The Armchair Cynic

There’s always a variety of things waiting for rightful owners to pick up at a city hall.  Ask anybody at the front counter and they’ll know where to look for your jacket, sweater, a ball cap left in the stadium or a little something that fell out of pocket or purse at a downtown event.  

Most of the stuff in the lost and found is not hugely valuable, but sometimes critical things like key sets, wallets and watches have been found and held for anxious owners.  A few years ago in Collinsville a billfold with not only ID and credit cards, but a good amount of folding money was returned intact —who would’ve thought?

You may not have lost anything lately, but a trip to your city hall may be in order. City council positions are open in Collinsville, Sadler and Whitesboro, and you can ask for an application at the front desk.  Filing deadlines are close of business February 13th and early voting starts in April for the May elections. 

Qualifications for running are basic, the most important being that you are interested in what happens in your town.  If you’re reading this and you paused for a moment to think about it, you know who you are and you probably need to go pick up your application.

Judging by Facebook “Residents” pages, one would think local issues are top of mind.  You’ll scroll down a long way reading strong, opposing opinions from people eager to weigh in on any given topic in their home town, but is it all talk?

And will there be “elections” or “appointments” for the next Collinsville, Sadler and Whitesboro council terms?  After filing closes Friday, February 13th we’ll find out who threw a hat into the ring and if there are enough hats in there to have choices on the ballot.  

In Collinsville, ballot choices are not a given. Recent term openings drew no candidates, so lately, aldermen have been appointed. Practically speaking, it’s not a bad thing when seats are filled that way because they’ll be people who can work well with the current personalities, otherwise they wouldn’t have been invited. 

And without a campaign period, the transition will be seamless. Even if the appointee is new to municipal government, they can start working right away, learning what they need to know on the job. Plus, skipping a campaign means there’s been no public arguments and no hurt feelings because of anything written or said.  

On the other hand, elections are a lot of trouble. Not only do they cost money, they require staff and volunteers to put in considerable time preparing the proper framework for voting; when an election is triggered, there’s quite a bit of work ahead for city administration. 

The process for candidates is less structured. After filing to run, it remains to be seen what candidates will do to get their particular message out. In past Collinsville elections, campaign efforts ran the gamut with signs, flyers, appearances, the whole nine yards, while one candidate did literally nothing but rely on a hometown identity (he won).  

Public forums can be part of the process connecting candidates and voters. “Meet the Candidates” sponsored by the Whitesboro News-Record, always happens in Whitesboro, where elections are the norm. In Collinsville a small voters group also sponsored MTC get-togethers (one year even two, one on a Saturday and one on a weeknight!).  Privately funded and fairly well-attended, candidates present their views in Q & A format with moderators and later take questions from the floor. 

Just by themselves, Meet the Candidates are fun events to attend. You can meet people active in town life, hear differing ideas and priorities and get an idea what makes our little towns tick.  

In a few weeks we’ll know what’s ticking and where, who filed an application for council seats in our three Western Grayson County towns, and go from there. 

I really do hope it gets interesting.