I served on the West Lafayette, IN City Council for just about two years.  That may seem like a relatively limited amount of experience as an elected official, but like any job, you learn the most in the first few months on the job.

One of the lessons I did not anticipate but learned very quickly, is that not everyone runs for office for the same reasons, or even any of the reasons elected officials would list off if questioned.

Yes, certainly, some elected officials run because they want to make a positive impact, want to move forward a certain issue, or want to make sure a certain view point is represented.  Others, run because they are bored, retired, and feel like it is something they should just do.  Others, run so that the guys in their golf league will think they are cool and respect them.  There are lots of reasons, why people are motivated to run for elected office, they are not always the ones we were taught in School House Rock.

These varying motivations lead to issues like the ones Doug Masson noted today in his blog post If You Want It Bad, That’s How We’ll Give It To You about his interaction with state lawmakers while helping them draft bills.

On the local level, West Lafayette Councilor Ann Hunt is someone who I may have disagreed with on many issues but who always read every word of every Ordinance, double checked, triple checked and cross referenced every change. She strove to understand the impact of every word on a diverse population of constituents. 

I won’t mention the Councilors who were more inclined to read the title of the Ordinance, get a gut feel on the debate, and just be happy to go ahead and vote, but there always seem to be quite a few of them in every legislative body, certainly at the local level – and probably at the national level too.

The worst part about the whole interaction, was that often times when someone like Councilor Hunt was asking questions, trying to check that the details were all right. That the um “less concerned” Councilors would get visibly upset with the delay, the time spent checking the details over. They would want to rush through the agenda, and get out of the meeting room as soon as possible.

They would often not object on the record, but they would make it clear with sighs or eye rolling that they were annoyed that someone else was “wasting” their time doing a complete, and through job. They would be annoyed that someone was spending the time to properly architect laws that would affect thousands of people and families.

Disagree on policy sure, that is fine, but get in the way of a motivated elected official from fully upholding their responsibility to voters, simply because you want to go home early? Despicable. Actively block, an elected official who is motivated to do a good job, for the right reasons, because you already got what you wanted out of office - to look cool in front of your drinking buddies? Destructive. The worst kind of elected official. Actively ignoring a solemn duty.

Now sure, there is no need to drag out debate and dialog when all the parties are informed and all the language has been exacted, but I will share one outrageous example of the behavior I’m talking about.

While I was on the City Council, the friends of a fellow elected official would give him/her a word before each meeting. “Platypus” or “Hyperbole” for example. The friends would watch the meeting, and bet with the elected official on if he could fit the word into the debate at some point.  Instead of focusing on honest, discovery and debate, they had made a game out of the City Council meetings. 

Unfortunately more often then not it is very hard for a voter to tell the difference between an hard working, conscientious Ann Hunt and a lazy eye rolling elected official. Often times the press does not even care enough to get to know, or expose, the back stories behind the debate and figure this out either.

While on the Council, I had the pleasure of working with great reporters like Mike Malik, a guy who got to know you personally, dug into individuals motivations and back stories. I also worked with reporters who could care less, and were on and off of the City Beat after only a few stories.

I don’t have a solution for fixing this issue, or how to get more of the good guys in the seats, but from my time on the Council I will always remember that there are many different types of elected officials, not just the Republican/Democrat axis we all know and pound on.

I have seen and know good Democrats and lazy Democrats, good Republicans and bad Republicans, and ideological issues aside, their behavior, their approach, and their motivation can make a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of individuals.