The local newspaper has a web site and they listed every article they had published within the past two months dealing with local elections. I also went through a popular online forurm devoted to local politics. Local races aren't as sexy as the big guys at the top, but they are the level at which my vote has the most impact. Below are my opinions on the races being run. Most of this information (except for the Juvenile Court) I gathered in just a couple of hours. It doesn't take too much to be informed and prepared to vote intelligently.

The two biggest local races are Juvenile Court Judge and County Executive. In the Juvenile Court race, I will be seeing whoever gets elected at least twice a week. The old judge, who I was quite fond of, retired this October and the other two Juvenile Court judges have been filling in.

I am quite familiar personally with both Juvenile Court judges and the choice seems pretty clear. One of the candidates is a member of a old political family has held a Village Justice position for about five years. During that time he has managed to get censured for ethical impropriety once and probably has another censure on the way. In the incident that is pending, a TV anchor had a traffic issue pending before his court that was set for a short hearing. The judge showed up an hour late for court. In the meantime the police officer who was prepared to testify had to leave for other duties. The judge dismissed the case agains the TV anchor for failure to prosecute. The local bar has rated him "unqualifed".

The other candidate has been a regular in Juvenile Court for twenty years and is well respected by other members of the bar. He may lose anyway. The first candidate is a member of the party in the majority and has a lot of political connections. He is very charismatic and savvy politically. The first thing he did when he won the primary (an amazing thing in and of itself) was say that he intended to run a "positive" campaign and extract a promise from his opponent that he would too. Then when the inevitable ads raising the ethical violations came, he accused his opponent of breaking his promise. He has also made an issue of labelling the other guy a person who has made bulk of his money from the break up of people's marriages. Well "Duh". That's what Juvenile Court is about.

For the second big race, I'm definitely not impressed with the political games from our County Executive. His ads really bother me. He claims that he added 1000 new jobs last year when in fact over 7000 have been lost since he was elected (County pop is about 180k). Yes I know that that's a regional problem that he doesn't have all that much control over, but the guy doesn't have to distort like that.

He talks about lowering taxes for six out eight years he has been in office and about how he has more tax cuts planned for next year. Yes, during the prior years he did cut taxes a few times by a few percentage points. Then last year he raised the real estate taxes 37%. That's thirty-seven fucking percent on real estate taxes. Once again, I understand that the State cut a lot of funding and the County had to make up the difference, but who the heck is this guy trying to kid? I'm voting against him. The polls have him up, so it might be wasted effort, but it's not about picking a winner in the horse race, it's about voting for the right person.

For the State legislators, I'm also voting against the incumbents. My biggest cripe is they can't seem to pass a budget on time, and the problem is getting worse. For the past few years, the schools have been forced to pass their own budget without having any idea how much funding the state is sending. All that the current reps talk about is how much money they've brought into the area. Hey dudes! Get a clue, we know where that money comes from. It's us. Despite all this "wonderful programs and funding", jobs and people are still leaving the area. Pass the budget on time, work on lowering taxes and utilites. Don't tell us about these little local perks you've "brought into" the area. It doesn't add up.

On the other hand, as much the County Executive seems dishonest, the current County Legislators seem much more open and down to earth. They have said they will probably vote "no" on the executive's tax cut. They've indicated that they are going to cut six of their own positions. They are also talking about consolidating local municipal services to save money.

I'm voting against the incumbent in the U.S. Senate and for our current House of Representatives member. I've always considered our current U.S. Senator a self-promoting asshole who has no understanding of the issues in my part of the state. His opponent is putting on an anemic campaign, but he has to be better than this jerk.

Our current Congressman is a hardworking individual who is doing a good job. I may differ with him on a few issues, but overall I have no complaints about him.

At the top of the page I mentioned this local political forum on the web. I've never seen anything so full of wild accusations and slurs. The one I have posted below is great:

Disciple Endorsement Boosts Miller
Eleven of twelve announce support

October 26, 2004

THE VATICAN – Today eleven of the twelve disciples (apostles) formally endorsed Richard Miller for Juvenile Court Judge. Miller, a Republican, is running against John Slovak, for the open seat.

Those endorsing Miller include:

Peter (R – Rome)
Simon (R – Persia)
James (R- Jerusalem)
John (R – Ephesus)
Andrew (R – Patrae)
Phillip (R – Heropolis)
Bartholomew (R – Albanapolis)
Matthew (R – Bethlahem)
James (RTL – Nazareth)
Thaddaeus (R – Mesopotamia)
Judas (D – Galilee)

Thomas (I – Coromandel), the only one not to endorse Miller, said that he “doubts” Miller’s qualifications. He remains undecided in this race.

The endorsement, inscribed in stone, states that “The son of a Saint judgeth wisely; you are hereby endorsed by thee; blessed are those who support yee; shame on John Slovak”.

Upon receiving word from above, Miller said, “my work in the Catholic Church has better prepared me to work with children”.

For more information, please visit the Families and Single Parents for Justice Dick Miller campaign website at: http://www.millerisrunningapositivecampaignandnotusinghisfamilysname.com

See? Local politics can be just as fun as national politics.