Make your voice heard, get out and vote

On Tuesday, people in Mountain Home, Glenns Ferry and communities across Elmore County plan to head to the polls to cast their votes on what I expect will set the tone and direction these communities will take for at least the next four years.

This year's elections come at a time when the national economy starts to show signs of sluggish but steady growth, which I hope starts to trickle down into communities like Mountain Home and Glenns Ferry. Granted, it's going to take a steady hand on the "helm" within the state and federal legislatures to ensure our communities can take advantage of this optimistic news without anyone getting overconfident.

This year’s elections come at a time when our federal lawmakers continue to drag their feet during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1. Simply put, we have people in power that refuse to compromise with regards to ensuring legal citizens in this nation gain the support they need because these representatives believe those who deliberately and illegally entered our country somehow deserve benefits paid by the taxpayers who legally live here.

During my years with the Mountain Home News, I gained a front-row seat on what it takes to run a city and keep things running smoothly. Despite what some people might think, it's not an easy job and one that I personally wouldn't want, regardless of how well it paid.

Contrary to what people might think, getting elected to public office doesn't mean people in our community will stop and bow in reverence and throw rose petals on the ground as these elected officials walk by. Instead, you're more likely to have people boo or throw rotten fruit in your general direction.

Someone once told me that being elected to a leadership position simply tells the critics and pundits out there that a new "target" is being set up down range, especially those whose political beliefs differ from their opponents. After seeing firsthand how nasty these critics can get in recent years, I believe it.

Being in charge of running a city is a lot more than shaking people's hands or kissing babies. These individuals quickly become subject matter experts on everything from balancing a multimillion dollar budget to dealing with personnel issues in each city department.

They need an in-depth knowledge of how everything in the city works. This includes everything from where our water comes from and where, to put it bluntly, our "poo" goes afterward.

While none of them are certified lawyers, they need to have a solid grasp on local, state and federal law and how they intertwine (or sometimes conflict) with one another. They are the ones who approve new laws and update existing ones, knowing that someone down the line will likely have issues with those ordinances.

And when a local citizen stops an elected official to complain about a decision made by the city, our elected representatives are the ones willing to face the music by either standing by their decisions or willing to listen to a difference in opinion.

Those new to the world of politics quickly learn to grow an extremely tough "skin." But at the same time, they need to remain equally sympathetic to the needs of those they represent.

On a broader scope, these people often play the role of diplomats in their dealings with our state and federal lawmakers as well as the senior officials at Mountain Home Air Force Base. It becomes a delicate ballet of sorts to emphasize the base's strategic importance from a military readiness standpoint in addition to its long-time importance as an economic contributor.

And in some cases, those running our cities become miracle workers of sorts. Sometimes, they can take the proverbial lemons handed to them and somehow turn them into lemonade.

Take our sewage lagoons for example. Years ago, they worked out a deal with a local farmer to take that treated water and use it for irrigation purposes.

While you and I couldn't use that water, it's helping generate a little bit of revenue for the city by helping produce food used to feed local livestock. All it took was a little bit of money, a lot of ingenuity and a willingness to take a chance.

Back when I was much younger, one of my supervisors taught me the importance of getting out and voting whenever possible. I took that lesson to heart and made the effort to register in as many elections as I could.

During my 25 years of service in the U.S. Air Force, I registered for absentee ballots so I could vote in the elections in the hometown where I grew up. If I didn't know the candidates or issues, I did my homework before I voted versus just checking off a box on the ballot.

I figured that if I didn't vote, I hadn't earned the right to complain when an elected official made a decision I didn't agree with.

Once I retired, I went ahead and registered to vote in the elections here. After all, Mountain Home is now my home, and I feel that it's important to continue to perform my civic duty, regardless if it's an election for a school board trustee or the next president of the United States.

From my perspective, all elections are relevant and important.

It only takes a few minutes out of our busy lives to sit down and vote, so get out there on Tuesday and perform your civic responsibility. Because if you don't bother to vote, then you really don't deserve the right to complain, do you?