Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Joe Corsiglia, President Trump, Henry Heimuller, VP Pence, Pat Robertson, Debi Corsiglia’s dog, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Standard Disclaimer.
|
Voting
Voting is a method for a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, in order to make a collective decision or express an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Another responsibility of citizens is voting. The law does not require citizens to vote, but voting is a very important part of any democracy. By voting, citizens are participating in the democratic process. Citizens vote for leaders to represent them and their ideas, and the leaders support the citizens' interests. The wording and placement of instructions can help or hinder voters from successfully voting for their choices. It is generally believed that the wording of a ballot question can “frame” the way voters perceive an issue. Most voters know very little about the multitude of measures they must consider, meaning that many turn to the brief summaries printed on the ballot as they make their decision. A ballot title is the official, short, summary of a ballot measure that appears. Therefore, it is of critical importance that titles and summaries be concise, accurate. A ballot title is the official, short, summary of a ballot measure that appears on the ballot. The goal of a good ballot title is to be a neutral summary that accurately conveys to voters the gist of what the proposed new law says or would do. The National Conference of State Legislatures says, "The ballot title and summary are arguably the most important part of an initiative in terms of voter education. Most voters never read more than the title and summary of the text of initiative proposals. Therefore, it is of critical importance that titles and summaries be concise, accurate and impartial. With these explanations on the importance of having correct verbiage on any ballot measure. Why does the local 911 refuse to hold another election regarding their funding measure? 911 made a mistake on the levy they presented to the voters in the 911 district. They presented an amount of less than 1cent per thousand valuation, when in fact they wanted 29 cents per thousand. This amount is greatly different than the listed amount. Instead of presenting to the voters another measure with the correct amount, the 911 board decided among themselves that they would just go over the voters decision and enact the higher amount. They did so by signing the documents. I find his highly suspect and entirely wrong! The voters voted and their decision shall be upheld. Because there was an mistake made on this measure is the jib of the 911 board, the county clerk, and the district attorney to catch the wrong verbiage. Instead it made it through all departments without any corrections. The 911 board said that it had been the same ballot measure they have used in the past and no one had caught the error. This really sheds some light on the people who are supposed to make sure the ballot is done correctly. With that being said, the mistake was made again and this time it was caught and should have been corrected by putting the measure on the ballot again. Instead 911 decided to go over the voters authority and implement the correct dollar amount which the board wanted. Now 911 is being sued by an individual who wants the 911 board to do the correct thing and present it back to the voters for a up or down decision. Instead the board is spending thousands of dollars with an attorney to fight the suit and keep their adopted amount per thousand as the legitimate amount again which was hugely different than what the voters approved. Why fight this? It would have been simpler to place the measure on the ballot again in November, it would have been cheaper to place the measure on the ballot again, instead of having a court battle. I question the integrity of the 911 board, if they are willing to circumvent the voters on this issue what else have they done that is not above board? Information is coming out by a local whistleblower that this board has wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. The 911 administration has previously been under scrutiny because of sexual harassment by the administrator to underlings as well. We have two people who have sat on the board for close to 20 years. Its time for them to step down. One person is County Commissioner Heimuller, I personally like Henry but do see the need for him to not sit on this board since he is county commissioner. I believe that his duty as commissioner takes or should take his full attention and also omit any possible conflicts of interest by being on the 911 board. These court cases shall prove to be interesting, and see just what power another special district has. I believe the integrity of the ballot box must be maintained at any cost, and the 911 board has done a grievous attack against the voters in the district. No matter, if you support the operating measure of 911 or not, that is not the subject matter, what we need to demand is that the voters vote not be ignored period, if it is ignored in this case it will set president in undermining the value of elections, your vote and our basic democracy.
Tammy
|