In April, city council, town board, school boards, and other local government positions will be up for reelection.
Melissa Kono is the Town Clerk of Burnside in Trempealeau County. She’s also a Community Development Educator with UW Extension.
“One of my areas of research is elections and encouraging people to run for office. I've been doing that work for at least a decade now, really focusing on encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue elected office,” said Kono.
She understands there’s a lot of reasons people don’t run for office.
It’s often a thankless job. Elected officials are often under a lot of scrutiny and criticism.
Still, Kono encourages people to run for democracy and as a public service.
“Representation is important, and democracy is important. Even at the local level, voters should get a say in who represents them and then who fulfills the duties of local office,” said Kono.
The underrepresented groups Kono encourages to run range from women to parents of young children.
“I think that it's understandable that people don't feel like they have the time, but I also think that that means a section of our population is not having input on important matters, especially with the future,” said Kono. “Serving in elected office does take some time, but I think that there are ways to make it work, even if people are busy with other things like families or running a business or having a career.”
Kono says it’s important for people to pick an office that interests them.
She also encourages people to look at what skillset might be missing that they could provide your community.
“I think there's skills that people have in other areas of their life, whether it's their work or their hobbies, that do lend themselves well to being in public office,” said Kono.
Some towns and villages hold a caucus in January to put candidates on the April ballot.
Many require candidates to collect signatures and submit nomination papers by January 7th.
“If they're thinking about it, they need to act quickly, because the process of getting on the ballot is coming up soon,” said Kono.
People interested in running should contact their local clerk for the nomination and candidate information.
Kono acknowledges running for office is not for everyone but says there’s still a role people can play.
“They can encourage others to run, especially people who they think would be excellent at running for office,” said Kono. “Offering to help, whether it's helping to circulate nomination papers or being willing to door knock or talk to others on that candidate's behalf.”
The spring election is April 1st.
If needed, there will be a primary in February.
