There are five things that we need to cover first before we continue the discussion.
5. Have a working relationship and understanding of the United States Constitution.
Every state in the union has a constitution and its basis is the United States Constitution. All local laws, referred to as ordinances, must conform to both the state constitution and the United States of America constitution.
Working knowledge of the founding document will asst you in making good local ordinances that avoid constitutional pit falls. If it conforms to the Federal constitution then it will conform to the state one and your community will not have to pay to defend your ordnance in court. Because there will not be a challenge to it so conflict is avoided and money can be put to better use.
4. Know what your own ideologies are.
You need to write down what your own important never give an inch ideologies are. Staying true to your self is not easy. Voting for a fellow council person’s pet project so you can have them vote on yours will soon lead you away from what you believe.
When you know what you stand for any why you will also avoid fad things because you will have an adequate look at the larger picture and see crackpot ideas when they appear.
3. Know what the local campaign are and if they are unforced.
In order to run for office you need to know who monitors the election, how to sign up to run for office, if there are filing fees, when signs can go up and when they can be taken down, disclosure statements and with whom filed etc. The local election board can be a wealth of information.
2. Be prepared to settle with half of what you really want.
Never become so in love with an idea that there is no place for a compromise this will make you look unreasonable if not more like a dictator. Getting half of what you want is really not bad and over 8 years or more you will look like one of the good “guys” and becoming elected to the office again or a different office will be easer.
1.Most importantly be absolutely cretin you are the best person for the job.
Sounds like a bit of egotism to say but you need to be convinced that you and you alone are the best person to fill the office. You do not need to know all of the answers, being able to learn is a good thing, but you need to be convinced that you are the best person to do this.
Remember no one becomes elected because they are smarter than the other person, or wiser, or a better public speaker (just look at George Bush). The reason they are elected is because they got more votes than the other whoever that as running for the same office.
Sherman
