Thank you candidates!

Here is a big Thank You to the men and women of our community who have accepted the plea and the challenge to run for public office.

For the second, but not last time before the May Primary, The Brazil Times recently ran the long list of people who will be on ballots in Clay County.

It is a long list. We could have printed the list in small print but decided that would only serve to discourage readers from reading the names and, hopefully, offering encouragement to the candidates of their choice.

That’s one reason candidates are to be thanked ... and congratulated. Not everyone will support their candidacy.

That should be no shock to anyone who has paid attention over the years. Some people are ardent about political parties. Others want to label people as conservative or liberal in local elections just as they label the national candidates.

I have been labeled by a certain gentleman who only knows me by one comment I made on social media. I doubt he has read anything else I’ve written. Thankfully, as a journalist I will probably not step into the fray of running for office.

Another reason candidates should be thanked — whether you plan to vote for the individual or not — is because of the work load they will assume if they are elected.

Not only will they hear from their public, supporters and non-supporters alike, but they will find being a public official means long, long hours of study demanded by state and federal government regulations.

No local official, from county commissioners and county council to school board has the luxury of assuming their board can make any decisions without the oversight of state and, sometimes, federal officials.

Wonder why attorneys attend nearly every meeting? It’s to keep the board out of trouble.

More and more, proposed ordinances and resolutions have to be considered at more than one meeting before even a first reading is voted upon. There is so much to consider on every issue.

After sitting in many board and council meetings since 1994, I can tell you there are untold hours spent outside those meetings in study and consideration of what is best for our community and what is demanded by state and federal officials.

I am sure we will hear much more about this when the Clay County Commissioners give their annual speech on Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce Meeting in the YMCA at noon.