| |
Get Out There and Vote
Posted 10-18-1999
I know I've talked about this subject before, but it comes up twice a year,
every year. It is election time, we are spending a lot of tax dollars to
stage the election, so please get out there and vote. The final count from
the primary was 34% (40% Democrat and 30% Republican). The races might not
be as glamorous as next year when we will elect a new president, a U.S.
Senator, and our state office holders, but they are all important.
We will be electing two
Superior Court judges, two Common Pleas Court judges, many of our county
office holders, many local officials, and many school directors. While none
of these offices are as high profile as the ones chosen in next year's
election, they can each impact our lives in many ways.
School directors are imposing
the largest property tax bills we receive each year, shaping school
curriculums, and having a great impact on the education system. Judges
affect our lives by interpreting the law both at the trial court level and
the appellate level.
County officials,
particularly the (commissioners are responsible for a large amount of public
spending. This year we have a budget of $217 million and are responsible for
areas such as public safety, children and youth services, a public geriatric
hospital, mental health and mental retardation services, and much, much
more. The other county officials are also responsible for significant public
services and local officials affect our lives with the services they
provide, and land use and zoning issues.
Pennsylvania may not be the
most convenient place to vote. You may have to wait in line, or drive a
little farther to vote, but in a democracy we all must be responsible
partners to make it work. We spend over $200,000 each election, so citizens
should make the effort to participate. If less and less people participate,
the election of people to run our government will be decided by a smaller
and smaller group. Each vote does count, as demonstrated by this year's
county commissioner primary. With the opportunity to vote for two people,
nearly 100,000 votes were cast and second place was decided by 454 votes.
That is 1.5 votes per precinct.
There is also an attitude
that it doesn't matter who we vote for; all politicians are the same.
Nothing could be more wrong. There are a growing number of public officials
that recognize we have to be responsible leaders to restore and maintain the
public trust. It just takes some diligence by voters to identify those
people. Laziness and apathy is what allows corrupt politicians to prosper.
Oversight and attention by voters keep us on our toes, so please get out
there on November 2 and make our democracy work the way it should. |
