1. Your trash collector.
2. The amount you pay for your sewage bill.
3. Deciding to increase or decrease taxes.
4. The adoption of Daylight Savings Time.
5. Interstate modifications.
6. The number of police officers protecting the streets.
7. Determining whether or not to enforce smoking bans.
8. Health care options.
9. Providing insight on the education of your child.
10. Snow removal methods.
What’s this list for? you ask. Well, all of the items on this list have one common denominator. Can you figure it out?
OK, time’s up.
The thing that all the items have in common with one another is that the outcomes are all determined by our local government.
While you may or may not have guessed the correct answer regarding the list, there are many people who don’t understand the impact local elected officials have on our individual lives.
Studies show that fewer people vote in local elections than national ones. When I learned of this fact, I found it incredibly interesting because while national elections have a tremendous impact on us, so too do local elections.
As a matter of fact, some may argue that local elections have a more immediate impact on us because they are closer and occur more frequently, thus directly affecting our day-to-day lives.
Election Day is less than two weeks away and sadly there are some people who, though they may be aware of the day, don’t plan to vote. What’s even worse is that these people will probably be the main individuals complaining about unpaved streets, increased crime and abandoned houses.
I’ve always believed that if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
Frankly put, if you don’t vote, you have absolutely no justification to complain about anything concerning pertinent policy issues and lawmakers.
Exercising one’s right to vote is a step in not only solving current problems, but also securing the future for the next generation.
While understandably politics aren’t for everyone, the decisions that elected officials make on our behalf affects each of us specifically; therefore we all need to get involved.
Local media outlets do a good job of informing the community on the political process, current hot topic agenda items and even which elected officials support specific items.
However, it’s up to each individual person to dig deeper and learn about specific items of interest to you and your family.
Elected officials are the liaison between the community they serve and the government they represent. As the “middleman,” it’s their responsibility to act in the best interest of their constituents and that’s why it’s important to exercise our right to vote. We want people in office who represent our views, not someone who is so far removed from our realities that their representation is of something foreign to us.
We need people in office whom we can trust to put their personal or professional allegiances to the side and work for the good of the public. Unfortunately, sometimes what we need and what we get in our elected officials are two completely different things.
I encourage you to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6 and let your voice be heard. Hopefully the results on Election Day will be in favor of the people, however, the only way to ensure that is if the people act accordingly and vote.
So, while you may have been questioning the beginning of this editorial, I actually have a question for you at its end: Will you be a part of the problem or the solution?
