To the Edge and Back

By Al Horn

I may now rest after a month of attending meetings, luncheons, and interviews. I knocked on many a door, planted and replanted many signs, and talked to anybody that would listen. I spent the first Tuesday of the month standing in front of a polling precinct and chatted with candidates seeking the same job and those seeking different positions within the community. Aside from a short break in the afternoon, I was there from sunrise to sundown. The process was exhausting - physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was also a wonderful learning experience.

The Barmaid and I ran a campaign on about $500.00, total. All of it came from our own pockets. We learned to be creative with our resources. An old printer cartridge was exchanged for a ream of recycled paper. We turned the paper into one thousand campaign flyers. The Barmaid did a heck of a job on designing them.

Signs turned out to be the major expense. We had fifty of them printed and set about a plan to strategically plant them for maximum growth potential. We held some back for last minute uses. It was a good thing we did. The March winds carried several of them away and we discovered that properly placed in the rear window of a vehicle, they became traveling emissaries.

The Barmaid gave me a good once over before I left for any public meetings. I discovered a few oddities in my business dress etiquette that she has kindly overlooked for the past twelve years. I'm certainly a better man for it... or so she tells me.

The most important thing I learned is that just about everybody has a beef with the local school board. And, even though I was not running for a city government position, many were more than happy to tell me their thoughts on our local officials and how they spend our tax dollars. Why was this important? It gave me an insight to my neighbors and the things that concerned them. Many of their comments validated my running for an elected office. I also learned how much I really cared.

I finished fourth in a race for three positions. I missed the last slot by three hundred and sixty-six votes. Some might feel sorry for me. Don't. I have grown from this experience. Even if I never run for office again I will have received an insight into how a community is held together. I have a clearer understanding of how I fit into the massive jigsaw puzzle that contains the big picture.

Over fifteen hundred people believed in the message I shouted. If the school board chooses to ignore that message, I will just get a bigger sound system for next year's run.