What qualities do you look for in a mayor?
In the run-up to the April 7 election, stories about the Jefferson City mayoral race have been designed to inform you, our readers, about who the six candidates are and what each would like to accomplish. We also have explored how other city officials, past and present, perceive the role and duties of the mayor.
Although the candidates share some common characteristics, each offers a different emphasis and approach.
During the campaign, we have heard or observed candidates focus on:
• Leadership ability. Leadership encompasses many other qualities, but it is the ability to shepherd a concept from proposal to reality. Leadership typically involves convincing a majority to go along. One method is an ability to build consensus; another is advancing ideas that are so good, no reasonable person can object.
• Forming partnerships and building teams. Jefferson City is among those rare U.S. communities that is a municipality, a county seat and a state capital. It is also the home of a state university, public and private school systems, and multiple associations and organizations. Partnerships are often necessary or desirable.
• Energy and enthusiasm. The mayor is the city's chief executive. The duties are official, diplomatic, ambassadorial and ceremonial. The job description and pay may not reflect a full-time position, but the case can be made that stamina and aplomb are useful qualities for a mayor.
• Candor, honesty and transparency. A mayor can both exemplify and personify a city's government. City leaders who demonstrate they have nothing to hide earn something very useful and valuable - the trust of citizens.
• Practical know-how. Much city business involves practical matters - evaluating bids, executing contracts, creating infrastructure and more. Hired professional staff members make recommendations, but a knowledgeable mayor is an asset.
• An outside-the-box approach. City officials learn much from successes and failures in other municipalities. Sometimes, however, a unique approach or novel adaptation is needed to solve a problem. A mayor benefits from a capacity for creativity and imagination.
During the campaign for mayor, candidates have addressed, with varying emphasis, each of these qualities. Some voters already have decide who they will support.
Among undecided voters, the question of who to support may best be answered by determining what qualities Jefferson City's next mayor must bring to the office.