My first beat at the Columbia Missourian was government, and even though I covered zoning instead of elections, Scott Swafford still hammered one thing into our brains: interview local candidates, interview each and every one of them, and write profiles. He turned that mandate into an RJI project and a presentation that those of us who saw it at a Missouri Press Association meeting still talk about (only slightly because it has a great name).
Of course, it's a lot easier for the Missourian to give an in-depth profile of each candidate; the paper publishes first online, without the space constraints of paper, and several reporters each semester are assigned to government alone. Meanwhile, back at The Odessan, where overall we have a pretty large staff compared to similar papers, when it comes to elections I'm a one woman band.
Still, in 2014 when I found myself news editor and tasked with the first municipal election I had ever seen at this level, I told Granny I didn't want to just give out questionnaires like Bud did, they'd just give formulaic answers. I wanted to interview the candidates. And she said OK.
That was the first year of the Voting Guide series. That year, anchored by mayor races in both Odessa and Oak Grove and a notable fire board race in Odessa, I tested out a system that I now have down to an art. Letters go out in January, candidates are asked to schedule an interview in February, the ones in Odessa will actually do that but most will schedule in March. The last three weeks of March, we run profiles. I'll admit that the first year I ran some of the profiles as Q and As, but since then they've been stories. It means a lot of additional stories a week; the week I covered all three school boards, it was three extra stories in the Focus on Oak Grove and five in The Odessan, as well as the tax issue story I did for The Odessan that week.
Another Swaffordism is that journalism is herding cats. With seven cities (Odessa, Oak Grove, Wellington, Napoleon, Bates City, Lake Lafayette and Mayview), three fire boards (Odessa, Sni Valley and Wellington-Napoleon) and three school districts (Odessa, Oak Grove and Wellington-Napoleon), that's a lot of cats. Of course, we don't get every candidate, but I push to get every candidate in a contested race (something we've been very successful with) and every new member of a board (this year got every new member of a board except one, whose work schedule didn't make him available, but will be interviewed later).
Voting Guide issues hanging on our page board at The Odessan. That's a lot of content!
As I wrote in my column last week, I appreciate every candidate who participates, but particularly the ones without opposition. It takes time to schedule an interview, and not to max out the use of Swaffordisms in one blog post, it can be pretty uncomfortable for people to have journalism done to them. However, these interviews let people get a little more insight and personal perception into the boards that make up local government. It's also a good reminder of who these people are, or even what the people you know do in the community. As I try to remind the community every tine there is a controversial issue, boards are made of people. The monolithic idea of government is wrong at all levels, but particularly on the local level.
Of course, there aren't many races for local offices these days, which is a shame. The shining example of productive contested elections is the Wellington-Napoleon school district, a 1A school north of Odessa. The district frequently has races, and the discussions are so positive many will run multiple times if at first they do not succeed.
School board races are fun to cover, because they're about something I really care about. My favorite question I ask is one hard to work into the profile naturally. To break candidates out of the cut-cut-cut attitudes imposed by years of state funding shortages, I ask them to abandon practical concerns like funding, facilities, etc., and name one program they would like the school to offer. I think it reminds district residents what's possible, but also shows where a candidate's priorities fall. It's produced a lot of great answers over the years, from real possibilities for the near future like ROTC programs and bringing back driver's education to more zany but enjoyable answers, like a bobsled team at, you guessed it, 1A Wellington-Napoleon.
So, here's to another election down. And if you're reading this and thinking, wait, there's an election tomorrow? go grab a paper. Every voter in our coverage area has at least one taxing issue on the ballot tomorrow: two for the City of Odessa, one for Lafayette County, one for the Sni-Valley Fire Protection District. This week's papers have the Sni Valley question, and The Odessan can direct you on which back-issue you need to learn more about the other issues or races (if you're looking for part of the Voting Guide not in this week's Focus, it was in last week's). Back issues can be picked up at The Odessan or Focus on Oak Grove offices, and cost $1.50. And, yet another thing I learned from Scott, you can take newspapers and other written materials with you as you vote, so you can make sure you're making the decision you feel is right.