Sunday, July 01, 2007
Where have all the candidates gone?
Christian Trejbal
Recent columns
- Making sense of local elections
- Voters have only themselves to blame
- Money flows freely to local candidates
- Candidates contemplate a little big-box store
From the RoundTable blog
The novelty has worn off. The New River Valley has become lamentably blasé about democracy. No one, it seems, wants to run for office.
There will not be much reason to show up at the polls in November. Candidates in three-quarters of local races are running unopposed. Nearly four dozen will coast into office.
The filing deadline has passed, so ballots will remain barren. If the Founding Fathers could see this, they would surely weep.
Running for public office is hard work. Serving is even harder. Many people understandably have neither the time nor inclination to embark on that path.
Yet are residents of the New River Valley so satisfied with their government that they see no need to challenge sitting officials? I almost hope they are; the alternatives are too depressing.
If people are not satisfied and yet none step forward to run, then at best they figure they have no chance of winning against an incumbent and at worst they are as apathetic as a cat sleeping on a sunny deck.
Either way, democracy in the valley is a sad shadow of the vigorous ideal.
Consider the Montgomery County School Board. Four seats are up in November. Incumbents Penny Franklin, Wat Hopkins and Wendell Jones are all running unopposed.
The fourth seat now belongs to Susan Morikawa. She chose not to seek re-election, leaving a wide-open chance for someone with an interest in how schools spend tax dollars and educate children. Amazingly, no one stepped forward.
Morikawa's district includes much of Blacksburg where school issues from a new stadium to the fate of the old middle school have generated considerable controversy. Many residents spoke passionately about those issues before the school board and the town council, yet none is passionate enough to put his name on the ballot.
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The November ballot will have room for a write-in candidate, and someone will probably sweep into office with a halfhearted campaign that garners a hundred or so votes from friends and family. Talk about a mandate for leadership.
Without competition, there is no chance to hold incumbents accountable, and November could be just the time to do so. School board members who chose to renew Superintendent Tiffany Anderson's contract despite her poor performance will persist in office without repercussion.
Then again, there is a bright side. No competition means fewer campaign signs cluttering yards. Moreover, there are no candidates who arrogantly and unconstitutionally would inject creationism into the classroom. The last thing board member Jamie Bond needs is an ally on the rabidly religious front.
Taxpayers deserve board members who have survived a public campaign in which their ideas were challenged and judged worthy by voters. Incumbents should have to defend their official actions. New candidates should have to explain how they would do things better.
Over the next few months, there will be no debates, no community forums and no campaign mailings. Incumbents will sit back and slide into another term. Write-in candidates for the open seat will focus on getting people to spell their names correctly more than actual issues.
Similar election stories are playing out all over the valley. Dozens of incumbents will get a free pass. Three members of the Floyd County School Board, the Giles County commonwealth's attorney, three Montgomery County supervisors, five members of the Pulaski County School Board and many more all run unchallenged.
Not one soil and water conservation director in any county drew an opponent. A low-profile office to be sure, but one that affects citizens' lives.
Even Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch is unopposed. Less than a year ago, his office was fiercely contested in a special election.
The only hot office is clerk of the Giles County Circuit Court. Six candidates hope to succeed retiring Scarlet Ratcliffe. Maybe the recently completed $1.5 million renovation to the historic courthouse has captured people's attention. Maybe candidates hope to land a job with perceived longevity, low controversy and good pay. Whatever the reason, it might be the high point of this year's elections.
Democracy should be better than this. The next time we hold up America as a glowing example of citizen government other countries should emulate, we will have to put a curtain over the New River Valley. Nothing to see here, look somewhere else to find people willing to challenge the status quo.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
