Local elections

My wife and I decided to fill out our ballots. There are only three positions to vote for: County Executive, County Council, and Blaine School Board.

We voted for our State House Representative (D), whose term expires in 2025, for County Executive. There were four choices for County Council. One describes his politics as an ‘eclectic mix’, primarily Libertarian and Constitution. In other words, a Trumpist. That’s a hard Nope. Another ‘leans conservative’. I know it’s wrong to tell a book by its cover, but I could sense her leanings from her photo. That left two: One seems to be Liberal, but is pragmatic. The other is a Progressive. While I consider myself a Progressive (or Social Democrat, whatever), I voted for the pragmatist. ‘Perfect is the enemy of Good,’ and all that.

Finally, there’s are the three school board candidates. I googled the first one and found this:

Blaine woman charged with child abuse released on bond

Tana Perkins Reneau, 51, of Blaine, was booked into Whatcom County Jail on June 2 and later formally charged with first-degree child rape, second-degree child rape, third-degree child rape, three counts of first-degree incest, second-degree assault equivalent to torture and four counts of second-degree child assault. Reneau was arrested on possession of a controlled substance but prosecutors did not file that charge.

Sounds like she has a lot of experience with children! That’s a plus, right?

I had to vote for one of the other two, just so she doesn’t win on a fluke. One wanted more funding for the Arts, and the other wanted more funding for the Trades. I voted for the Arts guy.

I always think how much of a crime it is that local and state legislative elections get so little attention from voters or the media. Mayors, city councilors, county executives and state legislators probably have more impact on people’s day-to-day lives than federal officials. Yet I guarantee 90% of Americans can’t name their state representative. The death of local news is only making it worse.

Yikes! What do you want to bet a teacher or school counselor reported the child abuse and that’s why she wants to be on the school board?

We drove the MG down to the fire station to deposit our ballots in the drop box, before taking a cruise along the beach. Unfortunately, there was no parking so that we could go to the car show.