With another election mostly wrapped up, I know that local officials are gearing up for next May.
They’re also eyeing the primary elections in March – in fact, it makes 2022 shape up with a busy spring.
Don’t even get me started on another round of November elections either.
Those local races include everyone from county judge to sheriff and several school board positions.
I think now is a great time to remind those interested in running or participating as candidates this year to take a really long, hard look at the positions they’re seeking.
A candidate is more likely to get my vote if they’re informed of current issues and have researched ways to address said problems.
Or, you know, at the very least attend more than one meeting if they’re looking to get on a board or council.
Serving your community isn’t an easy job and often times even if you help alleviate one issue, there’s a dozen more waiting in the wings.
In the case of school boards and city councils, you should know that you’ll have to meet a certain number of training hours on your position, legal matters, and operational proceedings.
Ideally, that also means that rather than serving a single, special interest group or person you should be serving the whole.
Of all the things I’ve learned in my time covering meetings, councils, and boards are that you need volunteers to serve together and work toward a common goal.
Or, as my mom says, be a ‘we’ person, not just self-serving or selfish.
Though the same could be said for humanity at large – but, that’s a whole separate column idea that I’m holding onto.
After all, if you’re sacrificing your free time to make our community better then you really should take the time to view something from all angles.
For some, this may come across as preachy and for others, it will resonate and make sense.
Others still have asked me why I have not run for positions or offices in the past and I have to admit that the thought has crossed my mind now and again.
However, I couldn’t take a position and maintain my integrity as a journalist if I did both because I could be subject to closed session discussions and therefore insight that isn’t available to the general public – not to mention possible personal information.
Plus, that’s crossing all sorts of boundaries!
In college, I served on the Student Government Association board and it taught me a lot about how these bodies are run and what’s expected of someone to hold such titles.
I learned how to conduct meetings, what can actually be discussed in closed sessions and what the limits of my position were.
Even though we didn’t have microphones during our meetings, we had to make sure we spoke up clearly and loudly enough to be heard by our fellow board members – something I fail to see at more meetings now than I’d definitely like to admit.
All in all, I’m just hoping our next batch of candidates running for office take time to make sure they’re the best fit for the position they’re running for.
