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I’ll be honest: I don’t recommend anyone run for the open council seat.

Current council members are receiving death threats, and apparently that’s just something the public is expected to tolerate now. Nobody seems particularly interested in doing anything about it, so here’s my honest assessment of the job.

Are you a good person who wants to do something positive for your community? Do you think government should be a responsible steward of taxpayer money? Do you enjoy researching problems, finding solutions, reducing waste, and tackling long-term issues?

Then city council, in today’s political climate, may not be for you.

What gets rewarded right now isn’t hard work, preparation, or results. It’s doing nothing, saying nothing, accomplishing nothing, and keeping your head down. If you have an idea, keep it to yourself. If you try to improve something, it will never be enough for someone.

Do you enjoy being slandered all over town?

For the privilege of being publicly attacked, you’ll earn roughly $7,000 a year. If you actually take the job seriously (reading legislation, reviewing reports, responding to citizens, communicating with agencies, researching policy, and looking for ways to make city government more efficient) you can easily spend 20 hours a week doing it.

Congratulations. Your effective wage is about $6.73 an hour.

Apparently that’s what some people call “lining your pockets.”

Most of us didn’t get involved for the money. We got involved because we wanted to make a difference. But if you stick your neck out and point out corruption, inefficiency, waste, or opportunities for improvement, you’ll quickly discover that many of the loudest critics haven’t spent five minutes researching the issue they’re lecturing you about.

They know everything, until you ask them to read the actual legislation.

If you’re elected or appointed and try to do what you genuinely believe is in the best interest of the city, understand that there is no winning. If you compromise, you’re weak. If you stand your ground, you’re a tyrant. If you challenge the status quo, your personal life becomes public entertainment for people who have confused social media with civic engagement.

And when you defend yourself? You’re accused of making it all about you.

So by all means, encourage the professional complainers to run for council. Encourage the keyboard warriors. Encourage the people who think posting memes is the same thing as public service.

But understand that this job is becoming impossible for rational people while death threats are ignored, laws aren’t enforced, and public officials are expected to absorb abuse as part of the job description.

City officials are not faceless bureaucrats. They’re your neighbors. They’re parents. They’re volunteers. They’re people who coach your kids, donate to local causes, serve on boards, and spend countless hours trying to make this city better.

Yet somehow we’ve created an environment where the reward for trying is harassment, threats, stress on your family, and public attacks on your personal life.

People wonder why good candidates don’t run.

This is why.

So if all of that sounds fun to you, go ahead and sign up.

Clarissa Scheffler-Slater 

Former Appointed Council Member