Hunter Bonner/Contributing writer
If the last two years showed us anything at all, it is the notion that “local elections don’t really matter” is 100% false.
Of course, as a lifelong political activist, I know that local elections matter.
However, it was not until the lockdowns by city councils, county commissioner courts, and school boards making health decisions for our children, even in defiance of state law (to include Texas) did many finally catch on.
The veil was removed.
What we saw is that many who serve in local government really should not be there in the first place.
Literally, it became evident that when regular folks started showing up at these local government meetings asking poignant questions, the lack of desire and in some cases, a lack of competence, was on full display with local officials across America.
Yet, these same elected officials were making decisions, many times with a total disregard to what was written in their own city charters, bylaws, and the like.
Unfortunately, this has been the case in Jefferson/Marion County for decades.
A select few subscribe to the concept of, “rules for thee, but not for me.”
Even in the face of codified laws, that the entire public can see, some elected officials think that they can govern from the hip.
They have reached the point of doing so brazenly, because no one has called them out on their bad behavior.
There are some that will state, “well that is just politics,” when encountering bad behavior in government, as though that will explain it all away and make it ok.
Well, it is not “ok” at all. These tired old expressions to excuse incompetence, corruption, and bad behavior are nothing more than tools of those who seek to manipulate the public for their own selfish gain.
To be clear, this is a problem on both sides of the political aisle. People get jaded, and then just give up, or enter a world of constant complaining.
So the question is, what can you do about it?
The first thing you can do is stop complaining, while taking no action. If you are not registered to vote, get registered.
It is not that hard, and I say this as a volunteer voter registrar. Everyone has a mobile phone, so use your data plan to start looking up who your local, state, and national leaders are.
Get to know their names, what they stand for, how they have voted.
Next, vote in all elections, to include municipal and Constitutional Amendment elections.
As I stated at the beginning, your vote at the local level could mean the difference between someone well qualified to hold that office, and someone who is simply running to add a title to their name for social status purposes.
In fact, those who have served for long periods of time in local offices are usually banking on low turnouts, so that things can be “business and usual.”
I highly recommend my fellow Marion County residents in the Primary Runoffs on May 24. When enough “regular folk” show up at the polls and make their voice heard, imagine what could actually be accomplished.