Happy Election Day!!

City officials make key decisions that impact our day-to-day lives in a more profound and direct way than do the folks in Washington and Lansing. Funding for police and fire departments, roads, and parks often come from city and township governments.

Because of this, it is important that citizens make their voice heard by participating in community affairs. Perhaps the best way to do this is by voting.

And tomorrow, people in many locales throughout the state and nation will have the opportunity to do that. Voter turnout in city elections is significantly lower than it is in elections for President or Governor - meaning your vote has a greater impact.

Many future political leaders are running in these races. Today's city councilperson or mayor is tomorrow's state lawmaker or member of Congress. My Republican State Senator, Bill Hardiman, was mayor of my hometown of Kentwood for many years. Mark Schauer was a Battle Creek City Commissioner, while Gary Peters served on the Bloomfield Hills City Council. Both would become state Senators, and both are running for Congress in the 2008 election.

So if you get the chance, and you haven't voted by absentee ballot, stop by your hometown and vote tomorrow between 7 AM and 8 PM. To help you out, here's a short list of candidates endorsed by the Michigan Democratic Party Youth Caucus:

• Dayne Walling for Flint Mayor
• Maureen Brosnan for Livonia Mayor
• Nathan Triplett for East Lansing City Council
• Jason Bauer for Auburn Hills City Council
• Kevin Hrit for Troy City Council
• Ryan Hersha for Battle Creek City Commission

There are also elections in other cities and towns besides the ones listed above. So if there is an election near you, I hope you can take the time to vote tomorrow!

Election Redux

First the bad news: Grand Rapids Community College's second attempt at a millage failed by 361 votes.

As the numbers started rolling in, I figured that it would be likely be another nailbiter; around 10:00, most of the precincts outside of Grand Rapids had reported, and I figured that the 6,000-vote margin would close when Grand Rapids came in with its numbers. Well, it did.... but not enough.

So is the GRCC millage hike just not meant to be? For now, it seems, yes. It would be nonsense for GRCC to come back a third time in November, and every indication from GRCC President Juan Olivarez's brief interview with 24 Hour News 8 is that it won't come back in the near future. But he didn't rule it out for later on. (Prediction: Look for it next May.)

Now for some better news: Congratulations to Mayor George Heartwell on his re-election. I don't know if I would have voted for him; he hasn't been perfect. But I wish him well.

I also congratulate Walt Gutowski on his election to the Grand Rapids City Commission and wish him well; I can't say I expected him (or anyone) to get 50% or more in that race! If circumstances permit, I will likely volunteer once again for David LaGrand's campaign in the fall; look for a nailbiter between him and Ruth Kelly.

Complete Kent County results can be found here.

I willl also be pulling for Dayne Walling for Mayor of Flint. Don Williamson is, let's just put it this way, a conservative. We'll see if Williamson's getting less than a third of the vote as the incumbent is a sign of weakness on his part.

Election Eve thoughts

Mayor of Grand Rapids:
A poll published in the Grand Rapids Press had Heartwell at 44%, Tormala at 25%, GRPS Board Member/2006 Congressional nominee Jim Rinck at 8%, and Jackie Miller at 2%, with 20% undecided and 1% refusing to answer. If we are to believe this poll, Heartwell has less than half the vote, which would force a runoff with Tormala. However, Heartwell has more than half of the vote (about 55% or so) amongst people who have settled on a candidate.

Two common rules of thumb are that (a) the incumbent usually has an advantage and (b) undecideds often end up breaking 2-1 for the challenger(s). In that case, if Heartwell attracts 1/3 of the undecided vote, that would give him roughly 51% - just barely enough to win outright. But again, this was just one poll; had other polls been taken, perhaps this would be seen as an outlier.

Grand Rapids City Commission:
On the GR City Commission, three candidates are vying for the right to replace likely 2008 State House candidate Roy Schmidt in the First Ward. They are businessmen Walt Gutowski and Ed Kettle, and former County Commissioner and 2006 Drain Commissioner candidate Tom Postmus (R). Meanwhile, four candidates are seeking to succeed Tormala in Ward 2: Michael Booker, community activist Ruth Kelly, former County Commissioner Dan Koorndyk (R), and businessman/2006 State Senate candidate David LaGrand (for whom I did a literature drop over the weekend).

Grand Rapids Community College:
The Grand Rapids Community College millage is the only thing on the ballot in Kentwood this election. It failed by just a few hundred votes in May. This time it has a couple more things going for it, among them a lower request - .49 mills vs. .56 mills requested in May - just might catch a few more voters who were a bit squeamish about supporting the first millage but would support a slightly smaller increase.

Moreover, expect higher turnout in Grand Rapids and lower turnout elsewhere in the county. Unlike most of the rest of Kent County, Grand Rapids voters did not have a school board election to in May; this likely contributed to lower turnout in GR, a city where a majority of voters supported the GRCC millage. This time around, however, turnout will likely be higher in GR, with multiple races on the ballot, while few communities outside GR will have primaries for offices this Tuesday. That said, I’m going to hedge my bets and say that it will only pass by a narrow margin.

Letters to the Editor
I did an informal survey of Letters to the Editor over the past couple of weeks tallying how many such letters supported each candidate. The unofficial results:

Mayor:
Tormala: 17
Heartwell: 5

Ward 1:
Gutowski: 7
Kettle: 6
Postmus: 3

Ward 2:
LaGrand: 14
Kelly: 9
Koorndyk: 4
Booker: 1

GRCC Millage:
Yes: 15
No: 9

Predictions:
Heartwell 48%, Tormala 38%, Rinck 11%, Miller 3%.
Gutowski 38%, Kettle 34%, Postmus 28%.
Kelly 39%, LaGrand 37%, Koorndyk 19%, Booker 5%.
GRCC millage: 53% Yes.
Turnout: 20.4% in Grand Rapids, 7.6% in Kentwood, 13.4% through Kent County.

Happy voting!

PS: Warren has six candidates for Mayor, five for City Treasurer, four for City Clerk, and 42 individuals seeking nine City Council seats!

You Are Cordially Invited

You are cordially invited
To help determine the future of your community

Who: The voters of Michigan who were registered to vote by July 9

What: Primary elections for Mayor and City Councils, as well as millage questions.

These primaries are non-partisan. In a partisan primary, voters narrow down the number of candidates to one candidate per party. Nonpartisan primaries only occur when three or more candidates are running for one seat. In a nonpartisan primary, if one candidate receives 50% of the vote, that candidate is declared the outright winner; otherwise, the top two candidates advance to the November election (which is called the general election or runoff).

When: Next Tuesday, August 7. Polls are open from 7AM to 8PM.

Where: Communities across Michigan. Click here to see if yours is among them.

Why: City officials make important decisions. Funding for police and fire departments, as well as parks, usually comes from city and township governments. Decisions made by local governments often have an even bigger impact on our day-to-day lives than those made by federal or state government.

What's more, your vote has a greater impact. Voter turnout in city elections is far lower than it is in, say, Presidential or gubernatorial elections.

Not convinced? Many future political leaders are running. Today's City Councilperson or Mayor is tomorrow's state lawmaker. My Republican State Senator, Bill Hardiman, was mayor of my hometown of Kentwood for many years. State Senate Democratic Leader Mark Schauer was a Battle Creek City Commissioner, while Senators Martha Scott, Liz Brater, Glenn Anderson, and many others have served on City Councils.

Please RSVP by August 7, 2007 at 8 O'Clock P.M.

Note: Some cities, such as Kentwood and Grand Rapids, call their city councils 'city commissions.' Though the names are different, they essentially serve the same purpose. For simplicity's sake, I have decided to use the term 'city council' throughout this post.

School Election Day!

Ah, the joy of democracy.

A little earlier today (at 3:40 PM) I voted for the fourth time in my life (having voted for a sinking fund renewal in February 2006; last August's primary; and of course the general election six months ago). This was my second time voting in person nat a voting location.

Four items appeared on my ballot. I voted for two of the three candidates for Kentwood School Baord; two of the four candidates for Grand Rapids Community College Trustee; and Yes on a GRCC millage increase as well as an Interurban Transit Partnership millage.

Voter turnout is expected to be light today, as it usually is in this type of an election. But here's the shocker: I was the 352nd person to vote at my voting place. 352! Granted, two voting precincts vote at Glenwood (at least that's how it usually works; perhaps it's different in a school election), and both appearedto have voted in the same place this time (as opposed to when they voted in different parts of the gym in August. But I was #120 in my precinct in the primary, and we ended up with 20% turnout in our precinct.

Predictions
Based on the level of campaigning I have seen, I predict that Bill Joseph and Mimi Madden will win re-election to the Kentwood School Board, as will GRCC Trustee Margo Anderson. As my upset pick, Fran Pepper will oust Terri Handlin from the GRCC Board. The GRCC and ITP millages will pass with 64% and 73%, respectively. (If this scenario plays out, I will be a perfect 6 for 6 in terms of voting for winning candidates and sides of proposals.)

Polls close at 8... so if you haven't voted, do so now! Then check Election Magic for results.

School and local elections this Tuesday!

Many people believe that young people simply do not care about politics - or if they do, they only do so during presidential campaigns. But every election is important, including elections for governor, state legislature, city office... and school boards. And other than K-12 students and teachers, I don’t know of any group that has more at stake in these school elections than people our age.

This Tuesday, many communities will be holding elections for School Boards, while others will be voting on tax issues (i.e. millage requests) and the like. Click here to find out if there’s an election going on where you live.

If there’s an election where you live, but you’re not sure if you will vote, here are a couple of reasons why you should.

1. K-12 schools do matter to us. If you're reading this, you are probably a college student, and you probably don't care what goes on in your communities' K-12 schools (unless you want to be a teacher). Here's why you should. Companies generally choose to create jobs in areas where potential employees are well-trained to work for them. This means that in order for Michigan to emerge from the economic doldrums brought on by the decline in our auto industry, workers need to be well-trained and well-educated. It’s up to our schools to educate young people and to equip them with the skills they need in the 21st century world. Gov. Jennifer Granholm understood this, and was thus able to push a stronger high school curriculum into law last year.

School board members - including those who will be elected Tuesday - have the responsibility of making the schools in their communities educate children as best they can. The better the schools in your communities are, the smarter their students will be, the better prepared they will be for the workforce and the more attractive our communities will be to businesses.

2. Your vote has a big impact (relatively speaking). About 60 million people vote for the American Idol in a typical week. 3.8 million people voted in Michigan’s gubernatorial race six months ago. By contrast, no more than a few thousand people vote in School Board elections in many places. This means your vote will have a much greater impact on who wins.

3. Today’s School Board members = Tomorrow’s political leaders. A number of School Board members go on to serve as city council members, mayors, and state legislators. Former Grand Rapids Public School Board member Robert Dean now serves in the Michigan House, having won a hotly contested race last fall. The 2006 Democratic nominee for Congress in the Grand Rapids area, Jim Rinck, currently sits on the GRPS Board. Those are just a couple of examples. So if you see a candidate whom you know is a conservative... well, you know who not to vote for.

Polls are open from 7 AM to 8 PM on Tuesday. If you can, educate yourself (no pun intended) about the candidates running in your area... then be sure to vote!

ELECTION NOTICE: February 27 local elections

Some communities and school districts in Michigan will be holding elections next Tuesday, February 27. Click here to find out if you are in one of them. (For those of you in Kent County, this only applies to you if you live in the Wyoming School District.)

If you need an absentee ballot, be sure to apply for one ASAP!

You must have been registered to vote at your current address by January 29. If you are reading this, you probably voted in November, but if this is your first time voting, you must do one of the following in person: 1) Register to vote at the clerk's office; 2) Request an absentee ballot in person; or 3) Vote at your voting place on Election Day.

Every election is important. Every vote counts... and it counts even more when fewer people vote. So if you have an election where you live next week, take these next several days to find out what will be on your ballot, inform yourself on the issues, and of course, vote between 7AM and 8PM next Tuesday.

(Incidentally, my first vote was to renew a school district sinking fund, and that took place a year ago.)