Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas

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    Janet Jacobs

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February 6, 2010

JACOBS: It’s time to run!

Small town politics and the people who make it work

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun

It’s one of my self-appointed jobs to call all the school districts and cities in the county, and ask them what seats are open for the May 8 election.

This year, as I’ve talked to the mayors and city secretaries, I’m hearing a common refrain and it goes “Nobody cares,” in a bluesy melody.

Mayors are weary of waiting for that eager beaver to come along and accept that mantle of responsibility, and city secretaries know they’ll be waiting in vain until that last second on the filing deadline for someone interested in city government to walk through that door.

I’m not saying these aren’t good people already on these boards, and willingness is 90 percent of the gig, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were more choices for everyone, including the people who have served their time and would really like to be able to take off the third Tuesday of the month?

Emhouse has five council members, and they’d really like to cut it down to three, because it’s hard to recruit enough volunteers for a council that size, according to Mayor Johnny Pattison.

“We just can’t get enough people to come out anymore,” he said.

I have to sympathize. I’ve been covering (mostly) small city councils and school boards since 1990, and at many a meeting I’ve been the lone person in the audience.

I always feel conspicuous in those occasions, and a little worried. I think “If I write something they don’t like, they could gang up and kill me and nobody would witness it.” My editor would miss me if I didn’t show back up at the office eventually, but really, who would suspect an entire city council?

This trend of civic apathy is both sad and strange. I know people who will put their noses into everybody’s business, and spend 10 hours a week gossiping, but they won’t spend two hours a month showing a first-hand interest in how their tax money is being spent, and what’s going on with the water system. What kind of sense does that make?

Sure, part of it is laziness. It’s easier to complain about a problem than to fix it. But I suspect that the main reason is that nobody wants to look foolish.

A person might want things to be different, either the streets or the taxes or the way the city does or doesn’t recruit business, but she won’t run for office because she’s either too shy, or she thinks “Well, I don’t know how all that works, and I could make a mistake.”

Except that nobody, from toilet scrubber to president of the United States, walks into a new job knowing all about it the first day. It’s something every person learns, and the learning makes each of us a better person and citizen.

And if being angry isn’t enough of a reason to run for office, being scared should be. See, one of the things that sometimes happens is that when nice, unassuming people say “Well, I’ll let those other smart people do that,” then sometimes crazy, dangerous people step in and take over. Then things get interesting fast, but not in a good way.

I covered a town up near Dallas where one of those factions stepped into what had been a pretty quiet little town council. They began voting together, and doing stuff that was just destructive, just ‘cause. Eventually, the townsfolk had a recall election and kicked several of them off the board, (and it turns out one of them was a pathological liar who’d made up his entire life history), but not before it cost a whole lot of money and bad feelings.

But that’s what happens when good people leave it up to someone else. All too often, that someone else is a nut.

                          —————

Janet Jacobs is a Daily Sun staff writer. Her column appears on Sundays. She may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “Soundoff” on this story? E-mail: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com.

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