Writing the Night Before About The Morning After: My Advice to Newly Elected Officials

It's a few hours from when the polls close in Washington State. Around the country in different time zones, people are being elected to local and state office. The official declaration of who wins and loses will come in future days, but in a lot of cases, it's pretty clear or will be clear from the vote tonight who will serve in office.

So ... If you are one of those who gets elected tonight, congratulations. Elected office is a wonderful adventure. It's a call to make a difference. You will now have a real vote to make that difference.

Here's something you probably already know but can now experience: People are going to look at what you say and write and do in a new way. It's going to be odd. Even some of the people you've known for awhile will treat you differently. That's because you're now a politician. Being with a "politician" pushes buttons on some people, regardless of who the politician is. When I first started blogging as a city council member, I had the voice of the journalist that I had been. The actually really upset some people, and it took me way too long to figure that out. You're a political leader now. You have to act like one.

Whatever your background, the tools that helped you get elected now become tools that suddenly develop a much sharper edge.

Many of these new elected officials have used Twitter, Facebook, and other Internet tools to talk with voters and others, and thus, to help get elected. Obviously that's good. We communicate more fluently and broadly than our ancestors could have dreamed of. Communication is the fuel of democracy.

What I worry about is, so where do these new elected-officials-to-be wake up tomorrow and turn to for advice? I hope that if you are one of them, you will wake up and know you now need advice. These communications tools are new, and what you can or cannot do as a political leader with these tools is still being decided in courts around the country.

In other words, when those election numbers came up, your world changed. I have two pieces of advice then. Here is one piece of advice: Don't write anything on Facebook or a similar place that you wouldn't want to see in print in the morning paper or read aloud to you at a local restaurant. I don't care if you only have three friends on Facebook. Doesn't matter. You write something juicy, it's going to be known: if not now, then later.

Be aware of that. Please, don't be someone who puts something jarring on Facebook or Twitter and then claims to be surprised anyone noticed. You make us all look silly.

Your voice suddenly quadrupled in volume; whether you want it or not, you now wear a megaphone. You are now in the public spotlight. Enjoy it. You wanted this job. Step up. The spotlight can be bright, sometimes blinding, but it's part of the role.

Second piece of advice, by far the more serious: Don't break the law inadvertently by using communication tools the wrong way. I can think of one city council member who may or may not get re-elected tonight who helped to cost her city a fortune in legal damages because she was accused of participating in secret meetings even before taking the oath of office. There are many other examples of people who meant well but cost their city big money, and, more importantly, broke the law.

Don't break the law and inadvertently hold a secret meeting. It is very easy for someone who gets elected to keep doing what they have been: using Twitter, Facebook, and email to communicate with others. And you should. These tools are amazing. Just be aware that if you start or continue communicating with other future or current elected officials, you run a big risk of breaking the law. I can't say if that's true everywhere, but it is true in Washington state. You are responsible for knowing the rules where you are.

If you did just get elected in Washington state, and for considerations on how you conduct yourself now, I recommend reading the "Don't Hold a Meeting" section in the Washington state wiki that some of us put together: http://citycouncilbloghandbook.wikispaces.com/Legal+Issues+and+Guidance

If you currently use social media or other Internet tools to talk to a lot of other elected officials, then it would be very, very smart to read this post with guidance from the Washington State Attorney General.

So that's the advice for the morning after.

Oh ... and have fun. This job does not last forever, nor should it. You've got the spotlight and a share of the podium for a limited time. Enjoy and make use of it while you can.