A Run For Office

Why don’t people want to serve their community as elected officials anymore? With no one running for the open Council seat and several open board and committee positions available there is certainly opportunity to step up.
Is it because of having to attending every council meeting and at least one committee meetings a month? May be it’s the need to learn all the issues that must be debated when attending the meetings. The need to discipline yourself to attend these meetings and be prepared for the issues can be intimidating.
May be it’s the fact that most people are not courteous anymore. You will probably be called names, threaten and harassed. People no longer want to courteously communicate in writing and sign their name. Their input lacks any knowledge of the issue and they expect you to act upon their input. The right to be heard does not automatically mean the right to be taken seriously.
People will expect that everything you do at council will be done perfectly. Politics is one of the few professions where absolutely no experience is required. What do you think when you see a job posting that says: “No experience required”? You think: low-level job. Rookie aldermen need to get some training and experience to become just average. The time needed for extra training government systems and how your council operates can take years and lots of hard work.
Most people running for Council don’t want to be the one who hasn't opened their background packet until they enter the chambers. They fear they don’t have the time to dedicate to responsible governing. There are some who don’t have this problem and have done nothing to prepare for the meetings. They open the packet and try to hide the fact that they are just opening the packet. Others joke about it and seem rather proud that they have not prepared for the meeting. There are some who have opened their packet before they enter the chambers but haven't read anything. They just are just as unprepared as those who just opened their packet, but are not as obvious. You can spot them because they are attempting to speed-read over the material.
Most people understand that the city council has to make decisions to solve problems. Problems are situations that have no good solutions. If there were good solutions, they would not be problems; they would be opportunities. Therefore, since there are no good solutions to the problem, whatever decision is reached could be interpreted to be dumb.
Can I now say that if these are your concerns – please run.