From my back porch I can see our local ski hill.
Its coated in snow, top to bottom.
This is one of the most exciting times of year to be a skier.
Collectively, skiing dominates our minds.
This year, in comparison, is a bit leaner.
Most of our yard signs are for local school board members, city council members, and our mayor.
And the same goes for most other countries too, local elections just don’t get as much hype.
That means that this year its easier to tune out the election season, and instead focus on skiing.
Off-year elections are easy to ignore.
And, for skiers, who already have plenty of excuses to ignore local politics, theyre a no-brainer.
As in, they often don’t even cross our minds.
And thats not good.
Presidential, and even congressional races are easy to pay attention to.
They saturate our news feeds as candidates throw around ridiculous sums of money to reach everyone in the country.
Local elections do not.
Theyre lucky if they can figure out how to stream a candidate forum on Facebook.
Local elections are too easy for skiers to tune out as we prepare for the season.
Skiers so often inhabit mountain towns without really investing in them.
But that recreation is intrinsically tied to local governance.
I cant speak specifically for your town, but I bet it has a lot in common with mine.
Here are a few things determined by local elections that directly influence the quality of my life here.
Well elect city council members who will have a say on all of those same issues.
Theyll also be part of the decision to expand bus service to and from our local resort.
We elect a sheriff who has a shocking amount of say in how and when laws are enforced here.
This one candidate gets to shape the personality for policing in our entire county.
Or they can harass undocumented workers that keep this small towns economy running.
This person also oversees Search and Rescue efforts to help skiers.
We elect a county prosecutor who has a huge role in determining the actual consequences tied to those laws.
We elect a City Clerk who is one of the first defenses against corruption in local government.
We elect county commissioners who will decide if, and how our local ski resort will expand.
Theyll be on the forefront of the affordable housing debate.
Start by subscribing to your local paper.
Theyll have election coverage, candidate forums, letters to and from the editor, and more.
This is the easiest way to get plugged in to local happenings.
Get educated, go vote, go skiing.
