Tis the season of political signs, dotting (littering) the Pennsylvania landscape.
Democracy in its rawest form, thousands of citizens run for town council or mayor, township supervisor or school board member. Candidates for county judgeships (winners make $180,000 per year for ten years) are at the top end. Assessors and constables who will eke out a very small fee-based income are at the other end. School board candidates are not allowed to make anything and, recently, getting relatives jobs has been near impossible.
Come November 5, voters representing upwards of ten per cent of those eligible will cast their ballots. While the case can be made that the vote in a municipal (odd-numbered year) is more important than one for a President (even-numbered year), an overwhelming number of people will stay away from the polls.
We may be heading for “Suppose they held an election and no one showed.”
In some “undeveloped” countries, elections are held on holidays or non-work days. Everyone shows up and wait for hours to cast their precious ballot. Democracy is still a novelty there, or at least democracy is regarded as more important.
What was uplifting and exciting in 1776 has become tired and failing in the 21st century. Our local business community bypasses the process. Remember when middle managers of our largest local industries would take their turn on school boards and councils. What industries, today?
The owners fail to recognize the importance of community service and their managers are overworking 24-7-365. In addition, cheap shots by local media and nasty comments on Facebook make a four-year term hardly worth the aggravation.
Many of the remaining “qualifieds” don’t have a clue.
They run because they are old and night meetings do not interfere with their golf. They run because they have an axe to grind – the daughter didn’t get selected for cheerleader. Sometimes candidates are provoked into running. Some believe they can change their corner of the world, until the first meeting.
Smart school superintendents and municipal managers (un-elected) bury these people in paper and technicalities. While elected officials scratch their heads, the professionals run their fiefdom, unchecked.
The signs reveal these candidates are in a world of their own.
Red-and-blue signs certainly paint candidates as more patriotic than opponents. Motorists can digest all of seven words and that’s only if they are painted on a four-by-eight footer. So go ahead, print your life history on the 11 by 14-inch yard signs.
Here is a hint. The most easily read signs are black type on a white background. When your local newspaper or MacDonald’s begin advertising with purple letters on an orange background, feel safe in trying this combination.
“Character and Value,” your signs claim. What character, what type of value.
“Matilda Schwanbenburger for Fayette County Commissioner” will not cut it unless she can afford billboards. Some candidates believe the best location for signs is beside their opponents.
Whereas TV stations get rich in a presidential campaign, local sign makers cash in on local elections. If the candidate can afford an ad or two in the local rag, they try to fit 600 words in two columns by five inches. The print of necessity becomes four-point type, but at least you were able to detail your 47-point platform.
The audience at local candidate nights is made up mostly of . . . other candidates. Small wonder. Even the League of Women Voters run from controversy in their boring candidate forums.
When we do get opportunities to question our candidates, we shy from tough questions. “What do you think of motherhood,” we demand. Unasked is “Considering you were a high school dropout, how can you be responsible for a school budget of several millions?”
Democracy in America remains a work in progress even after almost 240 years!
BOTTOM LINE: The best idea left would still take a revolution. Neither Party would support the concept of having all elections in even-numbered years. Republicans only like ideas that suppress turnout. Democrats are afraid of any new ideas.
What is wrong with selecting town council members on the same ballot as POTUS? How about school board candidates sharing glory with governor wanna-bees or lawmakers. Would-be voters might actually pay attention.
