Two years and eight months...

That's how long it's been since we have voted for candidates occupying the seats currently up for election - Mayor, District #1 and District #3. The extra eight months given to persons elected two years and eight months ago was made possible by the voters approving the moving of our elections from March to November. The referendum item was added at the last minute by action of the City Commission and narrowly defeated maintaining the status quo by staying with March elections.

Proponents of the referendum thought this would bring more people into the municipal voting process, as the election season would coincide with other races at the state and national level. That turned out to be true in the last election - about half of the Lake Worth electorate came out to vote in the Presidential election. This equated to over 5,000 more coming out to vote for municipal candidates. How many of those will vote in this November's election is still yet to be seen. Many think that this will again have a turnout with mostly super-voters. Super-voters are people that vote in every election, or at least miss very few.

Opponents of the referendum to move the Lake Worth election date to November cited evidence that would favor candidates with the most money - since more would be needed to cut through the clutter and noise of other campaigns. They also saw an inequity between the turnout for Districts 2 and 4 - which would always have state or national elections coincident with their elections. This is not so, as in this year, with the Mayor, District #1 and District #3 races.

I prefer the March elections for many reasons. The weather is cooler, there is more of a focus on local races, people are in town longer before the election so there is opportunity to meet with neighborhood associations (most take off during the summer months), etc.

And, in this case, the current set of elected officials got an extra 8 months added to their term. A good question to ask an incumbent is what they did to effectively use that extra time given to them. An election serves as a way to get the issues out in the open and traditional candidates use this time to reconnect with their constituents.

That's where I am different. They say that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. For the past three years, I have maintained this blog as a way to dispense information about what is happening in the City of Lake Worth in order to keep people informed. If you look at my opponents material, she treats this as a "day of reckoning" where she has to tell you what her accomplishments were over her term. Did you know what they were before? These "accomplishments" are put in the best light in order to lead to her re-election. This is true for most candidates, not just my opponent, of course.

With me sitting as Commissioner, I will make every attempt to keep you informed about what is going on BEFORE it happens. I want to engage you actively in the decision making process however possible - so that you can offer meaningful input and actually have an impact in the final outcome. Likewise, I want to know what is happening in your neighborhood when it's happening - not just when election season rolls around or when there is some sort of "crisis."

So, I am looking forward to the month of October. It will be a time when we can discuss the issues facing the city and the points of view of various candidates. I will let you know when candidate forums are planned and where they will be taking place. I hope you can come out and participate in your local democratic process. It always seems to be like the local government decisions and your votes mean the most in the community where you live since you are many times directly impacts by the actions of local officials - financially, physically or otherwise.

Please take your time getting to know the candidates in all the races and I ask for your vote on November 3rd.
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3