Hold candidates to high standards

It's almost time. My anticipation is starting to sink in.

Calen McKinney

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It won't be long until we see those bright lawn signs creeping up again, telling us who to vote for.

We won't make our picks in the general election for about two and a half more months. But we need to remember that the majority of our picks on Election Day will last for the next four years ... and we need to pick the right candidates for Taylor County.

I didn't pay much attention to anything political until I started working at the News-Journal.

Once I was assigned a county government beat, I began to study more in-depth how the political pieces can fit together ... sometimes in neat little patterns, but sometimes in designs that just don't form a puzzle with a pretty picture.

The News-Journal will again offer stories with candidate information to help us decide who should get our votes in November.

We should care about every election. This coming November, though, Taylor Countians will choose their mayor, judge/executive, city council members, sheriff and magistrates, among other races.

Mayor and judge/executive are our two top leaders and are in charge of how taxpayer money ... your money ... is spent. If you pay taxes, you should care deeply about these races. I won't tell you how I will vote in these races, only because I haven't yet made up my mind.

Our city council members and magistrates are those chosen to represent us on our two governmental bodies. Let's all remember that the City is part of the County.

Everyone will vote in the magistrate race for their district, even those who live inside the City limits. And City residents also get to vote for council members.

Council members and magistrates have a say in how tax dollars are spent and what happens in our community. Again, if you pay taxes, you should care about these races, too.

My interest in politics isn't one of party affiliation ... it's trying to decide who is truly the best person for the job.

So, Taylor Countians, read closely. Read between the lines, ask questions, talk about controversial issues. This is how we find out who is willing to answer our questions and who isn't.

Come to the City Council and Fiscal Court meetings. Candidates, you should have been coming to them for quite some time now.

Take note of who is at meetings and who isn't. Take note of who voices their opinion and who simply casts a vote.

I encourage us, myself included, to hold our candidates to a high standard. Give them a call and ask them how they stand on the issues important to this community.

It's amazing how much power we have with our votes. Some races, even in our own community, have been decided with only a few votes.

We will soon be given a chance to hire the bosses of our community. Let's be sure we pick the right ones.

u u u

"Skype me, Mom," the young football player said as he hugged his mother, who looked a bit sad.

I almost didn't catch the exchange ... but my mother did.

"Did you hear what he said?" she said to me last week after lunch. "He asked his mom to Skype him."

Right about now is the time freshmen are heading away from home to start their college careers.

The young football player I saw a few weeks ago reinforced my belief that teens today don't talk on the phone anymore. They text, tweet, Facebook and Skype.

Am I the only one who prefers to talk face-to-face or on the phone?

I also like e-mail but that's about as far as I go. I send the rare text but still prefer to actually see the person I'm talking to.

The short exchange I witnessed between the football player and his mother did tell me something else, though ... that mother knows how to Skype.