OUR TURN: Local elections are some of the most important

Voters head to the polls Saturday, May 12, to make decisions in what could be the most important set of races of the year: city councils and school boards.

When conversations turn to elections and voting, most people normally think of the big races — those for president, Congress and the governor — as being the most important.

That assumption’s true in a sense. However, the people elected to area boards such as the councils and school districts make decisions that have a more local and direct impact on our lives each day.

These candidates, when elected, will have a say-so in our children’s schooling, what streets get paved and how soon and what kinds of local taxes we’ll be paying.

These are not decisions being made in Austin or Washington, D.C.

These are decisions being made just down the street and around the corner, which is why the ballots cast May 12 are so important.

And sadly, these are the races that have the smallest turnout.

It seems ironic that the campaigns that have the largest impact on our children and our taxes garner so little interest.

Some of these elections will probably only get a few hundred votes, or fewer, in populations numbering in the thousands.

Have people really become so apathetic?

Voters have a chance to make a real difference May 12.

They must carefully make their choices. They must study the issues and then decide for themselves if the candidates they are endorsing are the right fit.

Local elections are the ones where the people have the most connections.

The councils and school boards they help create include neighbors, friends, peers and coworkers — people they live with, do business with, go to church with, see at the grocery store and so on.

There are plenty of issues on the table.

Voters should keep that realization in mind when they cast their ballots May 12.

Needless to say, the elected leaders at the helm of city governments will make decisions on taxes, road maintenance and other infrastructure.

Also, the tasks before school board leaders are equally daunting, especially as local districts try to figure out how to improve campuses, keep from laying off teachers and not diminish services in the face of possible deficits.

All these issues lead to why voting is so important. Residents have a voice in how their institutions will be run and they get to make those choices May 12 by casting ballots for candidates they feel will make a positive impact.

Hopefully, the turnout at the polls will be sizable, rather than repetitious apathy that has been the hallmark of so many local elections.

Having the right people in charge of local government to shepherd, oversee, manage and improve some quality-of-life initiatives for this generation and the ones to come is vitally important to the future of the Highland Lakes.

Voters should make their wishes known. The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. May 12.

Choose and make that choice count.