All of us will be better served when more individual citizens stand as candidates for office.

While there are numerous reasons, one reason is central: Public service is a public trust.

Every citizen who believes in the principle of public trust can personally strengthen awareness of the principle by speaking about it with family, friends and colleagues as well as attendees at business and industry gatherings in every community and state across our nation.

Speaking out is doable. Speaking out now is necessary.

Every time each of us speak about the public trust will serve to raise the bar of awareness for all of us. That includes incumbent officials, elected or appointed, at every government level. 

Speaking out about the principle of the public trust is appropriate because at its core, the public trust must always be non-partisan.

If many citizens did speak about the public trust, would it help?

Yes.

What else could citizens do?

Respond to the individual call for candidates!

Imagine the impact of each citizen, who personally believes in and is committed to the principle of public trust.

Imagine too those individual citizens standing as candidates for public service.

Each public trust candidate, speaking clear statements of belief in - and personal commitment to  the principle of public trust as part of their declared candidacy will serve as a sort of public trust contract with prospective constituents. 

The salient questions for each citizen to ponder thoughtfully are:

•Do you believe in the principle of the public trust? 

•Are you willing to publicly speak about it? 

•Will you publicly commit to upholding the principle of the public trust?

The call for candidates is absolutely non-partisan.

This applies to all citizens,unregistered and registered, affiliated and unaffiliated.

Thus, this call for candidates is intended for all current and would-be Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, et al. as well as those citizens who decide to remain unaffiliated independents on local registration rolls.

This call for candidates as servants in the public trust applies to all government levels including your town, city, county, state and in Washington, D.C.

Review the field of candidates already running in U.S. Congressional Districts across your state. 

Review the field of candidates already running for the U.S. Senate in your state.

And, review the field of candidates already running for president of the United States?

A snapshot of several states U.S. House Districts shows many without challengers to sitting incumbents. No one has stepped up as yet.

That’s not good for our republic form of representative government.

Remember U.S. Representatives are selected every two years, the next cycle is in 2012.

Public trust candidates can fill those voids beginning now.

The same applies to the U.S. Senate races. 

One-third of the Senate’s 100 seats are up for election every two years. Review the situation in your state.

Again, public trust candidates can fill voids, challenge incumbents and strengthen the field for citizen consideration.

Of course, the same is true about the 2012 presidential field.

Almost all the attention is on announced candidates for the Republican nomination and Barack Obama. That is both understandable and avoidable.

While the media focuses on announced candidates and, until last week, has flirted with Chris Christie and Sarah Palin, there are others who may still come in. If others choose to do so and convince citizens they are a genuine public trust candidate, the field will be turned upside down.

Further, while the media generally avoids even broaching the following, except in the context of typical political calculations, what would happen if a citizen were to challenge Barack Obama as a genuine public trust candidate for the Democrat party’s nomination. Such a challenge would turn that party upside down.

Our country is best served, and each state is best served, when all citizens are properly represented by public servants genuinely committed to the public trust.

Citizens who respond to the call can help turn the public trust right-side up.

Richard is president of Olivastro Communications and founder of Citizens for Change. A professional member of the National Speakers Association, he is available pro bono for charitable fundraisers and public forums and can be reached via e-mail at RichOlivastro@gmail.com or by phone at 1-877-RichSpeaks.