AFTER THE HEADY 2008 when the presidential race drove up voter turnout and political involvement locally and across the nation, a simple municipal election seems like a letdown.
The offices up for grabs seem humble: city and borough councils, township offices and school boards and most of the races are uncontested. Voters are also being asked to select state Supreme, Commonwealth and Superior judges and retain others. When you compare it to last year’s history-making election, Tuesday’s is a snoozer.
Things aren’t always what they seem to be. Take a few minutes and read the voters guide stories we’re publishing today and you’ll find out there’s a lot going on and some awfully important local offices to fill in Tuesday’s election. Among them:
• Sharon council — Two council members elected Tuesday will be part of the city’s transition to home rule and be on the first council to rely on a professional manager to run the city. The race features a pair of Democrats and what appears to be the first-ever independent candidate to run for council.
• Hermitage commissioners — A full slate of candidates are seeking the chance to steer the city into the future. A new garbage contract that’s irked some, ongoing land use issues and the city’s finances seem to be the biggest issues. Next year’s census is likely to show that Hermitage is now the largest city in the county and the men or women elected Tuesday will be charged with making the biggest the best.
• Mercer County treasurer — the only countywide office up for grabs. It doesn’t seem that sexy, but Republican blogger turned Democratic candidate Roberta Biros has made the race interesting. Republican Ginny Steese Richardson is running on her 16-year record. Mrs. Biros is promising to update the office but she’s really presenting a challenge to the county’s political hierarchy.
• District justice — Independent candidate Ed Bardella is giving recently appointed District Judge Brian Arthur, who won both parties’ nominations in the spring primary, a race in the general election. The winner will administer low level justice in the Greenville area for the next six years.
• Hermitage, Sharon and West Middlesex school boards — Candidates like to say they’re doing it for the kids and this year’s pool is no different, though the boards they are running for face myriad challenges. Sharon must decide what to do with aging Case Elementary School. Minor controversies over the online Canyon College and the superintendent’s contract have made waves in West Middlesex. Hermitage directors will be working with a new superintendent. All will deal with perennial property tax questions.
• Greenville council — A crowd of hopefuls are seeking seats on council as the borough deals with a recreation crisis and struggles to pull itself out of a state program for distressed municipalities.
• Brookfield schools — Voters can make Joe Pasquerella go away or they can clone him on Tuesday in a race that pits the controversial former board president, his wife and daughter against current and former board members and one of the people behind an effort to toss him off the board.
Now we don’t know about you, but any one of those races is a decent argument against those who say “I’m not going to vote because there’s nothing on the ballot.”
There are dozens of races down the ballot. The people who win them will affect the taxes you pay, how your kids are educated and the quality of life you enjoy or lament.
That alone ought to be enough to draw voters to the polls Tuesday.
But in case that’s not enough, we’ll appeal to your better nature. Right now, thousands of American soldiers are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting and dying in an attempt to give those desperate people a little piece of the freedom we have.
Are you comfortable telling those soldiers that you’re too busy, disinterested or ignorant to fulfill that duty?
Opinion
Voters have lots of reasons to go to the polls on Tuesday
- Opinion
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Juicy tips will be far fewer without ‘Scoop’ on the phone
I enjoyed calling him Scoop. I was the newspaper guy, but for more years than I can remember, Gary Douglas was at the other end of phone calls on a regular basis.
“Did you hear about this? Did you hear about that? Did you hear about so-and-so? Better check this out. I’ll bet you haven’t heard about this.”
That usually was the flow of the conversation. Most of the time he was right. Some of the tips turned into stories that were fit to print, and others not so much.
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The only thing we have to fear is fear-mongering
To hear some folks tell it, it’s no longer morning in America, it’s five minutes to midnight. They say the United States, once the greatest nation on Earth, is today on a glide path to the ash heap of history.
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Super Bowl Sunday brings a super boost for the local economy
The game is more than a glitzy international event. It serves as a one-day boon to local economies like ours here at home.
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Punxsutawney Phil, Mitt and a litany of bad GOP hopefuls
Here are some thoughts from a guy who doesn’t put a whole lot of stock in rascally rodents that make weather forecasts.
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In Ed Likovich’s yard, apples don’t fall very far from the tree
Adage tells us that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It really applies to the Likovich family of Hermitage, specifically Ed the father and teacher and Ed the son and student.
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A smaller state legislature? Don’t hold your breath
Don't tell me that our state General Assembly is finally going to do what should have been done many years ago – cut the size of the Legislature.
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A sad end to life: History will determine JoePa’s legacy
I had the privilege, yes privilege and honor, of meeting Joe Paterno several times in my life, both as a student at Penn State and in my role as editor of The Herald. It was with a heavy heart when I learned that he was near death during the Mercer County Hall of Fame’s annual dinner at the Park Inn by Radisson Saturday, and that he had died Sunday.
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OUR VIEW: Dearth of candidate interest defies worth of legislative races
In case you hadn’t noticed, this is an election year. Actually every year is, but this is one of the big ones. Sure, there’s some sort of presidential race going on, but that’s just a sideshow to where the real action in this year’s election is – or at least should be.
Voters across the country will be electing every member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and here in Mercer County voters will help decide who represents three state House districts. -
Hall of Fame weekend stirs memories of ‘good old days’
Is there anything better than reminiscing about the “good old days”? That’s why I love the Mercer County Hall of Fame’s annual induction weekend.
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We couldn’t fool anyone - the neighborhood always snitched
An old African proverb tells us that it takes a village to raise a child. At least two books drawing lessons from the proverb have been written, including the most famous in 1996 by Hilary Clinton, “It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.”
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