AJC > Sandy Springs > Blog > Archives > 2008 > November > 03
Monday, November 3, 2008
Democracy doesn’t have to be sexy to work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A lot of neighbors have been relating stories of standing in long lines out in the cold to vote early, which is uncomfortable for them but very encouraging on a couple of fronts.
First, they’re voting.
Second, they’ve been willing to stand in line for up to five hours in the cold to cast their ballot.
In this era of mobile phones, e-mail and text messaging that has caused many to lose their ability to be patient it is heartening to know they will stand around with a group of strangers to cast their vote. Some of these same people live on fast-food burgers because they don’t have the attention span to microwave a frozen entree.
It’s usually easy to get people voting in a year when there is a presidential race. It’d be great to see the same fervor when it’s time to consider our choices for mayor and city council members. There’s something about a local election that, sadly, fails to ignite the same fervor.
Would the same people standing in last week’s chill for hours to vote for the next president wait 30 minutes in warmer conditions to cast a ballot of their city council representative? Heck - do most Sandy Springsteens know represents them on the council?
It’s been a fractious few months in our neighborhood as we have opposed the expansion of a private school we share real estate with. Down Lake Forest a neighborhood is going to court to try and reverse a city council decision to allow another private school to build an athletic complex.
Predictably there have been the “we won’t forget this when (fill in the name of your offending council member) is up for re-election.” My guess is that by the time the mayor and council members are back on the ballot many will have forgotten that pledge. Or still not know the name of the rascal they want to oust from the council.
Undeniably there is more sex appeal to be had with a presidential race. There is a ton of media coverage, saturation advertising, televised debates, etc. And this election will also make history — we either have out first African-American president or our first female vice president.
But what local races lack in marquee value, more than make up for it in our future quality of life. Zoning permits, building regulations, speed limits, traffic studies, tax digests, etc. may not be the things that get our blood pumping but they are the things that will affect how we live day to day.
Democracy doesn’t have to be sexy to work.
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