Anybody on their local city/county council?

Without getting into the details of how or why, I applied for the vacant council seat in my town. I will be interviewed for the position this week, and my understanding is that it goes interview>mayor selection>council approval. 
 

I have no clue how to prepare for this interview. I've been reading everything about what our council does, the various committees, etc., but any advice would be appreciated here. 
 

And yes, it is an interview, not an elected one - the seat in question was held by the mayor until he won the mayoral election. So it's only a 1.5 year term to complete. 

That sounds like the mayor's yes man.

He would probably like that, but based on what I've heard he has had none of them apply. I've been a pretty vocal supporter of his opponent in the mayoral election, so I was shocked to even get the interview. 

You really hate unregulated fireworks that much? 

Appleseed said:

You really hate unregulated fireworks that much? 

Lol, this is a different issue. On the fireworks, there is nothing that can really be done. shiny happy people gonna shiny happy person; the laws are in place but nearly impossible to enforce. 

In reply to mtn :

I served on our tiny town board in IL for several years. Initially I was appointed to the zoning board when there was an opening, then ran for an open board position & won. I won re-election a couple years later, but then resigned when we moved. 
 

The whole experience involved the type of petty bickering, favoritism, backstabbing & mayoral corruption you'd expect(especially for IL), but without a doubt it was definitely eye-opening!

In reply to mtn :

When I ran for mayor I did my homework. City manager ( who really runs the city) Chief of police, Fire Chief. Public works manager , and in our city the water works manager. 
Every city has an odd duck who has massively more power than their tittle would suggest. 
    I found out where the money was, ( we are unbelievably rich) plans for where it's going,  local issues.  How the state's involved with the city. ( The Minnesota miracle  is how the wealthy cites underwrite the less well off cities).  Tax dodges to reduce our underwriting obligation.   Plus who the big movers and shakers were.   Not always the richest or most powerful people. Often it's the widow involved in darn near every group or organization. Who's been there  year after year.  
     Scared cows and hornets nests best avoided at all costs.  Some of that you'll find out from the local Newspaper, Hair salon, or Bar tender. It's amazing how a city as small as ours 8XXXworks. 

It's a little fairer than it seems - you're seeking appointment to the remainder of the mayor's term as councilor.

You will face the voters for re-election to your own term in office in November 2022.

Listen extensively, read more than the other councilors want you to, speak directly and surely.

I am on the tax assessors board.

A couple other things I just thought of. If you're not already pretty familiar with Robert's Rules of Order, pick up or borrow a copy of the book & start reading. 
 

Familiarize yourself with the city's ordinances.

One thing that surprised me from my experience was how frequently we'd have to contact the town's attorney to find out if what we wanted to do was actually legal. 

Nothing to say other than congrats for getting involved. 

I would say be as honest with you opinions and perspective as possible.  Getting into a position like that by misrepresentation (intentional or not) could make the position a nightmare.

I would also make sure you are up on all the towns issues (which I suspect you are).