With what’s happening nationally, we need a stronger local community now more than ever. I understand if you’re worried or scared, especially with what we see on social media and cable TV, but don’t shut down—some people bank on your apathy as they decide important issues without you noticing. While you’re focused on what’s happening in D.C., certain local politicians plan to win reelection unopposed.
It’s why this July 4th, you should consider doing something really patriotic: you should run for local office.
In local office, you can have more control over things that impact your daily life. Local politicians determine which roads get fixed first; local politicians approve budgets for public schools; and now, local politicians will have to figure out what we’re going to do with all this PFAS (or “forever chemicals”) in our water system.
You might think that there are plenty of do-gooders who champ at the bit to do all this, but you’d be wrong. Without challengers (or term limits) many local politicians can sit in the same spot for a long time.
In fact, some have been in the same office for nearly thirty years.
For perspective, that’s the same as the President serving seven terms in a row, only to run for reelection again. During that time, I’ve graduated from elementary school, junior high, high school, and college; I’ve deployed with the Air Force to the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and even graduated from law school; I’ve gotten married, had a son, and lost my father.
To the father of young children: does someone who was first elected when the Internet came on CDs know more about what your son needs today?
To the working mom: who knows more about what it’s like to raise a family now, you or someone who was first elected when median home prices in Orange County hovered around $200,000?
To those who grew up in Orange County not seeing anyone that looked like them on the dais: why aren’t you up there?
From July 15th through August 9th, you can file to run for local office and be on the same ballot as the presidential election. You can serve on city council to fix up the park or to take care of that one dangerous intersection, or you can serve on a water district to keep our drinking water clean.
You can—win or lose—inspire your neighbors or the next generation to follow in your footsteps.
To be clear, running for office isn’t necessarily cheap (or easy). While some races may not cost a lot of money, others will require some fundraising. And, unless you’re retired or independently wealthy, you’ll have to figure out how to balance a job, your family, and maybe even child or elder care.
Nevertheless, every election cycle there are races that never show up on a ballot because the incumbent wins by default, perhaps because everyone was too busy or too intimidated. This, however, means incumbents can continue unnoticed, accountable only to corporate donors or to organized fringe activists that whoop and holler.
In other words: if you don’t run, nobody else will, and nothing will change.
For a long time, we’ve waited for somebody (anybody) to fix this or to stop that. But the cavalry never came because this ain’t a movie. In the real world, things can (and often do) get worse unless we do something about it. Fortunately, the good, honest, difficult work necessary to preserve our democracy can start much closer to home. All of us must vote, many of us must knock on doors, and some of us (you) must run for office, because only we can save ourselves, from the bottom—up.
(If you can’t run for office now, you can still serve locally as an appointed city commissioner. These positions are typically appointed by city council members and advise on a variety of issues from parks to housing development. Check your city’s webpage for city elections and appointments; for school board and special district elections, check pages 24–25 of the County Registrar’s Candidate Handbook here.)
James Cho is a United States Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel and Fullerton resident. These opinions, however, are his alone and should not be attributed to his employer or the United States Air Force.
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
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