A Repeated PSA From 2006

*steps on a soapbox*

In 48 hours, I will join so many other American citizens and exercise my right (and privilege) to vote.  Perhaps the easiest choice I will make on that day will be whether or not to give the Mayor of the city I live in a second term.

It was Thomas Phillip O’Neill, Jr, (‘Tip’ to his friends) who once said, “All politics is local,” and the late Speaker of the House of Representatives was absolutely right.
My small home resides in the following Districts:

– A Congressional District
– A State Senatorial District
– A Board of Equalization District
– A County Board of Education District
– A County Supervisorial District
– A State Assembly District
– A County Judicial District
– A Community College District
– A County Transportation District
– A County Water District
– A Superior Court of California District
– A Medical Healthcare District
– A Unified School District
– A Lighting District
And finally a City Council District.

Every single one of these Districts will be asking for my vote, my concurrence, on some candidate or issue that will fiscally impact me and mine for years to come. That is a simple fact. And if I haven’t taken the time to know the positions of the candidates and the issues in these 15 Districts – well, I’ll get what I deserve: expensive, but poor Government service. 

The most precious thing in the world is a knowledgeable and informed electorate. An electorate that knows what it is voting for and against; that knows the consequences of that vote and knows that they (and they alone) will have to live with the final outcome long after all the outsiders that tout the social merits of any proposition (pro or con) have left.

I encourage you to vote on Tuesday, but know what you’re voting for (or against).  My name is Bill and I approved this message.

*steps off soapbox and prepares to go to the polls*