Editor, Gazette-Journal:

What qualifies someone for (or, for that matter, disqualifies someone from) local office? Many discussions concerning our representatives end up trying to figure out what qualified them in the first place. Citizenship, residency, and age of course they all have, but what unique talents do they or should they possess? I can find only two must haves, the rest are good-if-you-hav’em items, in my mind.

Economic expertise or business experience might be on everyone’s mind these days, but are they requisite? No, they are GTH (good-to-hav’em), but both operate on principles many perceive as cut in stone and, at especially the local level, must be moderated against what the public wants and the purse can bear.

A good business may lay off or relocate to increase profit (primary goal of business), but a locality can’t reduce or relocate those it serves. An economist might require draconian cuts in wages or services provided, but a locality...