The El Paso Times Editorial Board weighed in on the significance of the recent election results.
El Paso’s voters sent a number of clear messages with their choices in Saturday’s city and school elections.
The clearest was that El Pasoans admire the work being done by our firefighters, and want city government to compensate them fairly.
Voters sided with the firefighters on all three ballot issues, even a drug testing issue that didn’t have the support of the firefighters’ union. The most important issues for the firefighters were pay raises and health insurance, and voters overwhelming picked their proposals over the city’s.
In the four council races on the ballot, voters chose candidates who favor moving forward quickly with the three signature issues from the 2012 quality of life bond issues — a Downtown arena, Children’s museum and Hispanic cultural center.
Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it. A less biased report might have mentioned that of 592,609 El Paso County residents eighteen years old and older, only 36,593 voted. That’s less than four and a half percent. Of the 385,263 registered voters, only 36,593 voted. That’s a little less than nine and half percent.
More than ninety percent of the registered voters in the county didn’t even vote.
That’s a symptom of citizen ennui. That’s the cumulative effect of years of unresponsive governance, of local government catering to the demands of special interests, of willful disengagement from the electorate.
People here tolerate local government. They don’t support it.
If I were a local politician, I’d wonder how I’d failed to garner more votes. If I were a local newspaper, I’d wonder how I’d failed to provoke the voters.
Problem is … the few people who read the paper are the same few who follow the issues.
Problem is … most people don’t even know there’s an election unless someone is running for president
Problem is … when there’s a special interest issue on the ballot, such as the fireman’s demands, all of a sudden the friends and family of the special interest who have never been registered to vote before will sign up. I’ll bet a lot of the “yes” voters for the firemen had never voted before.
Problem is … ultimately it’s the private property owner who pays … and pays.
Just wait. The City will hold budget hearings soon.