Don’t you hate reading articles the day after Election Day about how crummy voter turnout was in the city?
Me, too.
So please, vote today.
Unless, that is, you’re one of those people who picks a candidate because your kids went to school with his kids, or you met her at your cousin’s wake and she seemed nice, or you just recognize his name, for cripe’s sake. You’re not doing anyone any favors. Well, except the nice-at-wakes lady.
This year, the blogosphere seems a little light on city endorsements: nothing from Bill Dusty at the Springfield Intruder, nothing from Tom Devine at Pioneer Valleyist—although Matt Szafranski at Western Mass. Politics & Insight gamely takes up the slack, with endorsements in both the City Council and School Committee races (as well as races in other Valley communities).
(By the way, what to make of the number of candidates who never responded to Szafranski’s interview requests? Were they sulking because they were unhappy with something he’d written about them in the past? Do they not take political blogs seriously? Or do they just assume that they don’t need media coverage, or, in fact, might do better without too much public scrutiny?)
While this is a relatively quiet municipal election—no mayor’s race, thanks to the new four-year term; no big ballot question—there’s still plenty to watch. Will Zaida Luna hold on to her seat in the contentious Ward 1 race? Will Orlanda Ramos knock off Ward 8 incumbent John Lysak in his third attempt? I’m especially interested to see how some of the younger and high-energy challengers, like Ernesto Cruz, who’s running for an at-large seat, and Sal Circosta, who’d challenging Melvin Edwards in Ward 3, fare.
