Feb. 2, 2025

From Clerk to Director A Journey Through Elections

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In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome David Maeda, an author and former Director of Elections for Minnesota. David shares his journey through the world of election administration during a tumultuous time for democracy in America. He discusses his memoir, which delves into his experiences, struggles with depression, and the importance of authenticity in storytelling. Join us as we explore the intricacies of running elections, the safety of the electoral process, and David's personal battles with mental health.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. If you believe you can achieve.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I and a few guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today, I am joined by author and US Election administrator David Myatta. Uh, David has written a book, um, a memoir, about his time serving as the Director of Elections for the Secretary of State of Minnesota from 2019 to 2024, a time where the state was going through a tough time trying to answer serious questions about democracy, democracy here in America.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So we're going to be talking to him about serving as the Director of Elections and how he got to that point and what's going on with him now. So, David, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for joining me.

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> David Myatta>It's very nice to meet you, Curtis. Looking forward to our discussion.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Absolutely. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> David Myatta>So, I was born and raised in Minnesota. I've lived here pretty much all my life. Um, as you mentioned, I just published a memoir at the beginning of December, which is about my career as an election administrator, but it's also about other things, like my lifelong struggle with depression. I have a chapter about my cats, and there's, uh, a bunch of different aspects of my life. But I think the chapters about elections are what people are going to gravitate to, because I'm not sure most people in the United States really understand the way elections are run. Um, and so I was really interested in writing about how I got into elections and kind of the nuts and bolts behind actually administering a big election.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, how did you come to want, uh, to or participate in elections in the first place?

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> David Myatta>It was totally by accident when I graduated from college and I went to McAlester College here in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had a degree in history and journalism, and I thought I was going to become a newspaper reporter, but, um, just through a series of, um, random events, which I do cover in the book, um, I got a job with the Secretary of State at an entry level clerk, typist position, um, not even in the elections area. The biggest part of any Secretary of State's office is their corporations, part that register businesses in the state.

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> David Myatta>And that was where I started my government career.

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> David Myatta>Um, but on election night, the elections folks always needed help, and I've always been interested in politics. And so I always volunteered to help on election night. And that kind of got in my blood, leading me eventually to get a job with one of our Counties here in Minnesota. Minnesota as the election, um, supervisor for the county. And then 25 years later I finished my career as the director of elections for the very office I started with the Secretary of State. So the book kind of chronicles how I started at the very bottom of the ladder and then rose up to the very top of my profession.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, during your intro you kind of mentioned how most Americans don't understand how elections are ran, which we just finished an election here a couple of months ago. So explain to us how elections are ran.

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> David Myatta>Elections are run differently in every state. Here in Minnesota, um, a lot of the responsibility falls on our 87 counties.

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> David Myatta>They each have somebody that's in charge of the county, uh, elections in their particular county.

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> David Myatta>But the Secretary of State's office works very closely with all 87 counties to make sure that things go smoothly throughout the election elections process.

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> David Myatta>I don't think people probably just think of elections as a one day event and it's really not.

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> David Myatta>Um, my staff at the Secretary of State, we're all full time year round elections employees. Most of our counties don't have full time staff devoted just strictly to elections. They do other things like property taxes and other things at the county level.

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> David Myatta>But um, so we work closely with all 87 counties in Minnesota. We deploy, um, close to 30,000 poll workers on election day.

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> David Myatta>So your neighbors, your colleagues at work can serve in the polling place helping voters to vote on election day. So it's really a big event. Um, I like to compare it to, um, even though I've never been married, planning um, for a wedding. You have all these little things that you're doing before the big day, then when you get to the big day, hopefully prepared enough so everything goes smoothly. So elections are really a local event run in each community. Um, our office of course, oversees everything in the state. But it's over 30, 30,000 people are needed to pull off an election in Minnesota.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, you know, people always talk about, regardless of whether it's Republican or Democrat, election fraud. So how safe are the elections in America?

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> David Myatta>That is a great question and one of the chief, um, reasons I wrote my book is I really wanted to um, provide people confidence in our elections. Um, prior to 2020, the election fraud allegations usually had to do with like, um, ineligible voters voting, which there's a handful that do in every election. But the vast majority of voters that vote are eligible voters. And there are processes that each state has to verify that. Um, but since 2020, kind of the attacks against elections have come against folks like myself, where the allegations are elections administrators themselves were corrupt in not running correct elections. And that's kind of what my book focuses on. All the little pieces to our jobs that ensure that elections are fair and secur. Um, I have full confidence in elections in this country. There are just so many dedicated people that don't get into this profession because of the money or some, um, other element. They get into it because they really care about running a fair and secure election.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, you talked about, in your book, you talk about your lifelong battle with depression.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So walk us through that. Explain, you know, what it was like living, what a lifelong battle with depression and how you overcame it or are still trying to overcome it.

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> David Myatta>Sure. Um, it's hard for me to know when I first felt depressed. I'm guessing it was when I was in junior high. But it really came to a head right after college. And I think a lot of it was the uncertainty of what I was going to do with my career at that point. But, um, right after college, I was actually hospitalized for a couple weeks here at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to be evaluated for my depression. It's gotten better over the years, although really since 2020 in the pandemic, it got worse again.

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> David Myatta>And so I still struggle with it. Um, I've tried different, um, alternative treatments like ketamine.

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> David Myatta>I've tried acupuncture, uh, hypnotherapy, of, uh, course, traditional medications, and working with a psychiatrist. So it's going to be. I'm. It's never going to be cured. It's always going to be part of my life. But, um, I think one of the things in writing the book that I'm proud of that I was able to share so freely my struggle with depression, because another part of my book is to kind of fight the stigma against mental health issues. I think people like myself need to speak up about what it is like to suffer from such a crippling form of illness. Um, and so I took it very seriously, writing about my depression.

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> David Myatta>I live day to day, and I'm very proud that I'm still here to talk about, um, everything that's gone on in my life.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Speaking of everything that's going in your life, going on in your life, why are you so willing to share a lot of raw, intimate details about your life?

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> David Myatta>It really was so growing up, I was a big David Letterman fan, so I have a very sarcastic sense of humor, which I think I used kind of to hide my authentic self from others. But as I've gotten older, I feel the times When I connect best with other people is when I can truly be my authentic self. There's a chapter in the book about a very special relationship in my life where we enable. We're not.

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> David Myatta>We're not a couple, but we've been able to create an atmosphere when we get together where we can share anything and everything without judging the other person. And the one relationship I've been able to develop in my life where I've been able to do that. But in writing the book, it really was about being my authentic self and sharing, um, who I really am with the world. It kind of was what drove me to write the book is I really wanted to share my authentic self.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, one of the things you do share in your book is that you're a cat lover. So, you know, kind of tell us about your cats and why you love cats so much.

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> David Myatta>So it really was, again, it's tied to my depression.

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> David Myatta>I got my very first cat, um, pretty much around the same time as when I was hospitalized for depression. Um, his name was Max. He. He. He was a drooling kitty. Whenever he purred, he would drool. But Max really taught me to live in the moment and. And in a way, don't take myself so seriously. I mean, my sense of humor is a big part of who I am.

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> David Myatta>And Max kind of reconnected me with that part of myself where I felt like I was taking myself way too seriously. And that was playing into my depression. It was devastating. When Max died, I think we ended up living together for 12 years. He was older than that. He owner. And then when Max died, I adopted three other cats. It took three cats to replace Max, and they were the boys. It was Diego, Thompson, and Theo, and we lived a long time together. Diego and Thompson lived almost their entire life together. I think we lived together for 18 years. And then Theo joined us, though, after I got Dago, and Thompson and Theo passed away in 2022. So I lost the boys. I currently have three cats. I have Alias and Norma, who came from the same litter. And then I have Kenta, who I adopted last year. Um, it's great to have a house full of cats again, similar to Mr. Max. It always keeps me from taking myself too seriously to see how they interact with themselves and with me. They bring a lot of joy to my life. Um, I just love everything about cats.

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> David Myatta>I love how they all have different personalities.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Absolutely. I know my cat definitely has a personality. So dealing with depression like you have for all of your life, what have you learned about the mental health system while dealing with it.

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> David Myatta>So this past summer, I was really relapsed into bad depression. I went through a partial hospitalization, meaning I would go in and we would do treatments in group therapy during the day, and then I would come home at night, which is really convenient because I was really worried about having somebody come over and take care of my cats. Um, but what I learned is that there are a lot of people out there that are really hurting. And I see that when I go to my ketamine clinic, the lobby is always full of people. Um, there are a lot of people that went through the group day treatment that I was in. Um, so I don't think there are a lot of dedicated people that are trying to help those of us who suffer from mental health issues. But I don't think the system is working. I think too many people are falling through the cracks. I think it's too hard to get help. It's too hard to get individualized help. It's really costly, obviously, as everything in our healthcare system is.

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> David Myatta>So I think I'm interested in writing a book about what I've learned about our mental health care system and maybe become smart enough to actually offer suggestions on ways we can improve it. I don't think I have any right now, but I just know that the system that I continue to deal with, um, it's trying its best, but it's not reaching the people it needs to reach.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So when listeners read your book, what do you expect them to learn or gain from your memoir?

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> David Myatta>We kind of talked about that in the earlier question, but I'm really hoping, I think in this age of misinformation and disinformation and people relying so much on getting their news through social media, I think, uh, I truly believe the way to fight back against that is to be our authentic selves. And so I'm hoping my book inspires people and really try to be that there's authentic and best self.

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> David Myatta>And let's not be at each other's throats in this country, liking elections. Um, trust the experts.

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> David Myatta>We know what we're doing. Um, don't blindly trust people, but know that there are people that are dedicated to doing the right thing for the right reason at the right time. Um, and I think we get to that point by being Earth and itself and start telling our individual stories.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.

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> David Myatta>Well, when I wrote this memoir, I thought, there's no way there's going to Be a volume two. Because I really poured my heart into everything that I thought was important in my life to share. So I didn't think there'd be enough material left over, um, for volume two. But again, as I've gone through the mental, um, health care system, I really do want to write about some of the things I learned. So I think that's going to be the basis for my memoir number two. It was really just, um, and she's in the book. But there's a.

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> David Myatta>The very first day I started the partial hospitalization program, I was invited to dinner with a bunch of my old, um, K12 classmates.

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> David Myatta>And the girl I had a big crush on from junior high to senior high, who I hadn't seen in 40 years since he graduated, actually showed up at this dinner. And she ended up sitting next to me. And it just seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something that I could get through my mental health issues, that I had a chance to develop a real friendship with this person that meant so much to me.

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> David Myatta>She was my very first muse, my inspiration to start writing. And I just by chance ran into her again. Um, so we actually went out to cop. You had a nice talk. So I think I'll write about things like that. Um, my current three cats didn't make my first memoir, so I'll write about them. So I'm really hoping to write a second memoir, um, that kind of connects where I've been since this.

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> David Myatta>This one was actually finished in 2023.

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> David Myatta>So, um, things have gone on since then. That's. I haven't actually started writing it, but it's kind of percolating in my head.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, so listeners can keep up with everything that you're up to and check out that upcoming book. Throw out your contact info.

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> David Myatta>So My email is Mr. Maximoto hotmail.com and Mr.

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> David Myatta>Maximoto is spelled M M R M A X I M M O t o@hotmail.com.

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> David Myatta>of course, that was my nickname for my first cat match was Mr. Maximoto, since I'm Japanese American. And then I'm working to get a website up. Um, it's not up and running yet, but it'll be DavidMaida.com.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, we'll close this out with some final thoughts. Maybe if there was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

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> David Myatta>Um, again, it was a dream of mine since junior high to write a book. Um, it was kind of the only thing that's ever been on my bucket list. So to actually see it out in the world and see people reading it and responding to it has meant the world to me.

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> David Myatta>My sister works in a bookstore and she ordered a couple copies to carry in the bookstore and she took a picture of the book on the shelf and it was just like, wow, I actually pulled this off somehow.

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> David Myatta>Um, so I'm hoping people that are interested in memoir pick up a copy and read it and let me know what you think. Leave me a review on Amazon.

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> David Myatta>It's available on Amazon.

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> David Myatta>Um, I'm really happy to share this in the world and I really hope it connects with people.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, yeah, I'll be sure to check out David's book and DavidMayetta.com when that website gets up and running. Follow Rate Review Share this episode to as many people as possible and hopefully it'll give you maybe a new outlook on elections or somebody jump on your favorite podcast app. Check out the show. Follow Rate Review any guest or Suggestion Topics Curtis Jackson 1978 at att.net is the place to send them. As always, thank you for listening and supporting the show. And David, thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining us.

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> David Myatta>Thank you.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurveball.com.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>until next time, stay focused on Living the Dream. Dream.