By the time this is published, we will be 11 days from the June 1 deadline to file to run in the November 2026 election. Normally this would not be newsworthy, but this year something has me alarmed - we currently have exactly zero people who have filed to run for District 1 Bourbon County Commissioner.
No Democrats, no Republicans, no Libertarians, no Independents - nobody.
Now, this isn't entirely uncommon - it's not unusual for some candidates to wait to file until the last minute, but not ALL of the candidates. I've also had a question running through my head with increasing frequency that I've never even considered until this year:
"What if nobody runs this time?"
It feels like we've been going down the slippery slope towards this moment for a while now. Over the last several years, as the community has become more and more polarized, and as toxic local Facebook groups have become more and more popular - no, I'm not done beating that dead horse yet - we've had fewer and fewer people sign up to run for any local office.
Don't get me wrong, from the outside looking in, I get it. But here's the deal - we need leaders, and speaking from experience, it's not nearly as as scary as it looks.
I am someone who loathes conflict, and am a people pleaser by nature (not ideal for a reporter, I realize), but if I lived in District 1, I would 110% throw my name in the hat tomorrow - yes, even with things being the raging dumpster fire they are right now.
Now, I would have to massively rejigger my responsibilities at the Monitor in terms of who covers the county government, but I would run in a heartbeat. When I tell people that, they usually assume that I have fallen into meth addiction while having the benefit of good dental insurance, but I promise you, that's not the case!
Local government is the last true democracy in America. Take it from someone who has been a political junkie for 26 years now - Washington DC is a lost cause, and Topeka is somehow even worse. But here in Bourbon County, USA? Zero lobbyists. Zero special interests throwing around tens of thousands of dollars to buy their elected official of choice.
Politics is still pure here - it's still by the people, for the people. Now, it can get nasty, and it can get contentious, but it's still pure. It's the one place left where one person truly can make a difference, and where honesty and integrity still matter.
Want to know a secret? It's also EASY....if you let it be easy. Being a county commissioner is as difficult as you choose to make it. Do you have experience managing seven figure budgets and 100 employees? Most of us don't, but there are people in this community who have, and they will give you their time to help teach you, if you're willing to listen to them.
Don't know how the mill levy works, or even what it is? Shoot, I still struggle with that - but there are tons of FREE resources out there, and people who do know who can help explain it to you....if you're willing to utilize them.
In my experience, there are only two key qualities truly required to succeed in local government aside from good old honesty and integrity:
1) Humility - acknowledge that you don't know what you don't know, and accept going in that you don't know JACK. No prior private or public sector experience you have can be directly applied to serving in local government, particularly county government.
County government is its own unique animal, and if you try to ram the square peg of your personal experience into the round hole of local government, you will quickly find yourself exhausted and miserable. Over the last 20 years, I've watched countless people try to make local government fit their personal vision of how things are supposed to work, and without fail they just end up burned out, bitter and angry.
And no, your household budget is not like a local government budget - your household budget isn't seven figures, and it doesn't provide a living for dozens of people, provide infrastructure for 11,000 people, or fall under the jurisdiction of a thousand state and federal regulations. Sorry...it just doesn't.
2) Be A Listener - local governments have multiple departments with wildly different responsibilities, and chances are you won't have much (if any) experience with any of them. But that's okay! The good news is that once again, there are likely people within and outside of the organization who do and will help you - if you are willing to listen to their guidance.
I live in the world of entrepreneurship, and in that world, "disruptors" are revered. Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk....the list goes on and on. But local government doesn't need disruptors, it needs listeners.
That's it - that's all it takes for even the greenest of rookies to succeed in local government - humility and functional hearing. Bourbon County is a mess right now, but I genuinely believe it's one good leader away from massive positive change, if that leader steps up. The ball is in your court.
