How To Choose New City Council Members
As always, this article represents my own opinions and views. I write as myself, not on behalf of any other member of council or of council as a whole.. Please contact individual council members and candidates to get their take on any topics you’re curious about.
It’s an election year this year, and I have the luxury of not having to run myself. I also have the unique perspective of being one of three people who will for sure be on the council when we meet on December 1 to swear in new council members and elect our mayor and vice mayor.
Now that I know how this council works, I can look back at the decisions we’ve made in the last 21 months, look ahead to issues I know we’ll have to address in the next few years, and consider how to choose good people for this role.
Running for any level of office is not for the faint of heart. As a candidate, you put yourself out there and open yourself up to all sorts of criticism, whether reasonable or not. You have to think about and respond to all sorts of questions that don’t come up in everyday life. Many times, people ask you about issues that you’ll never weigh in on in the role you’re running for.
It becomes clear very quickly that you can’t please everyone; yet everyone expects to be pleased.
On city council, our focus is largely on what we want to allow or encourage on the physical land that comprises our city, and what we want to prohibit or discourage here.
Most things are straightforward - approve this or that expense to replace a fire truck, fix a bridge, widen a road, or order rock salt for the winter.
Other decisions are much less clear. They involve trade-offs where no path has all positives and no negatives. We often must decide between competing or even incompatible interests. So far, these are the most difficult decisions I’ve made.
Other difficult decisions involve short-term pain and long-term gain. For example, many construction projects are messy and disruptive. People can manage it when it’s clear the project truly solves a problem (rather than putting a bandaid on a situation). These decisions are more difficult when the outcome isn’t as certain, or if the end result is less convenient for a small group of people who care a lot.
Traffic-flow issues are like this. I saw many complaints about the Cincinnati Open traffic on Kings Mill Road near I-71 this year. At the same time, I received compliments and notes of appreciation from residents who live in the neighborhoods off Kings Mill Road and Fairway Drive because the cars stayed on the main roads.
So, how do you choose the people making these decisions? The following are questions I’m asking as I meet and hear from the candidates running in this year’s local elections in my community. I’m hoping they help you.
How do they view the role they seek? Would they be a public servant or a VIP? Do they see themselves as representing all residents or a subset — for example, only those who voted for them, have the same political and/or religious view, donated to their campaign, or have a specific party or ideology)?
What are their personal values?
What are their community values?
How do they define the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the community? Do those definitions align with mine? (For example, is having more than 100 languages spoken by residents in our city a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, or a threat?)
Can they differentiate between personally held values and community values? (For example, can they believe something is bad while supporting the freedom of others to choose it for themselves?)
How will they go about decision-making, especially when values conflict?
How do they treat others with whom they disagree?
Can they find common ground and collaborate for the community, or are they purists who see compromise and collaboration as a character flaw?
Do they assume the best or the worst of people’s intentions?
Do they ask good questions and look for data to back their decisions, do they accept everything at face value?
How do they handle strong emotions in themselves and others?
What are the current blind spots and weaknesses in the larger body (city council, school board, etc.)? Who is there already, what is their background and what perspectives and expertise do they have?
How does this candidate shore up the weaknesses and/or reduce the blind spots of the body? Would they make the group more or less well-rounded?
What did I miss? What questions or things do you consider when choosing who to vote for?
