5W-H: Where?

Waldo? Bueller?

Welcome to the second in our 6-part series on the 5Ws & an H of running for office. We’ve jumbled up the typical “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How” into the chronology of how those questions should play out in politics: Why, Where, What, Who, When, and How. Welcome to our Where…

Where do you live?

The Why now becomes a function of geography. At its core, elective office exists because your tax dollars are being spent. Residents in each taxing district choose someone to represent their voice in how that happens. You live in multiple, overlapping taxing districts. If you’re looking for something to run for, take a look at these examples to see what gets your blood pumping. This is not an exhaustive list of what each level of government does, just to give you an idea):

  • School boards: these boards are primarily an HR and brick-and-mortar operation – the vast majority of time and money is spent on building construction/maintenance and teacher hiring/pay.
  • Cities: police officers, municipal courts, local roads, economic development/zoning, pet ordinances and building/residential codes enforcement
  • County: county jails/Sheriffs/public safety, mental health, police/fire in unincorporated areas, transportation services
  • State upper & lower house (or just one, if you’re a Cornhusker): public education, state highways/bridges, state prisons/Highway Patrol/public safety, Medicaid
  • US Senate & Congress: Social Security, Medicare, federal transportation, national defense, FBI, CIA

Pro-Tip: If you’re really upset about a single-issue and it isn’t one listed above, you’re going to be really bored 97% of the time.

Footnote QOTD:

I spent two terms (eight years) on a large community college board of trustees. My young daughter asked how the board meeting was. I told her it was boring.

  • “Mom, that’s why they called it a bored meeting.”
  • PS: She was too young to know the spelling difference between board and bored, so this kept us in stitches for days!

“Where” isn’t subjective. You live where you live. If you’re considering moving to run for office, that’s another conversation entirely. There are wide variations on “carpet-bagging” to run.

  • For example, I lived in Kansas my entire life and moved to Overland Park, Kansas, when I returned from grad school/working on the Hill in DC. Overland Park is one of 23 cities in Johnson County, the Kansas-side suburbs of Kansas City. Two years later, I was recruited to run by a retiring incumbent in a neighboring city and moved.
  • Compare this to candidates which move from state to state to run for favorable US Senate or Congressional offices.
  • Or moving across a state to run in a part where you have not been involved and do not know the people well enough to represent them well.

We’ll leave it at that. It’s called representative democracy because you’re supposed to represent the views of those you serve. That cannot be done effectively or honestly, without lived experience with those you seek to serve.

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