Service to Community

Brad Spencer and his family

Why take on the hassles and inconveniences of running for office?
by Charlie Leck

I've written before, here on this blog, about my admiration for the Mayor of my town. He's a totally dedicated and honest man who loves his community and wants to serve it.

Local, community politics is a real hassle. Thank goodness there are people willing to tackle the job, put up with inconveniences and dedicate their time to making a small city run better. My hats are off to these people. There are lots of reason why I could never do it. I don't intend to do an accounting of those reasons here.

One angry fellow confronted me once, shaking a finger at me and letting me know what he said was the plain truth: "You don't run for office here in this town because you know you could never win!" That may be. I don't know.

I've always told myself that I don't run because I'm too thin skinned. I witness how hard these local officials work -- the time they put in that takes them away from their homes and families -- and then they reap tons of criticism for what they do. I couldn't take such personal criticism. I just couldn't handle it. For me, it's not worth it.

So now I'm involved in helping a local resident win office as a City Councilperson. He's not thin skinned. Though he has a lot of patience and concern for residents of the community, he's also a tough character who will not be afraid to take action after he weighs all sides of a particular issue.

He's proven his love for his community and his dedication to it. He is a long time Cub Scout leader. Boy, is that an important job. What an effect such a leader can have on the lives of kids. He doesn't just dabble at it. He works hard for his kids and he's determined to making scouting an important experience. He's also a member of the local sportsman's club. Such a club does more, you know, that just promote hunting and fishing. They're deeply concerned about the environment and the wild life that lives in our area. Our candidate is also a leader of a local lake association committed to keeping the lake, on the shores of which he lives, clean, healthy and beautiful. He also spent six years on the Planning Commission of our community -- most of them as the Chairperson of the commission.

Well, you've got to be proud to put in time for a guy like that and so that's what I'm doing. Getting him elected is about the most important thing in my life right now because our town needs some good sensible leadership to give our good mayor a hand.

The election is on November 3rd and I'll take great pride in voting for Brad Spencer and for the remarkably capable incumbent councilperson, Lynn Betts. I hope my neighbors will think about voting for the same two candidates.