Several states are still counting votes from Tuesday’s midterm elections  But some Muncie-area people are already looking ahead to the next election cycle. That’s because a local organization is training future hopefuls in a “Candidates of the Future” program.  As IPR’s Chris Hatfield reports, the workshop’s aim is to get local people involved in both local government and the overall community.

As any politician will tell you, just because an election is over doesn’t mean that politics grind to a halt.   Days after the election, dozens of people will gather in Muncie, hoping to learn how to be the next to run for and serve in local government.  Shafer Leadership Academy runs the event in collaboration with Muncie Action Plan, Building Better Neighborhoods and Ball State University’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs.

Shafer Executive Director Mitch Isaacs says the workshop will give a potential candidate everything they’ll need to feel comfortable running for office.

“We want to make sure people understand the steps they need to take, the support that’s available, and the process that they can go through to get filed and hopefully run a successful campaign.”

There’s many facets to running a local campaign.  One part of the program revolves around learning about plans for the community, such as the Muncie Action Plan.  The plan’s Neighborhood Coordinator, Aimee Robertson-West, says it’s a matter of understanding.

“It’s really important that leaders and people who are running for office understand these community plans and how they can plug into them and understand the community in a robust way.”

Bowen Center Managing Director Charles Taylor says people who care about the community and think they have ideas about how things could be run are probably better qualified than they think.  He also says getting people involved in the political process is one of the center’s goals, and he hopes the workshop will do just that.

“When there are more people involved in the political process, more people standing for office and running, we have, you know, I think a better chance of finding better candidates and letting the election process sort those out so that the cream rises to the top.”

Mitch Issacs presents at the first “Candidates of the Future” workshop. (Photo: Shafer Leadership Academy)

This is the second year for the Candidates for the Future program.    Isaacs says last year’s program filled up its fifty seats in just four days.  But he also says the response for this year’s workshop hasn’t been as strong.

“It’s probably because everywhere you turn right now, you’re bombarded with political ads and political conversation, and for some folks, I think that maybe they’ve reached a saturation point.”

Dave Ring attended the program last year and recently ran for a Delaware County Commission seat as an independent. He says having goals and working toward them could help curb political frustration.

“What happens is, when you get involved, and you start working towards those goals, you find that your frustration level with politics decreases.  You feel better, because you’re doing something and you’re participating in the system.”

Whitely Community Council President Frank Scott also attended last year’s program.  He says he found out through the workshop that running for office isn’t required to be effective in the community.

“Although I’m still interested in running for office, it really showed that in my position that I’m doing now, there are a whole lot of things I can do to help our greater community just by understanding the needs of the community.”

Isaacs says plans for another workshop next year will be evaluated after this week’s workshop is done.

Shafer Leadership Academy is an IPR underwriter.