Why Voting Matters

Editor's Note: Lisa Longo is a candidate for school board. Patch welcomes Local Voices postings from any and all candidates for public office. Click on start a blog on the homepage or follow this link to get started with just one click.

Tuesday is Primary Day here in Pennsylvania. I’m betting we will see a whopping 10% turnout for this important election. Mostly it is local positions, we have school board and council seats up state-wide. And you better bet, these elections are important.

I hear from so many people, how they don’t like this or that. What they would change if they could. What we “should” be doing. And I ask them all the same thing, do you vote? Will you be voting this coming Tuesday? Do you attend meetings? Have you considered running for local office?

Because here is the thing, we are the change we want to see. We are the heroes of this story. It is up to us to show up and give input. It is up to us to run for office and help continue this great experiment we call Democracy.

Don’t think for one minute we can do this without you. We can’t. Democracy is a participatory sport and when you sit out even one local election, when you tell yourself “it is only a primary it doesn’t really matter”, you are saying you don’t really want to have a voice.

We had a candidate forum last night for school board candidates. Two people showed up. But I often hear from people how “concerned” they are about taxes going up, or what is “happening” in our schools.  Concern is great, and I hope that we can convert that concern into action.

Why does voting matter? Because no one operates in a vacuum. When you elect someone you are electing their values and that is one place where trickle-down theory does indeed work.

Take the time to get to know candidates, because locally, what they do is going to impact you and your family every day. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that local elections are the most important and yet voter turnout is horrible for local elections. Why is that?

I am running for school board. I keep hearing what a “thankless” job it is. I don’t believe that. Public service, however you want to see it, is in and of itself the reward. I am running because I think it is my civic duty to be of service to our community.

My background in accounting, finance and management will be of great service to our district as we chart a long-term strategic plan. My strong belief in the importance of education and desire to assist in the development of policies and plans to enhance and strengthen our schools while engaging our community will help me to develop goals for my time on the board.

Actually, I am already working on several programs. One is an anti-bullying program for our high school. And I spoke at several school board meetings on the need for our schools to review food quality standards and I am happy to say that the current board has taken that and has contracted with a new food service provider and incorporated new standards, many of which I spoke about, including more local foods.

There are several other policy and program suggestions I am working on, and whether elected or not, I will continue to develop ideas and strategies for our schools.

I know one concern of voters is taxes. We need to balance the needs of the community with the reality of the cost of education. I believe there are areas where we can see a reduction in spending, these areas include transportation, energy and food service.  In our long-term plan we need to include strategies for expansion, and we should be building schools that have lower costs to run. We need to build schools that use less energy and save taxpayers money, helping reduce budget deficits.

Whether you vote for me or not on Tuesday, I hope you will come out and vote. Because voting matters, and yours is the vote that matters most