Even a young skeptic knows that local elections matter

Volunteering with Boulder City Councilmember Junie Joseph has inspired me to think differently about the importance of local governance and the role of elections.

Before this summer, I had thought that local government was a bureaucratic cog. The limited experience I had with my own local town government was one of inefficiently run programs and unnecessarily slow operations. I understood why local government was needed, but I didn’t see how it was useful in any way. It seemed to me that local government only existed because it had to. What I had missed, however, was that local government affected every aspect of my daily life.

Local government gives funding to public schools, health services, infrastructure and the police; it gives out building permits and does environmental testing; it manages the conservation of lands and open spaces that we love so much here in Boulder County. Not only that, but local government also creates the vibe of the town: It organizes parades, and events; members of local governments join larger governmental and non-governmental organizations to better the towns that they serve; town employees lobby the state government structure to pass legislation that improves life around town; local government provide support to new and emerging small business, and provides grants to start-ups and minority-owned businesses that otherwise would not exist without the support. Local governments do make a lot of positive changes in the community.

Before starting this internship, I was a skeptic. Now I am a believer in local government. This summer I have learned that local government is one of the most impactful forms of government. Cities and towns simply cannot function without local leadership. Ultimately, I have come to the realization that local government plays an integral role in allowing us, the citizens, to go about our daily lives with as much support and as few hiccups as possible. Within local government are local servants. Local government needs dedicated leaders who are strong and intelligent and who are genuinely interested in serving their neighbors.

In order to have a well-run, well-intentioned local government, the best people for the job must be elected by the community. And getting elected to local government, especially in a city like Boulder, does not happen by accident. There are loads of good candidates out there who genuinely want to make a difference in their communities, but rarely do those people get elected since not enough people care about local elections enough to vote or volunteer on campaigns.

To get the most people interested in their local elections, those running for office have a responsibility to reach out to all segments of the community. There is no other way around that.

In this country, we have seen the loud minority get their way far more often than the silent majority, and that is not fair. It could be reversed, though, if the silent majority makes their voice heard. And it might sound a little crazy, but I think that a lot of it can start at the local level first. Once people see how easy it is to make their voices heard in their local communities, and see how to make positive change there, the next logical step is to make their voices heard at the state and federal level. But it must first start locally and grow organically through strategic actions around election policies.

If a summer intern can figure out the importance of local government and elections, then so can you and everyone you know. This fall, when you get your election mailers, pay attention to the issues and candidates and vote because it matters more than you realize.