Ryan Shell throws his hat in the ring -- sort of

Local blogger and PR man for Truliant Federal Credit union Ryan Shell has announced he is running for Greensboro city council.

It would have been a surprise had Shell decide not to run. He has been doing all the "right" things in the past several months, serving on boards, attending the City Academy, adopting a street. Nothing wrong with a young person diving in with both feet, but Ryan's civic interest is very new: He says he has lived in Greensboro for nine years, but didn't register to vote until 2004 and then did not cast a ballot until November, 2007.

Ryan's greatest appeal in my mind is his youthful enthusiasm and good grasp of modern media and communications technology. His nice campaign web site is a good example. It is high time we had elected representatives who step into the modern age. If elected, Ryan would bring a huge advancement in constituent communications to local government. That would be a very good thing and earns Ryan some major respect right out of the gate.

On the down side, Ryan is seeking a decision-making role and seems to have a hard time making decisions. Example: Even though he is announcing his decision to run for office, he hasn't decided whether to run for his district seat (district 2) or at-large.

He seems reluctant to take a position. In a discussion at Joe Guarino's blog he equivocated on offering an opinion of Mitch Johnson's handling of the Wray affair and, when pressed, backed out of the conversation saying, "I don't want my comments to be taken wrong."

He also recently wrote that the problem with Time Warner Cable's planned internet access rate increase for Greensboro was a matter of poorly handled public relations. It was far more than that, but Ryan focused on the superficial while ignoring the specifics.

Perhaps it is to be expected that a PR guy would see contentious issues as matters of perception. His blog is replete with posts where he asks people what they think of an issue, but where he declines to offer his view. (Ryan recently asked at his blog "Does Public Perception of the Council Matter?") But there is something condescending about that attitude. It suggests that voters are children; that we only need to be properly manipulated to be placated; that real concerns are not things to be addressed through the hard work of advocacy or negotiation, but are merely to be corralled with a well managed public image.

Elected officials have to make tough choices. They have to exercise judgment. One cannot do that by thinking that it's all a matter of perception. Still, candidates can and do win local races running on slogans and style instead of substance. Ryan has six months to show us what he offers. He is in my "maybe" column as of now because of his willingness to communicate in public, he'll be hard to endorse if he doesn't grow a little backbone.