AN ICON OPINION -
All politics is local, or so goes the phrase.

That’s so true here.

Watching Bluffton politics as we have since the 1970s several things come to mind.

• No one runs for mayor, council or school board when thing in the village and the school district appear to be operating smoothly.
• When chaos erupts suddenly the ballot is packed.

Case in point: In 2017 10 persons ran for 4 Bluffton council seats.  

We recall an earlier mayoral election when 5 candidate were on the ballot.

The same has happened in the past with school board.

So, things in the village must be running along pretty smoothly, given there are few council candidates.

Certainly, things here aren’t perfect, but the comfort level in the community speaks loudly. And, that’s a good thing, even living with covid-19 for over 12 months.

Here’s the problem.

When there aren’t enough candidates for office, that vacuum turns into other problems. Like Woody Hayes would say, “When you pass the ball, three things can happen, and two of them are bad.”

We’re headed toward three things happening in November and we don’t like two of them.

Fear number 1: No one files as a write-in and council fills the vacancy. The idea may appear okay, the public is left with no choice in the matter.
Fear number 2: An unannounced candidate waits until the very last minute to file, and we are stuck with that candidate because one else stepped up to the plate.

It is our hope that neither occur.

Rather, we ask – no, we insist – those intending to file as a write-in Bluffton council candidate announce their intention to the public sooner than later.

The more we know about persons seeking that fourth council spot, the better off we are.

Otherwise, our direction is chaos.