I started working on a story Friday morning about why nobody was running for city council. My main focus was going to be Westpark, the area that's up in arms over what they see as the city council backstabbing them, but didn't come up with anyone to challenge Sue Benham.

I was on the phone with one of the people most mentioned, Takvor Takvorian, when the news came about Beau Woodward, so the story went out the window.

But in a lot of ways, the story is still there. Beau Woodward is not a leader waiting to happen, someone rising through the ranks; he was recruited to run by someone with money looking for someone electable with the right positions. Now, there's not necessarily anything wrong with that; it's American politics, and it's part of how we got our current president. (OK, I guess some people would say that means there is something wrong with it, but bear with me here.)

But who's willing to be a watchdog? Who's willing to hold the government accountable? Who's willing to make the effort to vet candidates, and to be candidates?

Jim Boren at the Fresno Bee makes the point in a column:

But I think the biggest reason that most people don't vote is they want someone else to do all the work for them. They are too lazy to get involved in policy issues, and the complaint that they don't have time is a bunch of bunk.

These same people will spend 30 minutes in a Starbucks drive-through lane waiting for their lattes, but won't take the time to figure out who is the best Assembly candidate. They'll gab on their cell phones for hundreds of minutes about meaningless drivel, but won't go to a school-board meeting when their children's education is being messed with.

They have time. They just don't want to spend it on politics.

Takvorian had his reasons: he's old, he may end up moving before 2012, and, as he put it, "the young people are too busy to run.”

The result is that a few people with vested interests — here it's developers, city employees and political consultants — are the ones making the decisions, because they're the only ones willing to put in the time. Like someone wiser than me once said, decisions are made by those who show up.

Now, on the plus side, this Woodward-Hanson campaign will be about an issue, I think. Woodward pointed to pensions; so did Mark Abernathy in an interview with KGET:

"Harold's a great guy but he's shown that he doesn't understand the pension issue'' Abernathy said. "Harold really wants the endorsement of the unions in his elections. If you're going to be in an elected position, you've got to take a tough stand and stand for the taxpayer."

I hope this remains the issue, because a) it's an important issue that doesn't get a lot of attention here, in part because it's pretty obtuse and there's not a lot of demand for coverage, and b) as someone more interested in policy than politics, I'd rather see this be a battle of ideas than a battle of who can raise more money and put up more signs.