Should I do it, and is it worth the pain and hassle?
The small town I live in is in need of a new mayor, the old one retiring after over 25 years of holding the position. It’s basically a volunteer elected psotion. You get $25 a month for attending the city council meeting and supposedly are in charge of setting the citys budget, being a figurehead, etc. There is no written description of the duties or powers of the position and you only vote if the four menbers of the council happen to tie. Several folks have asked me to consider running, citing reasons from “we need young folks to provide leadership” to me being a better candidate than the two already signed up. A backhanded endorsement is still an endorsement I guess.
I have till Monday to consider this, and have put some thought into it. Sure, serving your community and doing a civic duty is all well and good. But I do that already as a volunteer firefighter among other things, youth baseball, church groups, etc. I’m not foolish enough to think i could go in and set the world on fire with this position, considering our town has a pop. of 900. And although I feel I could be a positive influence on the future of the town, I question how thick my skin is and just how tactful and PC I can actually be if pushed.
We have a lot of insightful folks in T-Nation, DB and Neph not withstanding. Give me some ideas guys.