Now it is time to lead

Congratulations to all those who won races in their local school, county or municipal elections last week.

It takes an advanced level of citizenship to be willing to step forward and participate in the election process at the local level. It takes resolve to stand before your friends, family and neighbors and ask them to have confidence in your decision-making abilities.

According to the Pew Research Center, there are more than 90,000 government units across the United States, and only about 2% of Americans have ever run for one of those offices.

The reasons people have for running for office are varied. In the recent round of local elections, there were many newcomers who disagreed with the way local boards dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. Others stepped forward because of concerns over spending priorities. Still others had more classic motivations such as wanting their road fixed.

Political parties also played a larger role in ostensibly non-partisan local elections this year as Republicans and Democrats actively worked on partybuilding strategies at the grassroots level and supported specific candidates.

Whatever the motivation, after the election dust has settled, the voters have picked the winners and losers.

Now the hard part starts. In the next few weeks, boards and councils will hold their reorganization meetings. Committee assignments will be set. Officers will be selected to lead the boards.

It is easy to be the audience members cheering or jeering the board for a decision or comment they agree or disagree with. It is easy to be the armchair quarterback spouting off on a social media echo chamber about what you feel should be done.

It is much harder to be the person sitting on the board and weighing the information they receive and their own viewpoints, versus outside pressures, mandates and regulations. It is much harder to be the person on the receiving end of criticism or of those seeking special favors. It is much harder to make those decisions which you know will impact people’s lives.

As new board members take their seats next to their more veteran colleagues, the learning curve begins. From brushing up on your parliamentary procedure and the order of running a meeting to finding where the hard limits of your power as a local official begin and end.

There is also the reminder that every person on a board is a single voice and a single vote and that it is only by working together and reaching common ground that decisions can be made and the community served. While heated debate on a contentious topic can be healthy for democracy, it must be tempered with the ability to move on to the next topic after the vote is cast.

Congratulations again to all those newly elected to public office at all levels and good luck facing the challenges ahead of you.