Now accepting applications for editorial board

Wanted: Someone brave enough to step into the “tough act to follow” realm. Must be fair-minded, willing to look at all sides of an issue and share his-or-her thoughts with others once a week, for one year.

There’s no pay. Just the honor of being part of a team serving as a watchdog for our community.

For the third year in a row, the Enterprise-Record will select one or more members of the community to serve on our editorial board. This is not a writing position; what we’re looking for is someone who can provide input as we discuss possible editorial topics (and our “Hits and Misses”) in a weekly meeting, usually of the virtual variety. We are asking for a commitment for the next 12 months.

Whoever is selected will have some very tough acts to follow. From our first community members, John Blacklock and Mandy Feder-Sawyer, through our second-year additions such as Mike Dunbaugh, Jeff Lobosky and Cris Boyle, the contributions have been invaluable and as varied as the people themselves. The mix of opinions discussed almost weekly — always in a civil manner, at times more emotionally charged than others — have gone a long way toward shaping our official position in editorials. That’s a big one for any editorial board; we not only want to be able to explain our position on things, but to accurately reflect the other sides of an issue as well.

This past year’s board deserves additional credit for taking on the job of interviewing candidates for City of Chico and Butte County elected seats in June and November of 2022 — nearly two dozen interviews in all. It was no easy task, but having a mix of people with such diverse backgrounds firing unpredictable questions at the candidates was invaluable in helping us to make our endorsements.

Again, there’s no pay. There’s probably not even much in the way of thanks, except from us. You can, however, rest assured that you’ll be playing a big part in looking out for our community interests at a time we desperately need more levelheaded people to care.

To apply, just send an email to editor Mike Wolcott at mwolcott@chicoer.com, and tell us why you think you’d be a good fit for our editorial board. Tell us a little about yourself, your history with any local organizations or political groups, and what you see as some of the more pressing issues of our time (both local and national). We’ll accept applications through March 31, and hope to have our newest board member’s name atop the masthead of this page sometime in early-to-mid April.

There are never a shortage of opinions in Butte County. We remain committed to our duty of fairly presenting factbased opinions on the biggest news topics of the day. If you’d like to help us do that, here’s your chance.

And to all of those brave enough to take this step in the past, our ongoing thanks.