By John Mutton      
Well this is the week (May 1)that those interested in running for municipal office can file nomination papers.

A few items that I can speak about that may come in handy. If you want to run for office and have little or no experience start at School Board Trustee, it is an excellent proving ground that costs little money to run a campaign.

Moving over to local councillor, I would suggest that any candidate have experience in basic understanding of public policy and economics, but to have also been a volunteer within a service club or another community group.

Regional Council candidates are usually folks that have done a term at council or school board or have very deep community ties with a broad base of knowledge.

For the Mayoral position it is likely too late if you have not been working behind the scenes on your campaign and making the contacts that will help fund a Mayoral campaign which will be 20-100 k in Durham. Considering you have 5.5 months, 2 months of summer and the provincial election, it will be very hard to compete with a sitting Mayor without the aforementioned pre election period work and announcement of intentions.

Public office is not as glamorous as some may think. You have to ask the public to give your job back every 4 years and you have to spend and raise money to get that job. In years gone by we have seen many candidates per ward in different cities, most without any preparation, just a want to serve. My advice to anyone is to community volunteer, because that is where you will develop the skills for public office and build your brand to be more than a name on a ballot.

Till next week...