Back in the 1980s, my father was a selectman of our little town (Many New England towns have a board of selectmen instead of a mayor, for those who aren't familiar). The selectmen were also honorary members of the police, and the employment application for police officers asked if you would ever arrest a member of a town selectman's family. If you answered, "Yes", you didn't get the job.

For this and other reasons, after my dad's single term as selectman, he vowed never to be involved in politics again.