In 1973, when incumbent Spokane Mayor David Rodgers ran for re-election, candidates debated solutions to the city’s terrible roads and the need for a north-south freeway. Sound familiar?

Rodgers, now 84, shrugged when asked why some issues live on and on. He said, “That’s local government.”

Today we debut a feature on the opinion pages. Civic Elder (see below) on the first Wednesday of each month.

The men and women who were once active in Inland Northwest civic life hold unique perspectives on community life. They were there at the beginning of issues that persist to this day. For instance, the Spokane Transit Authority hopes voters on May 20 will approve the sales tax renewal that supports the agency’s budget.

During Rodgers’ first term as mayor, the buses that rolled through Spokane’s streets were owned by a private national company. When drivers went on strike here, the CEO of the company confided in Rodgers that every bus line it owned, except one in El Paso, operated in the red. Rodgers and other leaders realized Spokane’s bus system was unsalvageable if kept in private ownership. They stepped in, and taxpayers have helped pay for transit ever since – in Spokane and every major city.

The elders among us offer wisdom and calm in crisis times. They understand how budgets, programs and personalities cycle through municipalities. They have demonstrated the value of stepping into leadership roles when asked or called to it. And they all somehow managed to balance family, work and civic life.

These elders lived our collective history, but they won’t be with us forever. Rodgers reminisced about businessman Luke Williams who asked Rodgers to consider city government, and Neal R. Fosseen who preceded him as mayor, and Washington’s two powerful U.S. senators during Expo ‘74 – Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson. All are dead.

We hope the Civic Elder stories encourage others to consider running for office or engaging in other public service. The hours are long, the pay doesn’t often match the responsibilities and appreciation is rare. But in the long run, these elders would tell you, the work really matters. Believe it.