“If I were running things …”
Have you ever started a conversation that way, maybe at the dinner table or around the water cooler?
Well, here’s your chance.
Coming up very soon are filing periods to run for elected office in municipal elections. Prospective candidates can file paperwork with the borough or city clerk’s offices from Tuesday through Aug. 15. There are seats on the Kenai and Soldotna city councils, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education on the ballot for the Oct. 3 municipal election, as well the borough mayor and seats on various service area boards around the borough. Whatever your interest or area of expertise, there is an opportunity for you to throw your hat into the ring.
We applaud all those who choose to run. It takes a certain amount of courage to put your ideas out there for the general public to pick apart. Not all of us are accomplished public speakers or comfortable taking center stage.
But, win or lose, running for public office provides an opportunity to get to know the community from a different perspective, and a platform to debate the community’s future course. The people we vote for in our municipal elections frequently make decisions that hit much closer to home than anything coming from Juneau or Washington, D.C. We are asking our friends, neighbors and colleagues to set local tax rates, allocate funds for public safety, education and local road maintenance, and set local public policy.
If you’re already thinking of running, we’re looking forward to hearing your ideas in the coming months. If you’re thinking about it and have questions, the Central Peninsula League of Women Voters and the Borough Clerk’s Office will be conducting a workshop on how to run for office from 5-7 p.m. Monday at the borough assembly chambers in Soldotna.
One more date we’ll remind you of: if you want to cast a ballot in the Oct. 3 election, the last day to register to vote is Sept. 3.
We know politics isn’t everybody’s favorite topic right now, and there’s plenty of other things to talk about during the short Kenai Peninsula summer. But if we want to see good decision making from our elected officials, it starts with deciding to run for election now.
