I don’t have to ask if it is over. I looked outside this morning and couldn’t see any signs asking you to vote for someone. The candidates have been very thoughtful about taking down the signs. It’s kind of funny because I can remember when no one paid the ridiculous price that those signs cost.
The vision of a sheet of plywood will always remind me that we aren’t the dedicated office holders that spoil our federal elections. I can still remember turning left off Alta Street and seeing a sheet of plywood propped up in Central Park. It was a sign advertising for a dedicated member of our little town who later became mayor, Matt Gourley. He made a very good mayor and went on from there to become a pretty successful contractor.
I’m pretty sure the two examples don’t have any connection with each other. If Matt wasn’t so successful as a contractor, I might ask him to run again. Anyway, that picture in my mind reminds me that we are still a small town and that the citizens usually vote for someone they know or care about.
Now for some sobering statistics. Gonzales is still the smallest town in South County. Because it is a small town, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have uninformed citizens or fly-by-night politicians. I’m sure we all know what’s going on in our town.
If you drive down Fifth Street, you can see right across from Gonzales High School where the new Community Center will be built. Just getting rid of all those trees have allowed us to see that the lot is a lot bigger than it looked. We will have to get the right amount of folks that want the center because we have voted for it at least three times.
You see, the “P” measure that was on this ballot and the measure “X” and measure “K,” which were passed on a former ballot, were to all come together to get the money available for the building of the Community Center. “X” and “K” have already been approved, and “P” was just to be the third leg of the proposal presented to the citizens of Gonzales. This was just an extension of the other two, not an increased tax. I’m sorry we didn’t make it this time and I hope we will be able to choose our words carefully on a future ballot measure.
All the words you just read are necessary and you will be asked again. Please keep in mind the Community Center is for everyone in Gonzales and will be wonderful for our children and adults alike.
I guess you should know that we have some folks that just don’t vote. I know that if everyone that could vote were to have voted, I wouldn’t have to be sitting here wondering why the most precious right we have was just ignored. There are 3,647 registered voters that live in the influence of our town. Now stand by for some really sobering news. Of all those folks, only 757 citizens took the time to vote.
Time is not an acceptable excuse. Ballots were sent out in plenty of time and there were multiple places you could vote. I guess I shouldn’t complain, after all, my lovely bride was re-elected, so I won a little bit. I know Lorraine is very happy to remain on the City Council. She loves the town where her children were born and where we have lived for over 30 years and wants only for us to grow with caution.
Of course, it would be hard to sit down and not mention the mess our representatives in Washington have screwed up. I don’t know if you had a few favorites to get elected, but I was a little disappointed that The Grand Old Party didn’t clean up the mess that Biden has made of our country.
I sure didn’t think that my affiliation was going to be so depressed. I guess that is just another way for us to learn humbleness. I was pretty happy that Lorraine was re-elected to the City Council, as was Liz Silva and our favorite Jose Rios was re-elected as our mayor.
This was the last time we will be voting for our favorite no matter where they lived. Thanks to the efforts of a few, we will now be electing our representatives by where they live. This, my friends, is called re-districting. I heard this was made because some folks figured they would get elected a little easier, not really just my opinion. I don’t like this method, but I’m just one guy and I should wait to see if it works.
Before I close out this week’s scribbling, I would like to make a comment about another member of our community, Roman Barba. Roman and I have known each other for a long time, but this was the first time I have seen him in action.
Of the 757 folks that voted, I would bet that many of them were there because Roman had stopped them on their way to the post office or because he put up signs at their homes or because he was handing out information on the folks running. I know there may have been others that did this, and if you were one, let me know because I think it was a great thing to do and everybody likes to see their name in the paper.
I would also like to say “Thank you!” especially to Roman for all your hard work. We all appreciate the time and energy you put in. To those who were running for an office that got in, congratulations, now the real work begins.
Last but not least, thank you for removing the signs as soon as the sun came up the day after Election Day. All those colorful signs that we see around our town are cool to see, but it is even better when they come down as soon as the elections are over.
God Bless.
