Roundabout – the song by Yes, helped me cross mountains and rivers as I drove across the Eastern United States in the mid-1970’s. The tape cassette went into the “custom” sound system of my 1967 Volkswagen Squareback (station wagon). The speakers were in boxes in the back – sitting on the hatch to the engine!
America
This is America. It is a big, broad, and diverse country. What you call a “pop”, others call a “soda”. And then there’s the few regions, from Southern Ohio to Alabama, who just call all brands a “Coke” or even an “R-C”. The Founding Fathers recognized the distances involved in trying to govern such a place. They created layers of power: from the Federal to State, to County to local. Each had a role in determining what happened in our lives, from the big things like fighting wars, to the small things like determining how best to pick up the garbage.
This is America. It is a Nation where everyone has their own opinion. We know: what the President should do, and how to solve the unemployment crisis, and which quarterback should be starting for the high school on Friday night. Since Andrew Jackson moved into the White House, opening the building to be ransacked “in a friendly way” to celebrate his election, America believes in the common man. Jackson thought “anyone” could run the government, so he might as well have HIS supporters doing it. We call it the “spoils system”, to the victor goes the “spoils”. And so Jackson reaped his reward.
This is America. We used to have arguments in the town square. Bring your own soap box to mount, and make you best pitch. The discussion would eventually move from the square to the pub, and from reasoned points to emotional argument. Alcohol has that effect on people. But now we can have those “discussions” in a sterile, sanitary manner – by computer or IPhone. And with that sterility comes a price – I can say anything I want if you can’t reach across the bar and punch me in the nose. And once we close our IPads, we don’t stumble home arm-in-arm, leaning on each other for guidance. There’s no closure bringing us together again.
Elections Matter
This is America. There are the biggest elections, every four years: the Presidential elections. In our best year (last year) 67% of eligible citizens came out to vote. Then there are the “mid-term” elections, every two years. We elect Senators and Congressmen, and most of our state office holders. But without the national attention of the Presidency, about 55% will show up to vote. But this year, the “off-off-year”, the issues are local. We can expect that 30%, less than a third of those eligible, will decide what is going to happen in our cities, townships and schools.
Here in Precinct 4-A of Pataskala, Ohio, we have lots of issues. Our local coffee house wants to sell more than coffee – they have two “liquor license” issues on the ballot. And a new place, opening up in “downtown Pataskala” wants to serve liquor too. We’ve come a long way from the “dry” town I moved to in 1978. I helped make it “wet” then, and I’m still voting for liquor licenses today.
We’ve got to “affirm” the Mayor (only one is running), and the Council (three for three positions), the County School Board (again, three for three). The “hot” contest is the local Southwest Licking School board, five candidates for three seats (I will vote to retain the current Board members, Spindler, Vincent and Zeune).
Taxes
Then there’s the taxes. This is America, and the only taxes most Americans directly vote on are at the local level. Those issues face an uphill battle. No one wants more taxes; but everyone wants more services. The County Parks want .375 mills. One mill equals 1/1000 of a dollar tax on your property – I’ll save you the math. The Parks would get 3.75 cents per $1000 of property value per year. For me that ends up being $21.81 a year – well worth it.
The City of Pataskala wants one half of one percent of taxable income for the police. We are a small city, paying our police on the low end of the scale. We need to raise their salaries to retain them in our City, and we need more officers. I’m all for this tax.
And then there’s the Library Tax that’s confusing folks. The library district is the same as the school district – so some here in town think this is a school levy. IT IS NOT. The library wants 1 mill – that’ll cost me $29 a year more than I’m paying now. Having a good library is important to any town. So here’s no surprise – a retired teacher supports the library.
The Future
So those “little” elections don’t seem so important when compared to THE PRESIDENCY. But these are also the ones that most impact our lives. In the township just south of town, Etna, there is a hotly contested election for two township trustee seats. Etna is a community in transition, with former farm fields now filled with giant warehouses. It’s a big deal to that small community, and rumors of corruption abound. I don’t have a say – I’m not a resident of Etna. But I do hope that the fine folks of Etna show up and vote. Their decisions impact our entire area, not just those within the boundaries of the township.
This is America. We get to make decisions about our lives. Here in Pataskala there used to be one stop light in the whole town. Now, there’s more than a dozen just along Broad Street, the main road. How much we grow, and how much we change is what we get to decide. There’s talk that maybe we need even more traffic control – maybe a traffic circle. Or is it a rotary? I call them “round-abouts”. Ain’t that America?
