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Show What makes them run for thankless job? By MARC HADDOCK My father was a dedicated public servant He served two or three terms as a city councilman. (I don't know how many because he started all this before I was born.) He was always involved in the community, pushing for the city golf course which was finally built, or supporting some other cause. . And he was actively involved in each election, supporting one candidate or another. And quite often he was running for something or other. My father was one of those rare politicians a dedicated Democrat in a county that was more Republican than Utah County if that's possible. But in the local elections, people vote for the person, not the party. And Dad won more often than he lost. The campaign that stands out in my mind is when my father ran for a seat on the Idaho Legislature, and won. I was 15 when we packed up what we needed and headed the 300 miles to Boise for the three months of the regular session. Dad couldn't have afforded our upkeep for those three months on what he made as a Legislator he paid for the priviledge to serve. But to him it was worth it. Back home he was hounded constantly by many people, especially a prominent member of the local John Birch Society chapter, a man who was convinced my father was a communist who was trying to turn our county into the spitting image of Russia. candidate, whoiJ, give into that urgeto-good urgeto-good reason other thar--to see if they can nul, - because there's discernable reward In sometowisii. don't get paid a mi Ft-council Ft-council Beats, the pays greater. And even though lb, tend to make fun ottky women. I laugh atbi-sound atbi-sound like politicians t,: they accept the nomir warn people.nottotal::, , out for a few months i-.; I never know whose pi ' them. And I usually do ilk... backs. You probably it, J i But that's what t- elections so much fin-; ' ' the candidates. You're ij for or against an iriEj- i platform created kyiJi nincompoops back east, r. guy you were in chic last week. Sometimes in the iii : fun, it's hard to Bee lis:: and to imagine the ai.:. .. the candidates take k: themselves up forkj ; the greatest rejections!:-' simply because they as: serve. , So whilel mightpokci'i at the candidates, 1 is-'j ' greatly. Because I've set-' - J side, too, and I knwtk'-, of public service is a ro-" - j anyone who really C that path deserves befc-she befc-she is ever likely to g The man would come into my father's store and argue politics with him in front of other customers. He would call up the local radio station and ridicule my father on the air. He wasn't the only critic, but Dad bore it all well. Throughout the year, he made several trips to Boise at the expense of his businesss, because he felt it was his responsibility. He worked hard at being a state representative and got very little for it but satisfaction. In the end he was proud of his record. After two years, he subjected himself to the draining process of another election, but this time the rules were changed. The district boundaries had been reorganized and he ran in a three county area an area that was strongly Republican where he was not widely known. He lost badly. In a way it was a blessing. Dad had neglected his business, spent too much time involved in the business of the state. But it hurt him deeply to discover that few of his friends thought he had done as good a job as he thought he had. It was a long time before he would accept the pressure that accompanies elected office again. This time, he stayed close to home and was elected to a seat on the Bear Lake County Commission, where he was named chairman of that body. While there, he helped establish and served as a founding member of the Bear Lake Regional Commission, a group of local officials from Utah and Idaho who are still trying to work out the sticky issues created by the heavy development around that lake that straddles the Utah-Idaho border. It was one of many accomplishments, one of those of - which he was the most proud. I wasn't home that last time he ran. But I know why he did it. It wasn't for the money, or the power, or the glory. It was simply because he wanted to serve. He had ideas, ideas he thought would improve his community. He tried to make those ideas live in the city, in the state, and finally in the county. And in the end, he had crated many enemies, and many more friends, including fellow legislator John Evans, who is now the governor of Idaho. He cherished the friendships. My father was driven by a force he could never define. A lot of us feel that same thing, tugging at us, urging us to get involved. But most of us use our heads we ignore it and it goes away. It's a peculiar individual, like my father and a lot of our current |