Let’s clean up these municipal election campaigns

It should come as no surprise that after a contentious, nasty presidential campaign, nastiness has permeated our city elections.

That should stop.

Anonymous and questionable allegations will not make our cities better places to live.

An open and honest discussion of the issues will.

Unfortunately, in the just-completed primaries, there was too much of the former and too little of the latter.

Now we head into the general election June 6, when in some instances, the two major parties will face off.

It’s time for the leadership of those parties, Republican and Democratic, to step up, and get this election back on track and out of the ditch.

We’ve talked to many of the candidates. There are plenty of intelligent, well-spoken people in these races.

They should keep the focus on the issues and tell voters what they can do to make our cities better.

Constant carping and character assassination demeans our political system, which these days is hardly held in high esteem.

It’s no wonder the best and brightest among us often shy from public life. Who needs the kind of grief that’s often heaped upon our local officials?

The job is tough enough. The demands on a person’s time are great. We shouldn’t be giving people another reason not to get involved.

Voters should demand clean campaigns populated with problem-solvers, not mudslingers. Supporters of the candidates should spend their energy building their candidate up, not tearing the opposition down.

Social media, and the degree of anonymity it offers, makes leveling spurious allegations far too easy. That’s the real source of fake news.

We can’t stop that. But you, the voters, can. Every time a dubious post is shared or commented on is just more gasoline on the fire. Don’t do it.

And candidates should show they are leaders by leading positive, issue-oriented campaigns.

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Let’s clean up these municipal election campaigns."