Didn’t have much advance notice, but it seems that tomorrow (Monday July 19th) is the deadline to file for city offices in the November election. I’ve thought about running for something myself, but never got around to it. Like most of the people in the city of Princeton Texas, I don’t really feel engaged enough to do go ahead and run.

My maternal grandfather ran for and won election as the mayor of a small town in West Virginia. Thing is that he was a well-known businessman and for that matter, there weren’t but a handful of people in that small town who didn’t know him. He also ran for state senator at one time. Didn’t win, in part because he wasn’t too well known outside of his little town, and in part because his party wasn’t the predominant party in that place and time. I had no idea that he ran for state senator until I found a campaign pennant in one of the closets of his home when I was a teenager. (And yes, I had permission to go there!)

I’ve found that things are a little different here in the Lone Star State in as far as local elections are concerned. For one thing, races are non-partisan. There are no Democrats, there are no Republicans. In theory, at least. Most candidates belong to one of the parties or the other, with sly little nods and winks to let people know that they belong to one of the parties without openly declaring so. One of the candidates in the last election went so far as to have a small, red white and blue elephant off on one of the corners of his campaign sign. Yeah. Non-partisan.

Another difference I’ve found is that once one is elected to office, he or she is almost guaranteed to have a lifetime appointment. The mayor of a city where I used to live was in office for at least twenty years, starting the year that I moved here. I’d heard the story of another mayor in another city here in the DFW Metromess who was in office for over thirty years… and was re-elected again! Now, there’s job security! There was a bit in the local news about the former mayor of Allen – he’s having a recreation center named for him. He attended the ground breaking last week.

The mayor here in Princeton resigned a year or so ago and we held a special election to install his replacement. We lucked out and got a woman who actually stepped up to the plate and did what needed to be done. I was especially impressed with her involvement when the big winter freeze struck back in February. She’ll likely be on the ballot in November. I’ll vote for her this time around. Next time, well, we’ll see. If she becomes complacent like some who seek (or who occupy) public office, I might support someone else.

For me, I think I’ll stick to keeping up with me, mowing my lawn, feeding the hummingbirds, tending the garden and taking the dog Filbrix out for walks a couple of times a day. I don’t usually adhere to the policies of the party in power… or for the opposition, either. Probably won’t fit in with the local politicians, regardless. Besides, there appear to be several younger people interested in running. They just might need my support at the polls.

Be Seeing You!