How (and Why) to Run

For Village Council and other local offices

Did you know we have three Trustee seats on the Village Council opening up in November? Yes, ’tis true. One position, the one occupied by the venerable Mr. Kenneth Holmes, is “naturally” opening up, because he’ll be completing the fourth year of his term. The other two spots, held by current council members Brett McGregor and Ryan Fiebing, are opening because these two members were both appointed, not elected, and this means per the General Law Village Act, they must run at the next nearest election even if the term they were appointed to fill isn’t over.

How to Run

If McGregor, Fiebing, and Holmes wish to be on the ballot in November (I hope they do), they each have until ((((((((((4 p.m. on April 23 JULY 23 [3/5/24 Shannon Spenceley was thinking of Gilmore, which, because it has a primary in August, has an earlier petition filing date. But the Village is July 23, she informed me today.]))))))))) to submit a petition with 6 names on it to our Gilmore Township clerk, Dave Bissell. And this is true for you, if you would like to run “against” them.

Elberta’s elections are nonpartisan, and candidates don’t declare a party; the township board, however, is partisan, so there you run as a Democrat, Republican, or Independent to serve on Gilmore’s board (for either D or R, you need just 3 signatures on your petition; for Independent, you need 9).

People who sign your petition must be residents and electors of Elberta who are registered to vote in Elberta. For Gilmore Township’s board, your signatures have to all be from Gilmore residents and registered voters. They can be family members! As long as they’re old enough to vote and registered. Oh and you have to be eligible to vote in order to run for office (sorry, kids).

As a petition signer, you can sign more than one petition, but you can’t sign more petitions than there are open positions. So: in this Elberta election, which is for three positions, you can’t sign petitions for more than three different candidates. Someone, in this case Dave Bissell, has to go through all the petitions and check all the signatures to make sure they’re valid. When I ran, a couple of years ago, I got 9 signatures, and I believe two of them ended up being invalid! So I was glad (sort of) that I had gotten more than I needed.

First you call Dave Bissell at 231-620-6158. He’ll give you a petition and an Affidavit of Identity to fill out. If you think you’re going to spend more than $1,000 on your campaign, you also have to fill out a form stating you’ll comply with campaign finance laws.

Has anyone in Elberta ever spent more than $1,000 to run for council? A very good question I’d love to know the answer to. Wild guess here: you probably will not need to fill out the campaign finance form. But hey, I’d love to see a local campaign with high production values someday. Or signs, even!

Why to Run

Now you know basically how to get your name on the ballot for the November 5 election. But why, oh why, would you ever do that?

Well, you may not realize it, but local and state politics affects your daily life and pocketbook even more than national politics does. For instance, we have the controversy spilling over now about the bathrooms coming to Frankfort beach. There was a yearslong process and many decisions and meetings leading up to this moment. Apparently a bunch of people weren’t paying attention or weren’t involved when they could have affected the process, and now they’re mad. And the people who put hours and hours of time into coming up with the bathroom plan are also probably mad that they’re mad. If more people participated more regularly, there would probably be fewer of these types of “surprises.” Do many hands (and brains) make light work and better decision making overall? It’d be nice to find out.

As a member of the Village council and the Fire Advisory Board, I was just at an informational meeting tonight about the contract the Village and Gilmore has with Frankfort Fire Department. Costs have risen drastically, due to several factors, but mostly a combination of increased coverage and service, inflation, and the formula that is used to calculate each service area’s share, which is based partly on property values, which have spiked hugely in the past couple of years. We have to decide now whether to go out for a millage increase to cover future contracts (this year’s is already settled), or perhaps contract with a different provider. But will the coverage be the same with someone else? Who has the equipment we need? If you’re on the western [ugh, duh] eastern edge of Gilmore you might not mind getting your fire and first responder service from Benzonia (one option). Personally, here in Elberta, I’d rather work with nearby Frankfort for my emergencies. Decisions will be made, and they will definitely affect you and your loved ones, one way or another. (By the way, Chief Cederholm comes to every single Elberta Village Council meeting and provides a very detailed multipage report on runs and other goings-on at the Fire Department, which you can view on our Village website.)

Mary Robling, a member of the executive board of the Benzie Democrats, is very concerned about the number of local seats that are vacant or opening up—about 70, she told me, at last count. She’s written a letter to the Benzie County Record Patriot and asked if I would share it here too. It includes a plug for a “how to run” meeting the Dems are holding March 13. She sums up the importance of participating in local politics (or just serving on a committee or attending meetings regularly), writing:

It’s difficult to keep track of what’s actually important while in the throes of a Presidential campaign. 

TV coverage is constant, constantly “breaking!”, and all about “he said-she said.”  It angers us and can lead to yelling at your TV set and feeling powerless.

It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, the political activity that affects all of us the most, day to day and all year long, is not on TV. It’s in our township halls and county offices. That is where our power lies.

That’s especially true now: Benzie County has an opportunity to keep, modify, worsen or, yes, improve its local governments. More than 70 seats—all of them four year terms—are up for a vote in November—including every county commissioner, township clerk, supervisor, and trustee.

This really matters: You pay local taxes directly to your local governments and your local, elected leaders decide how, when, where and sometimes even IF to spend them.

Without exception, those leaders are dealing with matters occurring literally right down the road from you…and me.

Building regulations, development, public health, roads, parks and playing fields. Libraries, environmental problems, waste disposal. Senior services, Benzie Bus, zoning.

Benzie County needs you to stop yelling at your TV and channel that wasted energy into running for—or helping someone else run for—any of these many open seats. These are part time jobs. Some pay well, others not so much. Most could be a good "side" hustle or your primary job. Think about it seriously, please: Benzie really needs fresh, new ideas!

This is why the Benzie County Democratic Party is offering a "Candidate Curious" night for neighbors thinking of running as Democrats. Learn about building a good campaign, ask lots of questions, meet other fine folks interested in their community, and enjoy some good food together. 

This happens on Wednesday evening, March 13th, at 6 p.m., at Benzie Dems Headquarters, on US 31, just east of the Cherry Bowl Drive In. Benzie is very close to a 50/50 red/blue county, but right now we are just not represented that way.

If you care about that, here’s you chance to help change it.

—Mary Robling, Frankfort, MI 

Maybe this letter will inspire not just Democrats but Republicans and Independents and Greens and everyone to think about running for office. Clearly part of the reason for the dearth of candidates is that many people work full-time and can’t stomach the idea of attending a two-hour council meeting once a month (in addition to various committee meetings, emails, and other stuff) for which you get compensated barely or not at all: Elberta council members make $40 per meeting for regular trustees and $80 for the president role. County commission seats are better compensated, but the meetings are even longer and they’re in the middle of the day. So that probably rules out anyone who works a regular 9-to-5 job or needs or wants to earn a living.

I’m one of those people. Believe it or not, I have a full-time job *not* in local government. As does everyone else on our council right now except for the retired Ken Holmes.

But you just might find that a role in local government pays off for you in other ways that make it worth it. ARE YOU DRIVEN BY A LUST FOR POWER AND GLORY?? At the local level, you can really make a difference in a way you just can’t nationally. Feel like the two main parties are basically the same? Fed up with government shutdowns and other nonsense? Fretful about the chances of turning the huge ship of state around before it’s too late? If the federal government feels like the Ever Given, well, the Elberta Village Council is a frickin’ Jet-Ski in comparison. And it’s probably never been easier to run for—and win!—a local seat. The competition is, shall we say, not fierce.

Are there any other questions you have about how to participate in deeply local politics? Put them in a comment or email me. I’m not an expert—I learn something new every day—and it’s kind of fun to find out more.

(If you want to get more into the nitty gritty, you can read the state’s rules for election filing here.)