EDITORIAL: Wanted now: Qualified local candidates

You’ve barely started celebrating summer, yet your newspaper is already trying to get you to focus on November.

We apologize for that. It’s regrettable that a date on your calendar, Nov. 7 to be precise, should consume some of your consideration before the Fourth of July parade has even begun.

But that’s the reality in today’s world, where politics don’t take the summer off.

Around here, politics never take a day off. In fact, those who inhabit the furthest right of the local political spectrum are working hard with that Nov. 7 date crystal clear in their minds.

For some time now they’ve been recruiting like-minded candidates who share their dangerous ideology, prepared to teach them tricks of the campaigning trade and support them financially.

It does not matter that local elections this fall are nonpartisan. In recent years, the far-right operators have spit on nonpartisan election principles like public service experience, leadership abilities and commitment to the entire community.

Instead, they have actively recruited candidates who are not qualified to serve. Once elected, many of these candidates take very little time to show how much damage can be done when you’ve got politically motivated robots at the helms of nonpolitical community ships.

So, why this editorial now? Because a lot is at stake, and now is the time for qualified, conscientious citizens to seriously consider running for office.

On the Nov. 7 ballot in Kootenai County are nonpartisan positions on 14 city councils and the boards of 10 fire districts and six school districts. Candidates have until Sept. 8 to declare.

Here’s a list of the taxing entities with positions open this fall: https://tinyurl.com/36wf7tu4

The far right already has a sizable lead on some races, with hand-picked acolytes and a hefty war chest of both money and malice to throw against qualified, conscientious citizens whose only goal is to effectively serve their constituents.

But it's our belief that a few good men and women, waiting on the sidelines, are ready to enter the game. Please do so, for the sake of our kids, our communities and yes, our ongoing investment of tax dollars.

Will it be challenging, especially in these times of deep division? Absolutely. But the greater the challenge, the greater the rewards.

If your ambition is true public service at the local level, please, consider stepping forward.

There’s still plenty of time for lovely, lazy summer siestas, too.