An Oct. 19 Columbian story by Andrea Damewood carried the headline: “How ‘Republican’ are nonpartisan local candidates? They ask, should it matter?” Are there any thinking citizens who believe local candidates will be nonpartisan or do any of these citizens really feel there are many nonpartisan issues at the local level? What is egregious with classifying a citizen’s tendency to be left, right or in the middle with his/her thinking process?
Our first upright ancestors found the necessity to carefully classify everything in the environment, including the thinking of other similar members congregating for safety and well-being of the whole. Yes, there are a few issues with obvious consensus, but almost all other “local” issues affect various citizens with divergent consequences.
So, the answer to the question “How Republican are nonpartisan local candidates?” is, of course it should matter. The Republican Party correctly “classified” candidates for local positions — a similar Democratic Party classification would also matter.
Robert Edwin Maul
Ridgefield
