(3rd in a series of posts on City Government)
How’d you do on Saturday’s quiz?
Could you recognize our elected officials?
Gadfly hopes you can or will.
And, beyond that, take advantage of the audio and video files here on Gadfly, as well as the upcoming videos of Council meetings, to also have a good sense of the intellectual and practical qualities they bring to the Council table.
CM Martell’s decision not to run again means there will be at least one opening next election. And no doubt prospective candidates are thinking about that right now.
Gadfly has an idea.
The Gadfly blog now has an interested, serious, thoughtful group of several hundred followers.
Gadfly’s idea is that prospective candidates think of the blog as a place to begin to establish a “presence” among voters by regularly commenting on issues, trying out ideas, and sharing visions.
Gadfly doesn’t want to vote for candidates because they were selected by “the machine”! If there is one in Bethlehem, that is.
He doesn’t want to vote on the basis of good looks, cocktail party chatter, snappy slogans, glossy flyers, and the like.
Gadfly would like the kind of sustained interaction on the level of ideas that regular participation on the blog can give.
Gadfly is alllllll about informed voting.
We hope that prospective candidates will take advantage of the Gadfly forum to “test the waters,” to shape their positions, to engage a constituency.
And start now.
(One more thing: Gadfly is running into people who think City Council is a full-time job. Not so, of course. Part-time: $7100/yr, less than $600/mo. All Council members have “day work.” Not much extra pay for not only the time put in but the slings and arrows they get from sitting in the front of the room. It’s a big responsibility.)
