Have you voted yet? I got my ballot in the mail a week or so ago, tossed it on the desk in the kitchen, and there it sits, looking at me every time I go to the refrigerator. I’ll fill it out sometime next week. This year, I’m voting for school board members, a port district commissioner and a fire district commissioner, who is running unopposed.
While these local offices typically attract a tiny fraction of the interest accorded a presidential contest, or even the one for the 3rd Congressional District seat, these are the officials that have a lot of say in what happens in your neighborhood and to your property tax bill. If I need to dial 911, I want to know that a well-run fire district will promptly send excellent emergency responders. I want to know that my port district is attracting well-paying local jobs while balancing fiscal responsibility. And even though I am too old to have kids in school, I want a school board that makes sure children are getting a well-rounded education so they can pay my Social Security!
That is why our metro reporters spend a lot of time talking with the candidates and writing pre-election stories. Our goal is to write about every contested office and every ballot measure in Clark County by Nov. 1. The stories have been appearing in The Columbian and on our website for the last couple of weeks. If you missed any, you can read them at columbian.com/elections.
We are contemplating one change to our election coverage. Rather than write a lot of little results stories about each race, (what we call a swarm), we’re going to do one big roundup story of all the races, plus the usual results rail. This will allow us to present a better variety of local news in our Wednesday newspaper, rather than just election stories.
