Political Capital

Note to Ops: There are two things you never want to do for money. Never marry and never go into politics. Only your lawyers will get rich.

HaHa, yes, they can haul you into court on bribery charges. And yes they may even get a conviction. But the transcript will never lie -- it always shows that you made no money from your government job. Unless your name is Elon Musk, there is no money in politics.

What incentives are there to participate in government? Very few as far as your LakeCountyEye can see. Some municipalities have to promise emoluments to get qualified citizens to step up to do their civic duty:

Why some suburbs compensate members of appointed boards

In most jurisdictions, it would seem, the default setting is to let unregulated market forces call the shots:

Two candidates for mayor of Arlington Heights on Wednesday denied there would be a conflict of interest between their day jobs if they were to become the top elected official in town.
Arlington Heights mayoral candidates deny conflicts with their day jobs

For the record, Arlington Heights is a Lake County municipality. In spite of that, Arlington Heights conducts itself like it was Cook County.