Change your community for the better
Across our country we are coming to the time when cities will host elections for the council members and mayors.
Often, as Americans, we look towards the big races taking folks to Washington or the state capitols around the country but we forget about those positions that are closest to us. We forget those that really have the greatest impact on our daily lives – those who run our cities, counties and school systems.
They collect and spend money that we actually see as we drive down our streets or walk along our sidewalks. When we turn on our faucets or flush our toilets, they are often responsible for delivering those services.
They hire the men who dig in the ground and install the pipes and make sure they keep flowing.
They hire the folks who run the water and waste water treatment plants.
The trash trucks which roll by our houses, they often buy them and employ those working to use them.
The police, fire and ambulances that respond to our emergency calls, they are the ones that spend our money to buy them, employ and train those coming to help.
The school buses, the teachers, the principals, the schools, the football and baseball fields, they are the ones that buy or build them for us and decide about what our children are taught and do in those places.
They build the parks and recreation facilities with our money and then decide whether to charge us to use them.
In odd years, we are mainly dealing with city officials, but they sometimes run the schools in their communities.
Ultimately, the men or women that you choose to run your city or your town control millions of dollars. They decide whether they will tax you more or charge you more for services. They decide how the money is spent. Are they spending it on things you need or pet projects to feather their credits for a higher elected goals?
Friends, I urge you to wake up and pay attention to who you are electing to run your lives. They are not always what they appear to be or what they say they are.
If you are not pleased with the ways things are going in your town. Step up and run for an office. At least attend your council meetings and share your opinions on the topics that are important to you.
If we do not make the effort to create the communities we want to live in, then we and our families will be the worse for it.
Please pay attention to your city and town council elections. Just because someone has been in office doesn’t mean they are the best person for the job. There are many who serve just because no one else better is willing to run and endure the slings and arrows of public life.
I have been there. I have served as an elected council member. You can too, that is, if you want to improve where you call home.
