EDITORIAL: New leader needed for vacant position on Powell City Council

Posted 11/24/15

Meanwhile, local leaders continue to make decisions that directly affect your daily life — decisions like how much your electricity bill costs or whether the snow is plowed off your neighborhood’s streets on weekends.

The people who serve in …

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EDITORIAL: New leader needed for vacant position on Powell City Council

Posted

With the 2016 presidential election still 11 months away, many Americans are already fixated on the race. From Facebook posts to dinner-table rants, so much time and attention goes to national races.

Meanwhile, local leaders continue to make decisions that directly affect your daily life — decisions like how much your electricity bill costs or whether the snow is plowed off your neighborhood’s streets on weekends.

The people who serve in these local leadership roles rarely get much limelight, much less thanks, but they remain vital to our community.

When it comes to things we work toward in the Powell community — such as safe neighborhoods, clean streets, opportunities for recreation and reliable utilities — it’s up to local leaders to make it happen.

That’s why it’s so important to have residents willing to step up and serve.

Normally, local opportunities for public office come up every two years, but Powell residents now have an unexpected chance to serve on the Powell City Council.

Josh Shorb resigned from the Powell City Council last week because his family is moving to a new home outside of town. Shorb was first elected to the council in 2006. He left the council for a couple years when he moved to another ward in the city, and then was re-elected in 2012 to represent Ward 3.

Over the years, we have admired Shorb’s leadership and appreciated the perspective he brought to the City Council as one of its younger members. Shorb often started conversations and also was willing to ask hard questions. He will be missed on the council.

As city leaders seek to fill the vacant council seat, we hope new candidates step up.

It’s been frustrating to see how little interest there has been in City Council positions in recent years.

Just one Powell City Council race was contested in 2012. Don Hillman was the only candidate to run for mayor that year; a few people were written in as potential candidates on the primary ballot, but they all declined to run in the general election.

Similarly, only a single council race drew two candidates in 2014 — other incumbents ran unopposed.

In filling this current council vacancy — and in future elections — it would be better to see a variety of candidates step forward. Candidates benefit from competition, and voters then get a choice in whom they elect.

We also encourage more women to consider seeking public office. It’s been more than a decade since a female served on the Powell City Council.

The qualifications to fill the vacant council seat are simple: You must be a qualified voter at least 18 years old who has lived at least one year in Ward 3, which Shorb represented. To see a detailed map of the Ward 3 boundaries, visit www.cityofpowell.com/assets/pdf/ward.pdf.

Letters must be submitted to Mayor Hillman at Powell City Hall by 5 p.m. Monday.

Maybe you should give it some thought.

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