Running in my first government election, very rewarding to see my name on the ballot this morning 
I may write a piece on my experience, it has been interesting so far. Has anybody else run for office?
Running in my first government election, very rewarding to see my name on the ballot this morning I may write a piece on my experience, it has been interesting so far. Has anybody else run for office?
In reply to trigun7469:
I have no desire to ever attempt it. But if it's something you are passionate about I say best of luck to you sir!
My younger brother was elected to our town budget committee when he was 25. Was definitely interesting to see how that played out. Went well for him, and the town. that was a few years back, now.
what are you running for?
In reply to bluej: County Council
I ran for County Commissioner once. Thought about running for City Council but decided to wait and run next time. I am currently on one of the City's advisory committees.
I have some information that you might like to go over if you are interested in some free advice.
In reply to trigun7469:
I was on our village board for several years. It was every bit as bad as "real" politics - inside shady deals, unspoken alliances, and borderline illegal shenanigans. This is in a town of 1300 people. I don't miss it.
Having dealt with city and county governments, I have no desire to do such. Nor do I want to serve on our HOA board or as an officer in my local sports car club. I may be willing to do the latter when I retire.
Very cool. Good luck.
A friend from college is running for Atlanta school board.
In reply to FlightService: Yes, I am open to advice, what is your email.
I wanted to. I tried. Turns out, unless I join one of the big 2 parties, I'm not allowed to run for anything around here. School board, Mayor, city council, whatever, gotta be one of the big 2.
There's a big huge rant about that, but I'll keep it to myself.
Good luck trigun! We need more sane people in office. Like law enforcement, politics can be a frustrating, lousy job---- but it's one the rest of us rely on constantly. Thanks for fighting the good fight!
In reply to RevRico:
Funny that. Just finishing up a book by a lawyer (that's all the info I'm going to give) and he mentioned that most of North Carolinas counties have party free elections in the sense that a candidate is not declared as such but of course the parties can still participate. Not sure how much value it brings. 
A little inspiration from Kurt Russell in 'Used Cars.'
Pete Gossett wrote: In reply to trigun7469: I was on our village board for several years. It was every bit as bad as "real" politics - inside shady deals, unspoken alliances, and borderline illegal shenanigans. This is in a town of 1300 people. I don't miss it.
I spent several years on my neighborhood alliance board (Minneapolis is divided up into neighborhoods and each one has an alliance or council; they are kind of like village boards, they have a lot of power but basically they make recommendations on things to the main Minneapolis city council which makes the final decisions.) Anyway, I had the same experience - even at that low level there was way too much chicanery to suit me.
Congrats! It takes a very special person to take on a (possible) role like that.
It's not for me though. Half the people I know already think I'm an shiny happy person, I don't need half of the county thinking that.
Vash The Stampede running for office. Knives will not like this at all.
I have run for NC State House of Representatives twice 2002 and 2004. I ran on a third party ticket. It was certainly a rewarding experience although I knew there was little chance I would be elected. I have considered running again but managed to avoid as our present Reps aren't too bad. Good luck..
Good luck with it. The only reason I'd ever consider political office would be to bring back some things like gladiator sports and trial by combat. I hate people.
LopRacer wrote: I have run for NC State House of Representatives twice 2002 and 2004. I ran on a third party ticket. It was certainly a rewarding experience although I knew there was little chance I would be elected. I have considered running again but managed to avoid as our present Reps aren't too bad. Good luck..
I probably voted for you if you ran in my district. Usually against the usual pols.
I only run when chased.
I was running unopposed, but I still was able to learn a lot from those who had won and lost. The voter turnout was low at 24%, which was predicted a higher voter turnout because of the mayoral and county executive race. Those who were big on social media and using wording such as No more status qou, all of them lost except one who had a weak competitor. The same names with the big backers all won and the elderly population dominated as voters. I felt bad for many of the independent voters, who have a voice and are essentially bypassed in the Primaries.
In D.C. they have Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. In deepest southeast a young woman recently won with just a single vote. Yes it was hers. That's a layer of government that could disappear tomorrow and only the zealots would notice. 
In reply to trigun7469:
Congratulations!
Just out of curiosity, are low level elected government positions like this typically paid, or volunteer?
In reply to SVreX:
In my experience it was $50/month, paid annually after your first year.
In reply to trigun7469:
PM sent.
nutherjrfan wrote: In D.C. they have Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. In deepest southeast a young woman recently won with just a single vote. Yes it was hers. That's a layer of government that could disappear tomorrow and only the zealots would notice.
COG is also another group in the DC area you could get involved with. They are working on policy for the entire DMV. I am on the ESC for the City of Falls Church. The brain power and resources in my town are astounding. We also have mid-80% turnout for most elections. You pay your dues here. You start on the voluntary advisory committees and then you make the rounds and run. Due to where we are located all of our City offices are non-partisan so they can be held by federal government employees. They had to do that due to the fact that we couldn't fill most positions if we had to follow the normal rules.
Its fun, you get to get in touch with what your community wants and understand the values of your neighbors.
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