Need more voters

Dear Editor:

Was asked after the primary election, “What I thought of the results?”

I didn’t know, as the print and radio media didn’t tell me, and had to ask friends, who checked the County’s electronic record.

That’s sad: Eventually, learned 42.2 percent of Skagit County voted!

That means a “minority” determined the November general election ballot, and 26.4 percent of the voters (19,844 of 74,937) approved an EMS property-tax levy!

Ours is a representative government, and if voters don’t vote/participate; it’s not representative.

Rev. Franklin Graham was in Monroe recently and touted citizen involvement, or we’ll lose our representative government: He’s right.

The Skagit County PUD is a case in point: The electorate hasn’t elected “representative” commissioners; and PUD water rates are high, procedures per forma, staff who complain are demeaned; while the “go-alongs” are rewarded!

The “good news”: We can/may elect a second PUD Commissioner in November and “clean-up” the PUD.

The “bad news”: The best candidates don’t necessarily make it to the general ballot when there are many candidates on the ballot; and the primary results doesn’t necessarily indicate the general results, when there’s not a good primary turn-out.

Tip O’Neil, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, once said: “All politics is local”. He’s right, and it begins with individual voters, voting; and their voting wisely.

The primary tells me we need heed Rev. Franklin Graham, and Tip O’Neil to retain representative governments, on local, state and national level, come November.

Roger Pederson