For weeks a housemate has been saying the weather was going to go straight from freezing to boiling. I was just happy that the cool, wet spring was recharging wells in the area.
Then, in 11 days the temperature went from a high of 46 degrees to one of 84. I’ve barely started the seeds inside–and it’s time to start direct sowing outside. I’d be planting now, except for thoughts about the election underway.
Absentee ballots are out and many people, including me, have already voted. Requests for the mail-in ballots need to be turned in by the 4th. You can do that online at voteIdaho.gov.
If you need to pick up a request form at an elections office, you may see a queue of voters. Early voting is underway M-F, 8am to 5 pm, at the Canyon and Ada county election offices and the Kuna and Meridian city halls.
If you wait to vote on Election Day this year, the waiting times on May 16 should be nil. Canyon County has at least 11 polling sites–about double recent elections. (Maybe we did a good job complaining about the 90-minute lines?)
Ada County has more than 100 polling places.
And you need to make sure there’s something on your ballot. There are no primaries this year, and boundaries for the various districts may leave your precinct out.
View a sample ballot online. If you live in Ada County, go to https://adacounty.id.gov/elections/view-my-ballot, enter your address and press ‘more details.’ In Canyon County, go to https://www.canyoncounty.id.gov/elected-officials/clerk/elections/, select ‘voter lookup,’ enter your address and select ‘sample ballot.’
The hard part comes next–learning about the candidate(s). If you’re voting on trustees for the Golden Gate Highway District (Subdistrict 2), you might have to phone the candidates to find out more. Even knowing that Mary Anne Saunders, candidate for Ada Community Library board, has a website I couldn’t find it. I did, however, find a you-tube video.
Do what you can–and don’t feel guilty about skipping votes you’re not sure about.
School districts,fortunately, have learned to post a link to the election issue right on the home page. Each is clear about what the money will go for and how it will affect your taxes.
Parma School District explains that the switch to state funding based on average-daily attendance means a revenue cut even after the legislature’s largess. They are needing to fund basics.
The West Ada district explains that the average homeowner will pay about $90 a month
more with a 10-year plant facilities levy than with a 20-year bond–but the bond will actually cost $2000 more per household.The district is seeking to finance two new elementary schools and a Career and Technical Education Center.
Last August a Vallivue bond got 66% of the vote, but not the extra two-thirds percent needed to pass..That meant young children in six of the district’s seven elementary schools have classes in temporary buildings and have had to walk outside, even in winter, to get to the library, the cafeteria, PE, the nurse’s office, etc.
So Vallivue’s site about the bond includes a series of videos–about two minutes each–refuting arguments that opponents used in 2022. (No, the district isn’t sitting on a pile of money it could be using.) The district also needs two new elementary schools and roofing and boilers for the 27-year-old Vallivue High. And it explains that new construction means lower taxes per house even as home values increase.
If you have a chance to help our kids, use it.