Our Common Council has before it, at the next scheduled meeting of 12.18.12, applications to fill a vacancy on that body. Four residents have applied; the appointment will run until April.
Council will appoint as they see fit; they have broad discretion for an appointment like this.
They and we, however, would do well by seeing that these applicants are more than a name, address, and occupation. They deserve consideration for their judgment and understanding.
It’s not superficially who a person is, but what he or she believes of government and representation, that matters most. Whether for a season, a month, or even a day, our politics are meant to be more than a trite question at a social climber’s gathering: ‘what’s your name, and what do you do?’
We can, and should, do better than that.