Really people???

Last week we got the call from the Elections Clerk for the county, saying that all of the elections except the mayor race for Mountain Home and the city council races for Mountain Home and Glenns Ferry have been cancelled. The reason? Because every other race: WECRD, EECRD, the school districts etc. did not have anyone sign up to challenge the incumbents.
When we got the official lists of candidates at the filing deadline I was extremely disappointed.
This is in no way me saying that I am for or against anyone that currently holds those positions, but I was very frustrated. I spend all year hearing from people who are frustrated in the way things are done by these different groups and I always tell people to use their voices, to show up for meetings, to actually do something if they feel a change needs to be made.
Earlier this year I made a point of letting people know which positions were up for election in November. My thinking was that we have a lot of people who do a lot of complaining about how things should be done differently in our community, so maybe some of them would step up and run for one of these positions themselves. I was wrong. Evidently it is easy to be ‘armchair quarterbacks’ and say how things “should be done,” but none of the complainers actually have the gumption to get up and do those things. It’s easy to talk a big game when you don’t actually step up and put your name or reputation on the line. Truthfully, with the way the leaders of our local community are treated online, having them and their families drug through the mud on a daily basis, I guess I don’t completely blame some folks for that decision. However, if you aren’t willing to take the heat, if you aren’t willing to take time out of your busy life to help better our towns, maybe it’s time to have a little more respect for the people that do. I’m not saying people don’t have a right to voice their concerns and complaints, but how about doing it in a civilized manner? Maybe have the common decency to at least admire that these people take the time and do the best job they can to try to make our world a better place. I don’t think any of them claim to be perfect or think every decision they make is perfect. After all, they are all just human, like you or me, but at least they are trying.