Editorial: Public service — just being neighborly

Are you a born leader?

No? Well, it’s a pretty thought, but who the heck is?

The health of a society depends on ordinary people who quietly and simply shoulder the work that needs to be done. Many acknowledged leaders first stepped forward “simply” because they saw a need and translated their care for their small circle of neighbors into serving the public at large.

Many of us are of the generations that heard (and repeated) “Politics is a dirty business.”

That’s like saying, “Life is a dirty business” — of course it is — sometimes.  It’s also a happy business, a helping business, a challenging business, a heartening business — a worthy business. Life, politics, government, helping our neighbors — it’s all of these. Many of us believe that perfection comes after life, but meanwhile, here we are.

This week ahead, through Friday, June 5 at 4:30 p.m., is the last week to file for elective office in many island positions. The primary election will be in August and the final election will be in November.

All of these positions involve working with a board, monitoring the operations of a particular kind of local government, studying the pertinent questions, and making the board’s work transparent (although not always palatable) to the public.

On Orcas Island, there are three school board director positions vacant (out of five directors), two fire commissioner openings (out of three commissioners), two sewer district commissioner openings (out of five), three port commissioner vacancies (out of five),  and one cemetery district commissioner opening (out of three).

It doesn’t take a “natural” or even a “professional” leader to help our island community in these offices. It takes someone willing to spend a little time working with those neighbors to safeguard island education, safety, water, transportation and history.

Mailed  applications can be sent to P.O Box 638, Friday Harbor WA 98250; online applications can be obtained through the election website by going to: https://sanjuanco.com/, clicking on the “Elections” link under the “Government” bar on the right-hand side and clicking through to “Elections Applications” and “Candidate Filing” packages;
and in-person applications can be made at the Elections Office at 55 Spring Street in Friday Harbor.

For questions, contact County Elections Supervisor Doris Schaller at 378-3357 or email doriss@co.san-juan.wa.us

If you think things are not run as they should be in any of these offices, if you have an idea to lead the agency into a better direction, if you want to  “clean things up,” or if you just want to help in whatever way seems needed, consider running for one of these positions.

Then maybe, with your help,  government will be more responsive and politics won’t be such a dirty business.