This time next week the San Diego County Registrar of Voters should have the final results of the June 7 election, though by now voters have a solid idea of which candidates are moving on to the November round of voting. At the same time there are unknown participants in races that are subject to open contests, including city councils and school boards.
As voters we might welcome this period of reprieve, when hard campaigning and solicitations for money and support slow to a trickle. The mailers infesting mailboxes and campaign signs sprouted along public rights of way have withered and slithered away.
For now.
But now is not the time to tune out. It is the not the time to be lulled into complacency, only to frantically play catch up on issues and candidates in autumn. In five short months we will again be asked who we want to lead. From school boards and water districts to city council chambers, state assemblies and the House of Representatives candidates will tell you they deserve the privilege and responsibility of leading.
Use this time to examine those who would act on your behalf. Use this time to examine what values you have. Use this time to determine that intersection.
There are candidates who are profoundly gifted with the ability to say nothing while speaking volumes. Others are evasive, non-commital and, frankly, cowardly when asked for opinions that affect public policy but are not in their immediate purview. From those who would lead, demand answers. From those of you who would vote: to thine own self be true.
This country is in turmoil. The Supreme Court last week stripped away the rights of women to bodily autonomy, this week they knee-capped the Environmental Protection Agency in the midst of devastating climate change while at the same time at least one judge hinted the court should revisit the foundation that provides support to the notion that same-sex couples have the right to love and be married. These are national and global issues. But the court is acting on laws that were designed by legislators. Keep in mind that those who wield power and influence at that stage often get their start at the local level. What decisions do you want made on your behalf?
