A different type of running

I am running for a "political" office. I use the quotes, because, while this is an elected position, it is a very short term position with very limited hours. There is no chance of re-election into this position. The primary elections are on August 5th. The general election is in November.

I am running to be the Charter Commissioner for our district. Back in May, a special election was held in our county to decide if we wanted to continue to run the county government in the manner prescribed by the State (with County Commissioners representing both the executive and legislative branches of government) or if we wanted to devise our own way of functioning (most likely with fewer County Commisioners and a County Exectutive). The election was requested by a group with ties to unions and other special interest groups. In that election, it was decided we wanted to devise our own form of county government.

The proposed charter for functioning will be created by a group of 26 individuals, one from each of the current districts. These individuals would be commissioned developing the charter which defines how the county government will be set up. Once it is created, the voters would choose whether they want to adopt the new charter or not. If they elect not to adopt it, the Charter Commission has one more chance to make changes to the proposed charter. If the new charter is not adopted in a second election, the county will revert back to running in the manner prescribed by the State.

I decided to run for the position of Charter Commissioner right after the May election. My initial feeling (one confirmed after doing more research) was that the election was driven by a group that had only one goal - to get a county executive in place. I cannot say whether having a county executive will be a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of that depends on how the position is defined. My goal in running for the position was to ensure that the creation of the charter was not done by people with a specific agenda. I want to make sure that all aspects are looked at from various points of view. This includes input from the current County Commissioners, residents and the business sector. I don't think it will be an easy task, but it is an important one.

So, why should I be elected? I don't hold a law degree nor have any experience in drafting legal documents. I have no political experience. I have never drafted a charter for a county government before - although there aren't many people who have.

I have lived in this county all my life - spending the first 26 years in the heavily populated southern part and then moving to the rural northern part, where I have resided for the past 16 years. I have no agenda in creating a charter, so I will be open to input from a number of sources. My only goal is to create a government that will allow the county to be successful.

Defining what is successful is going to be the most difficult part. The purpose of the commission is not to run the county or to define what needs to be done. It is to determine the structure of our government; is an executive needed, if so how much power will they have; how many commissioners will be needed, what is their role in the new government.

I'm writing this to organize my ideas. The election is less than two weeks away and my campaigning has been minimal. I need to decide - is this something that I can do? Is it something I want to do?