If you are American, you are probably asking yourself if she has finally lost her mind. This isn't an election year, and definately not in August. But, we have a really electrifying election going on here in my part of town - The Rancho California Water District Board. Ooooh, can you feel the excitement? Me either.
I wish the RCWD Board would move their election schedule to coincide with other races to save the tax payers money. It isn't just those in the district that will pay, but the entire county is footing the bill for this mail in ballot. I am sure there is a perfectly justifyable reason why it can't be done like So and So will either have a shorter term or a longer term than the others on the board if that happens. Oh that would be tragic, wouldn't it?
I do actually think the Water Board is important, as well as the School Board and all of those other seemingly meaningless races that sometimes seem to clutter up the ballots. All of those little local issues actually have more of an effect on my day to day life than the President does.
Water bill outrageously high? Guess who helps determine the rates and how water is allocated and plans for the future use of the district.
If the schools underperform not only is my son's education in jeopardy but in turn it lowers my home value because no one wants to move to a district with bad schools. Then the county collects less taxes and there is less money for them to spend ... Etcetera, etcetera.
And, there are a whole bunch of soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen (and women) that have fought long and hard to guarantee my right to choose who makes these decisions. Voting isn't just a "right" it should also be a "requirement" for every US citizen. If you don't bother to vote, don't bother to whine about the issues. Things should be awfully quiet around here if that were only the case. We had an abysmal 53% of registered voters actually cast ballots in the last Presidential election. And that is "registered" voters, not eligible voters. Sigh.
So, I took the time to read each candidate's statements and try to choose what I think is best for everyone in the district.
Now, I just have to remember to drop it in the mailbox tomorrow on the way to school.
Winnie says
Enjoyed reading this. I have ALWAYS voted. I was raised in NYC and voted all the time. Moved to the suburbs and was excited to vote. Local elections though are really a joke here. We vote not to pass something, and in a month they hold another election and so many don't go and they pass it anyway. This has happened 3 times to me. It is always a battle on the budgets and they end up passing, so it feels like I don't have a say. Ours are in Sept, and I actually would hate not to go, but part of me feels discouraged. I am not a kid, have voted for decades, but this really gets my goat.