Election housekeeping
With the April 7 nonpartisan spring general election just 10 weeks away and a full slate of county, school district and municipal races we here at The Star News have been working on planning on how best to share information about all the races with readers without overloading people with information.
Over the next weeks, candidates in contested races and those who are new in their positions in all the area races will be invited to respond to some basic questions about their backgrounds, why they are running and what they identify as areas of concern currently and in the future.
The goal of these questions is to give voters resources to make their own choices about which candidate is best suited for the job and who they best feel will represent their interests on the various boards and councils.
Before all that begins, it is important to say thank you to those who have taken the step of advanced citizenship and are running for office. Being willing to stand up and want to take an active role in the decisionmaking impacting your community is important to the health of democracy not only at the local level but nationwide.
Apathy is the true enemy of all political systems, when people simply stop caring about their communities, it fosters a breeding ground for creeping corruption and consolidation of power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats.
While it is great to see so many people running for local office, it is important to remember that nonpartisan local government is one of the greatest legacies of Wisconsin’s founding fathers and mothers.
In a nonpartisan atmosphere elected leaders are free to make decisions based on the circumstances of the moment and the needs of their community. Pot holes don’t care about what yard signs you had up in the governor’s race. Local government gets more done and benefi ts more people directly than any other level of government because people set aside their differences and reach workable solutions.
Serving on a local board is not an easy job. Local elected officials are called upon to make decisions that impact their neighbors and friends directly. In doing so, they must set aside how decisions impact themselves and look to the needs of the greater community.
In order to give voters ample opportunity to learn about the issues and candidates, the plan is to spread out the election coverage over later February and all of March.
Coverage will begin with profiles of school board candidates in Gilman and Rib Lake to run in the February 24 issue.
The following week on March 3, profiles of the Medford school board candidates will run.
On March 10, the focus will be on municipal races in the county including the city of Medford and village boards.
On March 17 the focus will be on contested and newcomer County Board, with an election recap for all races to run on March 24.
Throughout this time there will be ongoing coverage of the school district referendums in Medford and Gilman. Medford Area Public Schools is seeking approval for a $29.9 million project to overhaul the high school and Gilman is seeking to renew their revenue cap exemption for another few years.
March 24 will also be the last week for election-related Vox Pops to run in The Star News. Please be civil and respectful when it comes to writing in support or against a candidate or their positions. Endorsement letters for local, school, and county races as well as referendum issues are welcome and run free of charge.
As a reminder, endorsement letters for statewide and national candidates are considered paid advertisements.
Thank you again to all the candidates, running for offi ce is not an easy step to take. Your willingness to serve your community is appreciated.
Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.
