Dr. John E. Warren
Publisher
By now the results are in for all but a couple of this week’s elections. Voter turnout remains embarrassingly low and many of those who won election did so by riding on political party “coattails”. The Voice & Viewpoint is particularly proud of the fact that the four Judges endorsed for re-election all won and that they were present at last week’s Town Hall Meeting to talk with local voters in our community about their questions and concerns with the judicial system. A very special word of thanks to Judge Randa Trapp for moderating that part of our meeting dealing with the judicial candidates.
There is a lesson in this week’s election for many of those who lost their particular bids for office with very low numbers. All of them made no effort to communicate their candidacy to local community newspapers and if they did, then they omitted the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. Some of those who were on the ballots and known to our community likewise made no effort to communicate their candidacy to our newspaper. This means that either they really don’t care about the entire community, or they have written off the African American vote as either not necessary or unimportant. People with such exclusionary thoughts really should not hold office under any conditions. We should also ask ourselves why some people ran “unopposed” like Sheriff William Gore where their should have been some challenges because of the many police related issues, especially in the North County.
For a number of races this was a real “primary”, a time to see who the largest vote getter would be in either Party in order to run against the other Party’s high vote getter in the November General Election. In those races, you the voter still have an opportunity to make your voice heard and your concerns known. In at least one City Council race, it appears that the winner is displaying bitterness against some citizens who did not support or work for them. We would remind that person that the State of California has laws governing the conduct of those who serve. Be ware of your conduct.
As we move forward, this is now a good time to determine what our priorities are for the months ahead. For one thing, too many of our young people will be without jobs this summer and the Workforce Partnership Program which serves as the umbrella agency for many such grants has not made its efforts known to the community of parents and business people outside of their selective high school interview/contact program. So many of our young people are no longer in school and therefore were missed in such efforts. We need to access the kind of “Civics 101” that Mrs. Jewel Hooper said at our last Town Hall Meeting is so badly needed so that our people understand the political process as well as those seeking citizenship and engaging in government studies programs not offered in our schools.
Yes, the primary election is over, but our work has just begun. Where do you fit in?
