Community Voice: Be Informed When Voting

For the past several weeks there has been much communication in various circles about the upcoming School Budget Votes and School Board Elections. Personally I have been a firm believer in the democratic process and in the many perspectives that go into making the very personal decision that goes into casting a ballot.

 Gathering the accurate information is perhaps the most important job that each of us has going into the election. This year that task seems to have been made more challenging with the advent of the phenomenon of facebook and of blogging on the newest source of information added to our community cachet; The Patch.

Blogging…wow…now that is a creature who’s impact on this election will be interesting to study in the post mortem stages of this election. I am a novice in this arena of networked communication and sharing of information. I am not however quite so green when it comes to elections, the politics behind them or the level of nasty things can slip to, especially when all parties use the charging call of “what is best for our kids!” Talk about trading on fear. This time around that fear is amplified to hysteria by virtue of this media…I just hope it is not a case in the end of “live by the sword and die by the sword.”

Whether we are all willing to admit it out loud or not, these for most of us are difficult financial times, which have us facing many decisions, which we never anticipated or dreamed we might be forced to make. Apparently there are some, who God love them, are not subject to the same “pain” as others, however I think as members of a “community” attempt to appreciate the possibility that we are not all in the same boat. Whether a current member of the Board of Education, faculty union leadership, community advocates or the average “Joe” (or Millie, Charlie, 11783, etc and you all know who you are) everyone needs to take a step back and breathe. What is it that has us all at this level of anger, frustration and keyboard stroking?

Here is what I think. Financially times stink. I mean these are like time of my grandparents’ tales of old. Proud people, who are used to being contributing members of our community, are being forced to choose between paying for their food and prescription drugs or, their mortgages or rent, and that unfortunately is not an exaggeration.

These are times when flippant comments made by defensive members of the board and administration, catch fire faster than our precious Pine Barrens in the droughts of late summer. These are times when citizens frustrated with the status quo or perceived apathy of others, call us out on the carpet to join in a revolution. These too are the times when a union leader focused on a Holy Grail located nowhere near our bayside hamlet, put at risk our community well- being and health because of an insatiable ego. An ego which allows the people who pay dues to be eliminated from the pool of the employed, and place burdens on the remaining membership that go beyond class sizes, but leave tarnish that will not soon be wiped away from a profession. An ego that rips an individual from obscurity, one who professes concern, while taking the financial support from a questionable source at best, considering the altruistic chant professed at candidates’ night.

These too are times when the term “bullying” takes on new meaning, characterized by groups of individuals pushing forth agendas wrapped in the blankets of “what is best for the kids”, failing to of course clearly articulate a sound argument as to why, but promoting the cause with numbers and volume at microphones that they visit but once a year.

Is there beauty in this mess somewhere? Maybe. I, you see, am of the belief that this is part of a process and a democratic process. Annoying, infuriating, exhilarating, fascinating, heck even captivating are words that can be used to describe these past couple of weeks. This process of voting and electing representatives is such a precious gift and one, which merits careful contemplation.

No matter how you vote, it is absolutely imperative that you vote, because your voiced does need to be heard. I think too the responsibility of becoming an informed voter means, that you are going to have to put some work into gathering “good information.” That of course is opposed too much of what is out there right now. It is not an easy task before us, but please do not squander this vote. Do not give it away freely. Make it count and make sure if you are sending a “message” it is one, which accurately reflects what you are feeling and what you can reasonably afford.

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Roberta Grogan

Seaford resident