Nine Seats....

“Take your place on the great Mandala

as it moves through your brief moment of time...”

                                                            Noel Paul Stookey

There are nine seats open for election in Lindsay’s city government, and only three require that you live within the city limits.  Six require that you live within the boundaries of the Lindsay Local Hospital District or Lindsay Unified School District, which broadens considerably the range of people who can participate in this community’s future.

Before I began trying to understand what was going on in our town, before the big splash Scot Townsend made with his exit, I didn’t understand how intertwined this city’s government had become with the community’s hospital and school districts.  No one did except the players themselves, because hardly anyone ever attended the public meetings of the three bodies.  Partly that’s because when they did, no one could understand what they were talking about.  But we, the public in both city and countryside, are at least half-way responsible for what has happened here because we were lame as citizens.

Now we’re 100% responsible for reform.

I called the county elections office to find out what’s required (624-7300.)  First, you go to there and fill out some forms for them to verify your voter registration, address and economic interests.  You can also get copies of the candidates guide there or online at their website: www.tularecoelections.org.  The candidates guide describes the qualifications and requirements of candidacy, and is a very valuable tool.

The three city council seats require 20-30 nomination signatures that must be gathered before the filing deadline of 5 p.m. Aug. 10.  Like we learned in the recall effort, those signatures must be verified as qualified registered voters within the city limits, so the county recommends getting 30 to insure the required number of 20 valid signatures.  The hospital and school district seats do not require nomination signatures.

There are no filing fees, but there is a cost for publishing the candidates statement in the County’s sample ballot.  This statement is optional and costs around $350, which must be paid in advance at the time of filing.  If you choose not to submit a statement, there’s no cost for filing.

There may be other costs, however, depending on how you want to promote yourself as a candidate, such as yard signs and flyers.  But the Dolores Huerta Foundation has offered to hold a candidates forum, which would be a wonderful way to get your message out free of charge.  This paper will also be reporting on the elections process, and I will be glad to make public any person’s position on city matters with this column, including the incumbents’.

When no one runs, there’s no elections.  That’s also what I didn’t understand before the big splash.  Let’s get some candidates on the ballot and see what we can do in our brief moment of time.