Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Local Elections are Important

I know that it is a chore and it seems stupid when so few candidates are running.  If you do not live in Cleveland with a high profile Mayor's race it just seems like a waste of your time, but frankly that is how we got in our current state of divide.  It is because most of the population decides not to vote that we have the problems we have right now.  It is because so few vote is the reason that we are not able to do the simplest things in our country like universal gun background checks and banning assault weapons.  Universal health care has a majority of the American public supporting this concept, but the majority of the American public does not vote.  We could strengthen the Civil Rights act and bring fairness to voting if more people voted. 

We would have a higher minimum wage, better access to housing, and an infrastructure bill to hire millions of Americans if more people voted in every election. Your vote actually counts more if you vote in a local election because so few people cast a ballot.  I vote in Cleveland Hts so I only had to vote for a judge who could decide if landlords were going to be fair to their tenants or if my community was going to use bail as a way to punish instead of a way to assure that a person shows up for court.  We have to vote for City Council members to support those who are going to clean up the leaky water system and work to make government more trustworthy.  Then we have the Board of Education vote to clean up after the previous cost over-runs on the renovation of the Heights high school.  It should be telling on the importance of voting when none of the incumbents on the Cleveland Hts/University Hts school board chose to stand for re-election and the new school board will be dominated by rookies. 

I know it is hard to select local races because we are overwhelmed with flashy post cards that only tell the good side of the candidates.  You have to use www.judge4yourself.com to select your judges, but that is part of being a member of a democracy.  This is a huge responsibility, but we have to take it seriously.  I used the Heights Observer to read the answers to questions provided by the League of Women Voters to make my decisions about the Council and Board of Education.  I have to say that the candidates should spend more time filling these out.  I was not able to find 4 good candidates for Cleveland Hts. City Council.  Then there are the two levies for Tri-C (I love Community Colleges) and the Port Authority (not a big fan because of their lack of oversight or citizen input).  Finally, there are the two statewide ballot issues.  I voted "No" on Issue 1 because Kelsey Grammar is a jerk and the ACLU said it could be a problem.  I voted "Yes" on issue 2 because anything that the drug industry says is bad has to be good.  Remember, the drug industry are the sponsors of the out of control opioid crisis that have killed so many of our fellow citizens so should we trust them?  The drug industry puts profits over people, and so if they say vote "no" on issue 2 then I know that is to protect their profits not Ohioans.

It is important to vote especially in local elections.  If you think property taxes are too high, this is your chance to change that.  If you want a better school system, then the local election is your key. The City Council decides which roads are repaired and how the police force is trained to respond to its citizens and handle complaints.  Go Vote!

by Brian Davis

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