I read with amusement the expensive, glossy flyers filling up my mail-box promising that candidates for local office have “experience” and “proven leadership.” As the Clerk to the San Juan County Council for 14 years, I witnessed elected officials up close and I encourage voters to ask the natural follow-up question:

Where do you plan on leading the County? Off a cliff, in a circle, backwards or somewhere better? While relevant professional experience in government or another field may correlate with effective leadership for some candidates, it does not necessarily follow that experience produces good leadership. Some candidates are born for leadership, and some candidates kind of wander around looking for a herd that will follow them.

Ingrid Gabriel

Friday Harbor