Governing in the Silly Season

The internal dialogue that builds partnership, accountability, and Strategic Confidence

Every election cycle brings what’s often called the silly season.

In local government, you can feel it when it arrives. Speeches at council or board meetings grow sharper. Social media clips get shorter and more theatrical. Questions from the dais sometimes sound less like inquiry and more like messaging. The focus can shift from working with colleagues to signaling to voters.

The word “silly” suggests frivolousness. But what it really points to is inversion.

During campaign season, incentives change for local elected officials. Attention turns toward how one appears to the electorate. The goal becomes reinforcing credibility with core supporters, drawing contrasts, and motivating turnout. At times, that can slip into performative outrage that travels farther online than it does in the council chamber.

That dynamic is real.

But it would be a mistake to dismiss this entire period as unserious—especially at the local level.

There is nothing silly about talking to constituents. There is nothing frivolous about listening carefully to their concerns about schools, roads, housing, public safety, or taxes. In fact, election season may be the most widely accepted time for those conversations to happen.

Doors are knocked. Forums are scheduled. Residents who might otherwise stay quiet feel permission to ask questions.

Conversations multiply in living rooms, libraries, and neighborhood gatherings.

This is not a departure from governance. It is supposed to be one of its core strengths.

Local government is powerful precisely because of its proximity. Decisions made at the dais shape daily life in immediate ways. The leaders making those decisions often live just down the street. Showing up, paying attention, and engaging directly is not cynical. It is responsible stewardship.

The challenge is not that engagement intensifies. The challenge is how leaders conduct themselves within it. Election season is about motivating backers. It demands clarity and conviction. But energy does not require hostility. Differentiation need not prompt dehumanization. And contrast does not require cruelty.

In my work with city councils, county commissions, and school boards, I often speak about the imperative of local leadership to help people feel connected, respected, and heard. That is not a campaign tactic. It is a governing obligation.

And it does not pause when yard signs appear.

If anything, the stakes are higher.

When rhetoric rises, patience matters more. When divisions sharpen, kindness stands out. Voters may disagree with a policy position, but they can recognize steadiness. They can sense when someone has listened before responding. They can tell the difference between principled conviction and theatrical outrage.

There is also long-term wisdom in maintaining real working relationships on the dais—even during campaign season. The community still needs budgets passed, services delivered, and problems solved. Governing does not stop while campaigning proceeds.

Election cycles invite communities to imagine their future. At the local level, that imagination is concrete and close to home.

The question is not whether this season will be intense. It will. The question is how leaders like you will show up—whether by allowing incentives to distort governance, or by demonstrating that its principles hold even under pressure.

Campaigns come and go. The habits of connection, respect, and listening must endure.

That is not silly at all.

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