There are lots of ways to pick a candidate to vote for in a local political race, including:
– Best hair
– Most signs
– Heard the name before
– Understand the pressures facing your city and compare the candidates’ ideas and comments on how to relieve those pressures.
That last one may take a little more time and effort, but probably has a better chance at landing a candidate whose thoughts dovetail with your own.
Starting with an understanding of the pressures is key.
Mill Creek is like most cities in the state since the passages of statewide initiatives 695 and 776 that turned tax-revenue increases to a trickle against an inexorable tide of expense increases. When the budget slide goes up on the screen, the revenue and expense lines look like a sword fight.
Just because everyone is in the same boat doesn’t mean everyone would choose the same oar to paddle out of fiscal danger.
Some would choose expense-side solutions, slashing spending to balance the books.
For others, economic development — that is, attract more business to town — and the attendant rise in sales-tax revenue that comes with it is the Holy Grail.
Others say there is no single fix, that staving off death by a thousand cuts requires a thousand Band-Aids.
All of those approaches can work, the question is which one, or ones, do you want to use?
The upcoming Aug. 21 primary election and the Nov. 6 general election will put people in place to make those kinds of decisions. So read the newspapers and the candidates’ campaign material. If they knock on your door, let dinner cool, miss a bit of “Entertainment Tonight” and ask some questions.
Then, when the ballot shows up in the mail, cast your vote for the candidate whose ideas ring true to you.
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