Blue Water Woman--Fall 2020--PJS Promo

LEANING
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BY PATTI SAMAR
You could call Port Huron City Councilwoman Lisa Beedon of
Port Huron the “unexpected politician.”
“Five years ago, if you would have asked me if I was going to be in
politics, I would have laughed,” she said with a laugh.
After having served two years of a four-year term on the council,
Beedon is setting her sights higher, as she runs, as a Democrat, for
a seat on the St. Clair County Board of
Commissioners serving District 3. The seat
“
is currently occupied by longtime County
Commissioner Howard Heidemann, also
a Democrat, who is retiring at the end
of his current term. District 3 covers the
south side of Port Huron, covering voting
precincts 4 through 10.
“Howard let me know he was on the
fence about running again,” Beedon said
of Heidemann, who encouraged her to
pursue his seat. “There are not a lot of
vocal Democrats in our area, and this
district is the most diverse in the color
of our skin, our income, our level of
education.”
Though she realizes, as a Democrat, she
is in the minority county-wide, Beedon
is drawn to the party for a number of
reasons.
I think, when
opportunities
present themselves,
we need to lean into
them...
“It’s the social issues that push me over to that side,” she said. “I’m
fiscally conservative, but I believe in equal pay, and equal rights.
Wage disparity is real, and you then extrapolate that to people of
color…I want to build that equality, that equity.”
Beedon, who serves as the director of marketing and
communications at Lake Huron Medical Center in Port
Huron, has been dedicated to community service, volunteering
for numerous nonprofits in the community, and business
organizations, as well.
After graduating from Port Huron Northern in 1998, Beedon
went on to Central Michigan University, where she received a
bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and cinematic arts before living
in both Lansing and Arizona. While in Arizona, she obtained
a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Concordia
University.
I want to be collaborative
and make sure everyone
is represented at the table.
She returned to the Blue Water Area in 2009 and accepted a
position with AmeriCorps, which is the state-side version of the
Peace Corps. During her time with AmeriCorps, she was assigned
to Blue Water Habitat for Humanity, where she served as volunteer
coordinator.
Those experiences helped her develop the ability to take a look at
the big picture and to look at any number
of issues from many different perspectives.
She has applied that knowledge while
serving the community in any number of
ways.
“When I sit on boards, I take a look
around and ask, ‘Who are we missing?
Whose voice is not here at the table?’” she
said.
A strong believer in inclusion and
acceptance, Beedon ended up running
for city council, initially, for a number of
reasons.
”“I was seeing things I don’t think are
acceptable behaviors,” she said of her foray
into politics. “I think, when opportunities
present themselves, we need to lean into
them, so that’s what I did with city council,
and that’s what I’m doing with the county
commission seat. I want to be collaborative
and make sure everyone is represented at the table.”
Currently, there is only one other woman seated on the board of
commissioners. Jorja Baldwin was appointed to a seat in 2019. Prior
to Baldwin’s appointment, it had been more than a decade since a
woman was a member of the board.
Beedon encourages other women to run for office.
“I’d tell them to do it,” she said. “If they are thinking about it at
all, do it. We need to be intentional. I’m completely open to talking
to other women who might be interested. If I can reach out and
help them, I will.”
When she talks about equality and equity, Beedon references
gender equity as being important to her.
“Anything that we want to do as a gender, lean in,” she said. “If
there’s an open seat at the table, sit in it. Sometimes we have to take
intentional steps forward. Don’t tell yourself no.”
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