Before I moved home and accepted this job, I didn’t have much interest in local politics; I suspect that has something to do with the fact that I lived and worked in Austin. It is difficult to take seriously any political machine that calls Paul Bunyan in a tutu a viable candidate for mayor.

When I got back to Lockhart, I was hesitant to get involved with the local political climate. Throughout our youth, my parents were actively involved in the community, and I remembered all too well the battle scars they carried from standing up for what they believed was best for the town they love.

As the years go by, I find myself more and more involved in the political scene - to the point that I sometimes surprise myself by the emotional reactions I have to local politics. By and large, I try to keep my reactions inside my own head... but every so often, they sneak out.

Overall, I have a set list of emotional reactions to local politics, based in large part on what I observe in following them. The one thing common to all areas of local politics is the respect I have for the folks that decide to run for office and serve the community to the best of their abilities.

County politics frustrate me. It is chilling to watch a group of people wrestle with a variety of issues they are by and large powerless to control. I feel for our County Commissioners. I think for the most part they want to do right, they just aren’t quite sure how, with limited resources and even more limited powers.

City politics amuse me. It’s difficult to imagine a more varied group of personalities trying to formulate and agree upon a singular vision. Here, too, I think their hearts are in the right place; it has to be complicated to be responsible for the life and death of a city on the brink.

And then, there are the school board politics. As a general rule, school board politics leave me vaguely nauseated, which I’ve never quite understood. This weekend, though, I took some time to reflect and consider why that is. School board politics nauseate me because I don’t like merry-go-rounds - they tend to make me dizzy. Watching the comings and goings of the school board in these parts is an awful lot like riding a merry-go-round.

This is not to say that the board spins their collective wheels and gets nowhere for their efforts. Those seven men and women work hard, for free, doing a job that I wouldn’t even consider trying to conquer. Whether or not we like or respect the folks doing the job, we have to respect their willingness to take the job. And truth told, the dizzying aspect of school board politics has very little to do with the politicians themselves.
Moreso, what makes my head spin is how hot-and-cold this community runs where the actual decision-making process is concerned.

Over and over, I have seen the community at large go completely bonkers over some decision the board makes or some action they take. Over and over, I hear citizens clamoring for the head of this board member or that one on a stick - or failing impalement, at the very least being run out of office. Passions run high, and folks swear to be more involved in the next round of elections.

Well, here we are, election time again... and right back where we started. The passion has died down, and no one seems to care.

I’m staring at my calendar, and I see early voting starting in two weeks. Not a candidate forum in sight. Experience with seated board members and research I’ve done for the newspaper on the new candidates, I can’t say I know very much about the men on the ballot, and I can’t see how the rest of the community could, either.

I’ll grant you, I know most of the candidates personally. Still, I’m not sure “I knew him in high school and he seemed like a great guy,” is a good enough reason choose someone for a key role in things so important as the development of our youth or the spending of our tax dollars.

When my head stops spinning, I will start working on the Candidate Profiles feature, which is scheduled to run in next week’s Post-Register. In the meantime, I hope the rest of the community will hop off the carousel.

If we keep going around in circles, we won’t get anywhere, and we’ll stay dizzy.
kathibliss@post-register.com