bit of the, the Denmark, the Danes sort of approach to it, because some of the words that you just use there are also like really resonate with fiscally conservative thought processes is that, you know, part of the reason why riding a bike in and using public transit, you know, in Denmark is so prevalent is that it's just practical and it's pragmatic and it's cost effective.

00:17:52:24 - 00:18:09:08
John Simmerman
I mean, these are all, you know, values and virtues that I think, you know, if if we just kind of get away from the rhetoric, it it crosses party lines. It's like, yeah, no, this is actually something good for everyone and it's good for business. And it's fiscally conservative too.

00:18:09:10 - 00:18:40:18
Molly Cook
I think so too. And I think that's one of the big reasons I want to. There's a lot of issues, for Democrats in Texas, as you can imagine, but transportation feels like a real opportunity for bipartisan work for exactly, exactly the same reasons that you're talking about. we just need somebody in that chamber who's willing to say, look, it is while the Texas is the only state without dedicated public transit funding, that's while 49 other states have realized this is something we need from a state level for safety, which is absolutely multi partizan.

00:18:40:18 - 00:19:06:00
Molly Cook
Right. Everybody values safety and the like. You're talking about this is good for small businesses. This is good for this is good for our cities. And Texas is very big and diverse. And so there's there's always kind of this rural suburban urban divides. Right. That, that we end up having to kind of find, compromises, etc.. And I think allowing some local control in our urban centers would be huge.

00:19:06:00 - 00:19:26:24
Molly Cook
And we need a champion for that, because rural communities and urban communities absolutely need different solutions for safety, for pro-business policy, for for mobility throughout the region. But our urban centers, they don't need wider freeways, and we need someone in there who's willing to, to do the hard work of getting across the aisle and making it clear.

00:19:26:26 - 00:19:38:05
John Simmerman
Yeah. And we'll we'll pop on over to talk a little bit about, the I-45 fight a little bit more extensively in just a moment. But, bring us up to speed with what prop B was all about.

00:19:38:07 - 00:20:00:06
Molly Cook
Prop B, was a I always tell people, this is the work of a lifetime. If I die today, I would be so proud doing. That's probably. I did enough. and I love this picture on the screen. Not just because David and I are wearing matching chucks, but, just the sheer amount of sweat that's it's really indicative of the labor of love that was passing property.

00:20:00:09 - 00:20:21:28
Molly Cook
So Houston, Harris County make up over 65% of the population of our region in our region is like, you know, Galveston to Conroe. kind of Pasadena to to Katy area. So, we have these regions of Texas, and every region has a big city in it because of federal law. If the city is big enough, your regional council of governments is also your metropolitan planning organization.

00:20:21:28 - 00:20:47:12
Molly Cook
So our cognate MPO is the Houston Galveston Area Council, or HAC. So Houston Harris County make up all, you know, 65% of the population. We have less than 20% of the voting power on either of those boards. And that's a huge issue nationwide. And people have tried to address it from the federal level, you know, in multiple ways over the last several decades, since these were kind of created in the 50s.

00:20:47:14 - 00:21:14:06
Molly Cook
and it's a nationwide, pervasive problem. It's a problem of environmental justice. It's a problem of racial justice, and it's a problem of economic justice, but it's also just basically bad government. Right? It's kind of this taxation without representation. And you don't have a fair say over what happens to you. And so multiple times in the last few years that we've been really paying close attention, the Houston and Harris County representation in on that board got outvoted.

00:21:14:08 - 00:21:40:03
Molly Cook
One of those votes was divided by 45 to to kind of invest this local dollars in widening. I 45 one of those votes screwed Houstonians out of basically any of the flood recovery money from Harvey, despite the vast majority of damage happening to Houstonians. And there are a couple of other kind of smaller example examples of projects that, either didn't get scheduled or didn't even get proposed within kind of the inner loop, the urban core of Houston.

00:21:40:06 - 00:21:59:19
Molly Cook
And we are we're tired of it. We're tired of not being represented fairly and having our elected leaders be able to make their voices heard. And so, you know, we've been paying attention to these huge, huge public health issues and thought, we need to change. And the change coming from the top down has not worked. Why don't we do from the bottom up?

00:21:59:23 - 00:22:22:24
Molly Cook
And I'm a big believer in bottom up planning policy and projects. and the grassroots approach. And so a scrappy group of volunteers got together and said, I think we can fix this by changing the Houston charter. And the reason for that is federal law requires that if you've got a big city, you metropolitan planning organization actually requires the participation of that big city, the principal city of the region.

00:22:22:26 - 00:22:43:00
Molly Cook
And so without the participation of Houston, potentially our MPO or GAC would face sort of this existential crisis. And the idea is to leverage the very real power that our city has, not just because of the way federal laws are written, but because we are the source of the federal funding that is getting drawn down where the population, where the tax base.

00:22:43:00 - 00:23:06:23
Molly Cook
And we're also the seat of diversity for the region where the beating heart of the region. And so we need to kind of claim our seat. And we amended the City of Houston Charter to say that in order for us to participate, all GAC has to do is adopt a proportional voting system. This was wildly popular, as shown by the 65% that we passed by, and a bipartisan coalition that we were able to.

00:23:06:26 - 00:23:21:00
John Simmerman
So and and this is the signatures delivering the signatures to get it on to the ballot. And, this is you during, you know, you know, I think this was, you know, campaigning out there, on voting day, correct?

00:23:21:02 - 00:23:22:00
Molly Cook
Yes.

00:23:22:02 - 00:23:26:03
John Simmerman
Yep. Excellent. And then the celebration because, yes.

00:23:26:05 - 00:23:50:16
Molly Cook
It passed 23,000 signatures, 250 volunteers, 65% of the vote is huge, and the fight is still ongoing. People rarely release power without a fight. But that's how these things got, you know, you got to pay close attention for a long time. And we're we're really, just our spirits are buoyed by how hard our elected officials have fought for us, have done the right things, and said the right things.

00:23:50:16 - 00:23:53:26
Molly Cook
And we trust that this process is going to work out in the end.

00:23:53:29 - 00:24:16:09
John Simmerman
So you mentioned that it's not over. yeah, that's a good point. I mean, the status quo never rinkel relinquishes power, easily. So I suspect that that's going into some sort of sort of appeal process. or they're going to try to, not bow to the will of the voters. Is that what you're inferring there?

00:24:16:09 - 00:24:18:29
Molly Cook
Yeah. In negotiations still.

00:24:19:01 - 00:24:38:15
John Simmerman
Okay. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. So let's shift gears to the fact that you got inspired and became a freeway fighter. So these are some buttons from the freedom, Freeway Fighters conference that you, attended. Where was this that.

00:24:38:17 - 00:25:19:01
Molly Cook
This one was in Cincinnati, Ohio. And it was the first ever kind of this era, first ever National Freeway Fighters Conference. So people gathered from Houston, New Orleans, the Twin Cities, Cincinnati, Portland, all over. And we kind of got together. And this picture makes me cry. Just to look at it is so special. got together and just kind of compare notes and talked about the different freeway fights that are happening in basically every major city in the United States, and where each one is at and what the the political culture landscape looks like, and how we can all stick together and help each other in believing in a safer, more mobile future for all

00:25:19:01 - 00:25:20:07
Molly Cook
of our cities.

00:25:20:10 - 00:25:37:24
John Simmerman
Yeah, I zoomed in just a little bit because I do recognize a few faces in there. So I kind of hang out with with you. All the freeway fighters bring us up to speed with what's going on with, the stop tech start. I 45 fight.

00:25:37:26 - 00:25:57:24
Molly Cook
And I am very blessed to say that I'm not even the most up to date person right now because I am focused so fully on campaigning for state Senate. And in my absence, the group has just continued to thrive to such a mark of good organizing that, even if sort of one of your, you know, point people leaves, the group continues to thrive.

00:25:57:24 - 00:26:22:22
Molly Cook
That's awesome. this picture is from 2020. This was our day at the park. It was in November of 2020, and we gathered in a green space that will be just really, I don't want to say destroyed, but that it's hard to find another word. There will be 34 lanes over over this green space where there's a beautiful skyline, etc., and so we gathered there to highlight how we cherish these green spaces.

00:26:22:22 - 00:26:42:25
Molly Cook
And we want them preserved and categorized as parks. And they should not, they should be protected from the impacts of freeway projects like this. And, you know, I kind of came on board in July of 2019. It was a big vote at the Houston Galveston Area Council to to commit that local funding. And we have done everything we've taken to the streets.

00:26:42:25 - 00:27:19:01
Molly Cook
This was a chalk project that we did. and then, of course, our lot of our entire fight is chronicled in City Limits by Megan Campbell. But we have just kept the pressure on for years. We filed and we helped residents who are affected by this project. File title six complaints. So sort of invoking, the Department of Justice to review Texas process and see if there were there were issues with racial discrimination, which we still maintain that there are so we've advocated at the city, county, regional, state and federal level to try to get some common sense transportation policies out of the Texas Transportation Commission.

00:27:19:01 - 00:27:31:16
Molly Cook
And Tex dot and the fight is very much alive and still very much exciting and focused on a really vibrant future for not just our city, but every city in Texas. Yeah, yeah.

00:27:31:18 - 00:27:47:20
John Simmerman
So to close us out, why don't you take this opportunity to to really, talk a little bit about why other people in other cities should be Molly Cooks and get inspired to run for office.

00:27:47:22 - 00:28:14:18
Molly Cook
I think the most exciting thing about my journey is that all I've ever really committed to is fearlessness. If you are willing to read the books, just show up to these meetings to knock on your neighbors doors. You can affect change. And people sort of told me, as I was starting to, to think about politics and get involved, they said, you'll be surprised if you show up over and over and over again.

00:28:14:18 - 00:28:43:08
Molly Cook
If you call enough, the decision makers will start to call you. And that happened. And it happened quickly. When you when you prove to someone that you're you're for the people, you're coming at this from a public health or nursing or people driven standpoint. If you do the research and you work hard and you commit to communicating with people and knocking on their doors, maybe communicating in multiple languages, sort of sticking to some very basic values of good organizing.

00:28:43:10 - 00:29:07:05
Molly Cook
Your movement will grow, your movement will grow, and you can affect change. And I've shown that same kind of dedication, and sort of relentlessness at the Texas Capitol and helped pass bipartisan legislation last session. So the sky is the limit if folks are just willing to believe in themselves, hope for a better future, and then do some hard work to make it happen.

00:29:07:07 - 00:29:28:25
Molly Cook
And, as a grassroots organizer and bedside nurse looking at a Texas Senate seat and a runoff for a Texas Senate seat, I'm really excited to be sort of a model for anybody else who wants to to stick their boot in the door and, and take their seat at the table and do the hard work and, and make change happen around them.

00:29:29:01 - 00:29:54:02
John Simmerman
Yeah. And I love your story, too, because, you know, it kind of echoes what I try to, emphasize here on the channel when people say, well, we're just exasperated, we're frustrated with the lack of progress. And one of the first things that I say is get involved, get engaged, start talking to your neighbors. And I know that that was a big part of your journey, was you you started, you know, questioning, well, why is it this way?

00:29:54:02 - 00:30:20:28
John Simmerman
And does it have to be this way and starting to reach out, starting to talk to your neighbors, starting to get engaged with community outreach, and then, you know, if that if that lights a fire and that encourages you to to to run for office. Perfect. Because that's exactly what we need is we need more people who can really see these things and the nuances in the difficulty, that the elected officials have to face.

00:30:21:04 - 00:30:30:05
John Simmerman
We need more people running that are like that. So I applaud you. And hopefully that's encouraging to the viewers and listeners. here to this episode.

00:30:30:08 - 00:31:14:03
Molly Cook
Absolutely. And just, you know, there's so much emphasis in mainstream media on federal politics, on federal policy. And, yes, all of that impacts our daily lives in a huge, huge way. But local politics and state legislatures are the laboratories. That is where policy is born and challenged and shaped, and it is so important to put, to put our people on the inside like you're talking about, and not just at these higher levels that get all of the attention from the media, but also at the more local levels, where people are kind of shaping and, you know, developing policies that will trickle up, but also just passing policies that have a huge impact on

00:31:14:03 - 00:31:36:06
Molly Cook
you. So I encourage people, I find it much more satisfying. a little bit more fun, to stay kind of focus on local politics. And that's worked out really well for me. And so I encourage other people to do the same. Don't be afraid to just start small. It's it's way easier to make an impact on the local level, when you're starting out than it is on the federal level.

00:31:36:06 - 00:31:39:21
Molly Cook
And it's still so important and can save lives.

00:31:39:23 - 00:32:03:05
John Simmerman
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Again, this has been, Molly Cook. She is running for the state Senate and Senate District 15. Her website is Molly for texas.com. Molly, thank you so much for joining me on the Active Towns podcast. And best of luck. in this runoff. or excuse me, in this, what will we call the May 4th?

00:32:03:05 - 00:32:04:12
John Simmerman
Is this the,

00:32:04:15 - 00:32:23:07
Molly Cook
We should. Yeah. Real quick. We should do logistics on this. Yeah. We have a Texas two step in May for Senate District 15. Special election is May 4th, and that election will fill the seat for the remainder of this year. And then the runoff is on May 28th, and we're in a runoff because nobody got over 50% in the first round.

00:32:23:10 - 00:32:34:03
Molly Cook
So my opponent and I advanced to that one. So, if folks want to see a freeway fighter and transportation enthusiast in the Texas Senate, they should show up and vote on May 4th and again on May 28th.

00:32:34:09 - 00:32:44:26
John Simmerman
And I'm dancing here because of the Texas Two-Step. All right. That's great. Again, thank you so much, Molly, for joining me on the Active Towns podcast.

00:32:44:29 - 00:32:47:06
Molly Cook
Thank you so much. So glad to be here.

00:32:47:08 - 00:33:03:00
John Simmerman
He thank you all so much for tuning and hope you enjoyed this episode with Molly Cook. And if you did, please give it a thumbs up. Leave a comment down below and share it with a friend. And if you haven't done so already, I'd be honored to have you subscribe to the channel. Just click on that subscription button down below and ring that notification bell.

00:33:03:02 - 00:33:28:15
John Simmerman
And if you are in the district 15 down there in Molly's district, be sure to vote. and hopefully this was helpful to you all. And for those of you tuning in from around the country and around the world, hopefully Molly's story is an inspiration for you to get engaged and involved within your own community. Again, thank you so much for tuning into this special episode, election season episode.

00:33:28:20 - 00:33:51:09
John Simmerman
I really do appreciate it. And until next time, this is John signing off by wishing you much activity. Oh and happiness. Cheers and again sending a huge thank you out to all my Active Towns Ambassadors supporting the channel on Patreon! Buy me a coffee YouTube. Super! Thanks! As well as making contributions to the nonprofit and purchasing things from the Active Town Store.

00:33:51:13 - 00:33:55:24
John Simmerman
Every little bit adds up and it's much appreciated. Thank you all so much.