League says democracy is not a spectator sport

To encourage Wayland residents to run for office, Sue Flicop and Mary Antes, members of the Wayland League of Voters (LWV) have created a two-part series called Run for It.
Hosted by the LWV and Wayland Public Library, the first session, “Run for It: The Town Office Experience, “was held Oct. 23. The panel discussion, featuring experienced elected officials, covered what it’s like to run for and hold office. The second part, a Zoom session scheduled for Jan. 7, will cover the “nuts and bolts” of running for office.
Flicop said that she and Antes created the program because the last two Wayland elections were uncontested. She wants to encourage people to run. She said that residents may not know where to go or how to begin.
According to Flicop, other LWVs have presented similar programs in the past, and the Sudbury LWV provided them with some of the material. She said there may be people who aren’t happy with the way the town is run and think that they need “to take things in stride,” while others may want to run but have no idea how to begin. The goal is to encourage those people to run or to spark an interest in others to either volunteer for an advisory board position or run for office in the future.
Flicop, who is the moderator for both sessions and was on the School Committee when she lived in Newton, developed questions for both sessions, thinking about the questions she had before she ran for office.
School Committee Chair Erin Gibbons, Select Board vice chair Doug Levine, and Planning Board chair Anette Lewis,participated in the first session panel discussion. They answered questions such as why they ran for office, how to deal with the fear of losing, the time commitment, and what they liked about holding office.

Gibbons said she always wanted to get involved in town politics and give back. She said she had four daughters in the Wayland school system, so she was interested in the school committee. Having attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Levine said he was always interested in government, and it was a “great way to plug into the community”. Lewis said she first ran because she was concerned that the town was not planning for the future.
All three said that family support is needed because some positions can be time-consuming and sometimes keep officials from family activities. They said although the boards they serve on can consume a lot of time, other positions take less time and are a good way to start, like Economic Development Committee, Trust Fund Commission, Board of Health, and Board of Library Trustees (see story on page 2 for details on offices).
Lewis said she lost the first time she ran, but advised potential candidates to focus on the reason why they are running and what they plan to accomplish. Levine said since town elections are nonpartisan, they are issue-based and force candidates to share their vision. Gibbons said that although her first election got personal, it is important to focus on the reason for running.
All three said why they liked the work. Levine found his select board position interesting because he worked on a variety of issues while Lewis said town officials can help shape how the town looks and acts, and how that impacts taxes. Gibbons said hearing from various people forced her to look through different lenses and to learn to compromise.
They all encouraged residents to run for office. “Wayland is a town of volunteers; we need new people to get involved to keep the town moving,” Levine said.
According to Flicop, Town Clerk Trudy Reid and two recent candidates will discuss the process of running for office — taking out nomination papers, other legal matters, and how to campaign — at the Jan. 7 session. Anyone interested can register for the Zoom link at tinyurl.com/wyl-run, but she encourages people to sign up in advance. If people can’t attend and have questions, she said to email her through the Wayland LWV website at www.lwv.org/contact-us. The video link is tinyurl.com/wayland-lvw. The first session is available on the websites of both the library and the Wayland League of Women Voters.