Friday, February 5, 2016

WE ALL HAVE A DOG IN THE FIGHT



Early Voting begins February 16 for the 2016 primary election.  As I wrote in my last blog this is going to be one of the most important elections for our country that most of us have ever seen.  Your vote does count, but only if you cast it.

As we draw closer to voting time I am beginning to hear more about the elections.  On Monday I was talking with an individual about the upcoming election and I was asked about my opinion on a local election.  Just happened to be a contest that I will not be able to cast a vote in since it is a precinct race and I do not live in that precinct.

My response to him was that I really wasn’t thinking about that race cause “I didn’t have a dog in that fight,“ it was out of my precinct.  His response made me start thinking.  He said yes you do.  Even though the winner may not be directly responsible to you they will still be representing Milam County and you should care about that.  You know he was right.

The elected officials of Milam County represent all of Milam County whether they are precinct or countywide officials. Think about it.   A county official elected to any county office represents Milam County   Along with that representation comes potential liability for the county.  While in the performance of official duties an elected official could wind up in a situation that would result in a law suit and cost Milam County a lot of money.  All the taxpayers foot that bill.

Another point he made was that in emergency situations it was an all hands on deck program for Milam County.  What he meant was that in the past emergency circumstances have required all county officials to take a part in meeting that emergency.  During a train derailment some years ago county officials were required to perform certain services above and beyond their normal roles.  This was also true during the county’s response to hurricane Rita.

Guess my point is that at all levels we have a dog in the fight beyond those that we can vote for.  While it might seem as though the state and federal levels are beyond our reach certainly the local races are within our reach.  Even if you can’t vote for a candidate  you can help candidates at all levels by contributing time, cash and word of mouth recommendations to friends and family to help their campaign.

I know we are all busy and seem to never have enough time to get everything done, but we need to make time to learn all we can about our candidates at all levels.  Talk to our neighbors and urge them to support the best candidate for the job.  Bottom line is we all need to take our government more seriously at every level and get involved and cast our vote.  Remember it’s for the people by the people, and to get there WE the people got to get involved.