By D’Anne Witkowski, Senior Copywriter
Have you heard the phrase, “the further down the ballot the closer to your door?” Considering it’s “spooky season” on the cusp of Halloween, it does kind of have a “the call is coming from inside the house” vibe.
But it’s not a tagline for a horror movie. Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be. It’s just a reminder that voting for candidates in smaller races, like school boards and city councils, is really important because the decisions these elected officials make will directly affect your life much more than, say, what the President of the United States does (not that the prez isn’t important).
Most people don’t know the names of the people who serve on their city council or library board or school board. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, local elected officials are simply public servants doing the work necessary to keep cities and school districts running. A lot of that work is, well, boring.
But in some cases, local elected officials are truly horrifying.
Take Ottawa County, for example, where the County Commission has been taken over by Ottawa Impact, a group of far-right fundamentalists formed out of the politically motivated rage produced by the effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. Out of 11 commissioners, eight are Ottawa Impact members. All eight are Republican, and all eight are wreaking havoc in the county.
Their prime target is the county health department. Long story short, the extremist County Commission majority tried to slash the health department budget by over 60% and refuse any and all COVID-19 related grants. They’re trying to oust Health Officer Adeline Hambley with an anti-mask HVAC manager because she spoke out, saying that this would essentially shut the department down and that “the cuts would result in the shuttering of food programs for low-income families, vaccine programs, suicide prevention programs, dental care for uninsured children, programs for migrants, communicable disease prevention, addiction resources, and sexually-transmitted disease services. Funding for two of the county’s five epidemiologists would also be eliminated.”
I don’t know about you, but all of those things sound important!
The commissioners also passed an anti-vax resolution, declared Ottawa a "constitutional county" where 2nd Amendment rights are sacrosanct, blasted the health department for participating in a Pride event, and decried the “tyranny of public health,” which is perhaps the most nonsensical and ignorant phrase ever concocted.
For a sobering look at what’s going on in Ottawa read this.
A lot of people in Ottawa County are mad about their extremist commission and there are multiple recall efforts underway. It’s a mess, quite frankly. It’s also a cautionary tale. Local elections matter more than most people realize.
And, look, this isn’t a blog about whether or not COVID-19 is real (it is) or whether anti-vaxxers and COVID deniers are acting in good faith (they aren’t). But it is a blog about how people whose names you don’t even know can take over the place you live and make dangerously ignorant decisions.
And that brings us to the Nov. 7, 2023 election. Across Michigan, people will be voting on local elected officials and ballot measures. Voter turnout for these local elections is historically very low, which means your vote counts more than ever.
You aren’t going to find the kind of wall-to-wall breathless media coverage like you would for a presidential election. In fact, you might not come across any media coverage at all unless you search for it.
And you should. Search for it. And use what you learn to inform your vote. Some places, like Lake Orion, have only one issue on the ballot: A proposal to defund their downtown development authority. Which is something plenty of people will vote to do under the mistaken idea that it will decrease their taxes (it won’t) and that the DDA doesn’t do anything important (it does). In Southfield, voters are choosing a new city clerk and voting on a proposal about whether city clerks should even be elected at all (proponents of the proposal would like to see city clerks and city treasurers appointed). Otsego Township voters are voting on whether to increase the solid waste disposal millage. Richland Township is voting on a fire millage. Many school districts have bond proposals on the ballot.
If you’re starting to feel your eyes glaze over, snap out of it. The issues before voters are about whether your trash gets picked up, whether your schools get needed improvements, and whether anyone shows up if your house catches on fire. Close to your door, indeed.
So if you hear a knock at the door on, say, Oct. 31 well before trick-or-treating hours, it might be someone out canvassing for a particular candidate or issue. Granted, they probably won’t egg your house or toilet paper the trees in your yard if you slam the door on their faces, but you’ll also be slamming the door on the potential to have conversation about what matters to you and ask questions that will help you make an informed decision when voting.
Remember, ignorance is a trick, but knowledge is a treat! And when it comes to local government, the call might not be coming from inside the house, but it is on your porch. Don’t ignore it.
To find out what’s on your ballot, where your polling place is, and other voting information click here!