you really do vote in this election. Even with our successful vote-by-mail system, many of us still
seem to wait until Election Day to cast our ballots. That’s fine, but even knowing that, a 25% return with less than a week remaining seems a little low to me.
Here’s an example of one of my concerns. The other day, I met someone I “sort of know” from
the community. Now, for reasons that will become apparent, I’m not going to identify her,
nor will I. The conversation went something like this. She, knowing I am a candidate for City
Council here in Wheeler, wanted to talk to me about the election. She wasted no time getting
straight to her point. She wanted to know who I was voting for. Now, I ordinarily keep that kind
of information close to the vest. But I believe she was genuinely interested in knowing how
one candidate was voting. So, I told her my vote went to, besides myself, Mary Leverette,
Heidi Stacks and Walt Porter. One thing led to another in our conversation until she pressed
me on why my vote didn’t go to even one incumbent. I said something like, “Well, there
aren’t that many of them running and besides, I wasn’t particularly happy with the outcome
when we voted two years ago”. At that point, she bristled and told me that she hadn’t voted
for any of them. In fact, when pressed, she really couldn’t remember when she had last voted in a local election. Well, it was then that I got on my soapbox and told her pretty much what I’m using here to relate to you.
Voting at our local level is so important. Every vote counts and – as we have all heard on more
than one occasion, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain!”
So, come on, 75%. I know we can do it! Please vote in your municipal election.
Dave Bell
Candidate for Wheeler City Council