It is that time again when those bold and intrepid neighbors of ours brave forward to compete for the coveted title called Council Member. It seems easy enough once you have thought about your intention to run for local office. You envision yourself sitting on the dais making important policy decisions that will affect the City for years. You see yourself helping the community through your leadership and meeting with constituents to listen. But do you have the political viability as a candidate who is capable of getting enough votes to get elected? So you sit down and speak with your loved ones and friends who will be surely impacted by your decision.
After the decision is made, you march on over to the City Clerk’s office and draw your papers. They are not really papers but sort of a petition list with 30 signature lines. You only need 20 signatures to get on the ballot but it is a good idea to collect all 30 just in case your well-meaning endorsing friends and neighbors are not registered to vote.
Well you have now collected the 20 signatures of registered voters needed. So you turn in the list to the City Clerk who runs up to the Voter Registrar’s Office and certifies it and informs you that you are now officially on the ballot. For the moment, at least this was the case for me, you now ask the pivotal question, “What have I done?” What you have done is take responsibility for marching into the political unknown. A place many think about, but few ever brave to go. Why did I do this you may ask? Well the why becomes self-evident fast.
You immediately start asking yourself “who is going to vote for me?” and more importantly, “why?” Once you have realized you will need a lot of votes to win you move onto the bigger question of how does one go about this. You search for the obvious. Obviously, you need those signs. You know, those bright colorful signs emblazoned with your name that shine boldly on people’s lawns for the first couple of weeks until the elements and gardeners have their way with them. You also need pamphlets to hand to people that explain why they should vote for you and who you are.
But what are you all about? By this time, true concern regarding your decision to run starts to seep in. What am I all about? What is it I want to accomplish? Will people vote for me based on this? I know, maybe I will borrow some platform positions from former successful candidates. But is it me? Well if it worked for them, maybe I can change….. just a little. Oh dear, I have not even gotten into office yet and already I have started compromising myself. So what do I stand for? What do I want to accomplish if elected. What are my values? Can I afford to keep them or do I need to change?
After awhile you calm down and realize how and why you got yourself in this to begin with. You do have a message and do have good ideas on how to make this a better community. These ideas and this message is your clarion call as to why the voters should stop, listen and support you. That’s right, you! People WILL support you, at least some will. You have a message and ideas that make a great deal of sense.
You certainly care about the community and you want things to get better. You want change, but only good change that everyone agrees with. You want things to improve and for better, but again only in a good way that pleases everyone. Most importantly, you want people to know you really care and will dedicate your body and soul to the office the voters have entrusted you to hold.
All right, so far we are on the ballot; we need lawn signs and we have a message. But wait, signs and pamphlets cost money. Who’s going to pay for all this? Oh yeah, political contributions! But that means I have to ask people for money and that’s unseemly. What if they come back and want things like favors and concessions once I’m in office? Maybe they will not ask and even if they do, I can decide what to do later.
By now you’ve figured out it will be a lot easier if you rely on your supporters to manage things for you, like fund raising, purchasing, bill paying, logistics and campaign management. Your campaign workers may even give you advice-advice on what precincts to canvas first and whose endorsement you need to obtain. Moreover, in the end, you’re well on your way. If elected, you will feel triumphant and victorious.
People will even step forward and offer to pick up your campaign signs after the election. It will be a tough task because those who voted for you may want to keep them on their lawns as long as possible. Everybody loves a winner. If you lose, on the other hand you’ll look in the mirror and wonder why you even went down this path. Then you’ll go and pick up your own signs and wonder if you can use them again next time.
Win or lose you went down the road of political office because if you didn’t, no one else would. Political office, particularly on the local level, is both a very hard and often a thankless job. Often times the only thanks you’ll get is from your cat when you come home from a long Council meeting and put water in her empty dish. It’s arduous work and often times the $472 a month we receive, which comes out to $2.75 per hour, leaves me wondering why I am burning the candle at both ends between my careers, my family and representing my community.
Occasionally you may think about not fully preparing yourself for a Council meeting and merely showing up and getting “spoon fed” by City staff who will go out of their way not to make you look foolish. But you don’t do this. It is not fair to those voters who entrusted you with that most cherished right to vote.
I have looked at the list of candidates for the City Council election that will take place in November and I have to say I am impressed. I will not be amongst them as family concerns will be taking me elsewhere.
I will congratulate those who have qualified for the ballot in November and I applaud them, win or lose, for they have taken that step forward in their desire to serve and represent their community. It takes a lot out of you to take this step, but remember this: after serving in local office, there are no signing bonuses or book deals. Some people who liked and voted for you may not even be speaking with you anymore. What there is comes from knowing you did the very best you were capable of and constantly searched within your soul to do the best which is why you were elected.
Let us thank these five candidates and listen to what they have to say. If they are willing to risk defeat and the arduous effort it takes to run for the City Council, then we as responsible citizens of Foster City and America owe them two things for which we have no escape. We owe the people who are willing to do that which few of us are ever willing to even consider our undivided attention as to what they have to say and our vote.
If you have any questions or remarks please feel free to call me at 650-349-2316 or e-mail me at jkiramis@fostercity.org.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you.
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