Letter to the Editor

Let’s vote for better candidates

By Lisa Ruiz, Town of Montgomery
Posted 9/16/21

Election Day is fast approaching and hopefully you have started to look into your local races to start making decisions on who you will vote to send to office. Local races give you the most direct …

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Letter to the Editor

Let’s vote for better candidates

Posted

Election Day is fast approaching and hopefully you have started to look into your local races to start making decisions on who you will vote to send to office. Local races give you the most direct and immediate impact on the issues that affect your daily life. From how much you pay in taxes to how your school district is run, to the employees chosen to run your local municipal departments. All of this is worked on by the people the community elects to handle the business of our community government and entities. This is why we need to pay better attention and become more active in our local government, and we need to look closely at the track record and community engagement of both our incumbents and prospective candidates. 

There are 3 things you want to look at in your candidates: Integrity, their work history as either an elected official or community member, and how they are working to share information about what is happening in our government and community. 

When you vote for a candidate who displays the constant action of doing the right thing, even when that action is unpopular, or difficult, or doesn’t benefit them in some way-you are voting for integrity. When you vote for a candidate with integrity, you can rest in the peace that they are willing to stand up and do what is best for the community as a whole, instead of what’s best for themselves or their selected group of sycophants. 

Take a look at a candidate’s track record. For incumbents, look at their voting record on town issues. Pay attention if they ask questions, come prepared to board meetings, pay attention at board meetings, receive citizen concerns and respond in a respectful manner. For non-incumbent candidates, are they at planning meetings, board meetings, and IDA meetings? Do they ask questions that show they understand the issues at hand? Do they fight for fair policies and decisions that benefit the entire community, or just their own personal interests?

Lastly, look for a candidate who is actively trying to find new ways to inform and engage the community. When you email your elected official, do they acknowledge your emails? Do they even bother to respond to you and your concerns? Do they engage you at board meetings or do they ignore and shut down any questions or concerns you have as a citizen? For non-incumbents, how are they sharing information? Are they as committed as to start a 10-15 minute wrap up video series after every meeting they attend, to inform the rest of the community what is going on in their town in a clear, quick, and concise delivery that a citizen could watch and stay up-to-date on what is going on in their town? Are they knocking on your door to talk about the issues and why they’re running? Are they leaving you with literature that has a direct means to contact them if you have questions or concerns? 

These are some of the things you want to see in your candidate. It is about stewardship. Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. You are trusting that they will always do what is best for that entity or person. So the question you have to ask yourself is if you trust the people you are voting for to be good stewards-to be good public servants and never forget they work for the community, and not the other way around?