[freedomben]

City councils and planning commissions are the worst. They are so captured by people in the real estate business that you can't do anything without consulting them (agents, brokers, developers, investors, even flippers, mortgage people, and lawyers). Non-real estate people that run and make it will find that 95% of the donors are real-estate industry people, so good luck if you have positions that they don't find agreeable. Oh and the same people own the state politicians too, so even if you do manage to get the city council, state law is going to tie your hands pretty dramatically.