Misc. Generator: Local Primaries

I went to the polls Tuesday. I thought about skipping this one but the yard signs lining the intersection left we with a twinge of guilt. It was the primary for the local and state races. Primaries are a tough sell for voters. It’s like watching pre-season football, it can be entertaining but it doesn’t count for much. All it accomplishes is to weed out the scrubs, break a few hearts. Not that I don’t appreciate living in a democracy, but do we really have to vote on county commissioner and sheriff? Someone tell me what they do please, other than order business cards with their new title. Can’t the mayor, or the police chief, or the city manager, or perhaps the county boss guy just pick somebody? Why can’t the police chief do the job of the sheriff? Get him an assistant and save some money.

It’s fair to say we don’t know these people unless they really screw up. And when they do, voters are indignant that they held the position as long as they did. The Tulsa sheriff position is open because of just such a screw up. His office got caught falsifying records on fitness tests and firearms for one particular cop, reserve officer to be specific. Oh, and turns out the reserve cop shot a guy, killed him actually. It was all over the news, the guy was a drug dealer. The sheriff was at least partially guilty. Police departments should avoid two things more than anything else: Nepotism in the department and killing people. Tulsa PD had a double dose. It’s like they stepped on that rake in the front yard and backed into a kid on a bike with their cruiser. The reserve deputy was a ‘friend’ and financial supporter of the sheriff turning an ugly situation into a full scale disaster.

So there is an opening now in the sheriff’s office. We want and need a new one, but what do we really know about choosing one? The local reporters were indignant about how the sheriff had been in the position since the late eighties. The tone of the press was how-could-such-a thing-happen? I imagine he kept getting re-elected because the department avoided the worst kinds of embarrassment. Ironically elections are supposed to weed out this type of favoritism, except we had an election and got Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall—or so it seemed.

Shortly after college I was at a friend’s wedding talking politics and she remarked that in Australia (where she was from) citizens are fined for NOT voting. I thought it sounded wonderful but she said it forced people to vote for people and issues they didn’t really understand. They just went to the booth to avoid the fine. I hadn’t thought of it that way before because in a democracy voting is not only a right, it’s a duty.

 I am starting to think maybe one less election per year would be a good thing, or at least one less position to vote for. Until then I guess I will do my homework (even in the primaries) and do what I’ve always done, select the candidate with the best yard signs.