05/29/14: Making time for elections

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

Last of three parts

“IN ALL OUR deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.” — Malcom X

Of the three elements of a successful campaign, time is perhaps the most important, although the most difficult to quantify. This one falls mostly on the shoulders of the candidate. Moving local elections to November increases the amount of time a candidate has to put in, which reduces the pool of candidates.

None of the council or school board positions in Hampton Roads is a full-time job. Nearly all of the occupants of those positions also hold jobs elsewhere. They are, in the truest sense, citizen legislators, often identified as community activists who want to make a difference.

Campaigning, like serving, is a part-time effort.

The relatively short time between the filing deadline in March and the voting in May allows candidates to suspend other activities and concentrate on the campaign. Even so, serious candidates will soon find themselves amid a flurry of activities that test the boundaries of a 24-hour day.

Instead of attending their child’s Saturday morning soccer game, they participate in a parade. Instead of Wednesday night Bible study, they visit civic group meetings. Instead of late-afternoon board meetings, they are knocking on voters’ doors.

In between, they are on the phone, trying to raise money. Or getting back to voters to answer questions raised at the doors. Or preparing for the next candidate forum or editorial board interview.

Yes, most of them start before the filing deadline. But it is only after the field is set that the campaign activity begins in earnest.

November elections have a much longer campaign season. Labor Day may be considered the start of the fall campaign season but in truth, it starts much earlier. The filing deadline for this fall’s election is June 10, almost five months before Election Day on Nov. 4.

At least five months to be away from normal community and family activities instead of two. At least five months to put everything else — except work, of course — on hold.

Is it any wonder that fewer people are willing to offer themselves for public service?

When Portsmouth moved its elections to November, the city saw nearly 38 percent fewer candidates run for council. In Virginia Beach, the move cut the field of candidates for at-large council in half.

We have already seen the state legislature increasingly become a body of wealthy career politicians who often face no competition. Do we really want to elect only those who have the time to campaign? Do we want to eliminate the school teacher, the police officer, the small business owner and others from the pool of candidates?

If we believe that government closest to us governs best and that those elected should be representative of those governed, May elections for local office give us the best opportunity. The combined elements of money, people and time make it possible.