News-Record.com

Running for office, even locally, is no Holliday

A major catalyst in decisions by former Mayor Keith Holliday and veteran City Councilman Tom Phillips not to seek re-election clearly was the demand of their day jobs versus the demands of public office.

As devoted as someone might to public service, there are still groceries to buy and bills to pay.

While it is a healthy thing to allow for new ideas and fresh faces on governing boards, too much turnover has its own hazards. A board can lack chemistry, experience and continuity. (That clearly hasn't been the problem in Greensboro but it could be with the next council).

That's why it makes sense to consider ways to help defray the costs in time and money that elective office can entail.

For instance, the council should consider raises for members that are indexed to cost-of-living increases.

Such a system would remove the politics from the process and just maybe make the job more attractive to a broader cross section of ages and backgrounds.

Otherwise, it may get to the point that you have to be retired or independently rich or both to be able to serve. And the prospect of more young people choosing to run will become more and more remote.

Meanwhile, Yvonne Johnson will announce that she will run next week. She has been waiting, for years, for Holliday to step aside. There had been an understanding between the two that one wouldn't run against the other although Johnson's patience had started to run short.

She has a good chance to become the first African American mayor in the city, even if Florence Gatten chooses to run against her.