Civic Duty

So, I know the elections are over and all, but I'm still thinking about it. I guess I'm just bummed this year because, out of the 5 things I had to vote on this year (Referendum 1, City Mayor, and 3 City Council seats), just 2 of them went the way I voted - 2 of the City Council seats (and actually, I was voting against more than for in that election, so I really only cared that 2 weren't elected and 1 of the 2 was). I thought the outcome of Referendum 1 wouldn't really bother me, since I don't intend to send my children to private school (we have a really good charter school in our area I'm hoping they get into), so it wouldn't impact me monetarily. I was still pretty disappointed that it was defeated, and especially with the margin by which it was defeated. I don't think it was going to solve all the issues that exist within the public school system or anything, but I do feel like it was a step in the right direction as far as promoting choice and introducing some competition into the educational system, which would then serve to improve all schools, both public and private. Ah well, at least it got people thinking more about education and hopefully will pave the way for other new ideas.

Lindon City also elected a new mayor this year. We had a good friend and neighbor who ran, and he had some really good, new, fresh ideas. He lost, and the fellow who won seems to be very much a "maintain the status quo" kind of guy. Things aren't bad in our city by any means, so we don't need a lot of change, but I had gotten excited about a lot of Ben's ideas, and I'm bummed that I won't get to see them come to fruition (at least this term!). He's the one who kind of mobilized the neighborhood and really pushed the city to get moving on the park that's now in our neighborhood. I think he would have done a great job as mayor, but he is young and does lack significant political experience, so I can see how those who don't know him may have been reluctant to vote for him. He ran a great campaign, though, and I hope he runs again in a couple of years.

I've just realized - I think I'm disappointed because, despite the elections, everything is as it was before. All the city offices that were elected were retained by imcumbents. A new law that could have had a great impact on the public school system was essentially overturned. I guess it's just the minority, even within the subset of people who actually take the time to vote, who wanted to see some change, to see if things could become better. As I've said, it's not really that big of a deal, because things aren't bad. However, I was intrigued by some of the new ideas presented, and would have loved to have seen some of them put into action. Maybe next time.

I'm tempted to think my vote doesn't really matter (and in Utah, and especially Utah County, it often seems like that's the case!) but I always remember my college roommate telling me the same thing - she wasn't going to bother to send in her absentee ballot, because her vote wouldn't really make a difference. This was in 2000, the year of the Bush/Gore election, and she was a Florida resident. Since then, I figure, you've got to vote, because your vote may really make a difference, and sometimes you don't even know it.