With the continued 24-hour coverage of the final presidential primaries, it’s easy to lose sight of the issues impacting residents on a county wide or state-wide scale.
It’s not easy to see why either, as Donald Trump has surprised many by earning the delegates needed to be the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continue to battle into the final contests prior to the Democratic National Convention July 25.
But, what can the President of the United States do about local issues impacting us on a daily basis? Issues involving state funding to school districts, where and when road and sewer projects take place and how tax funds will get distributed across Sweetwater County are not issues discussed at the White House. Sanders, Clinton and Trump couldn’t care less about how our tax dollars are spent within the county.
This is why voters should think locally when they visit the polls in August and November, as our neighbors who have filed to run for local offices and state legislature have more impact on how government interacts with us than anybody interested in residing on Pennsylvania Avenue. Voters have a responsibility to learn about candidates and vote for those who most closely align to their ideas regarding local government. If they’re unhappy about the city’s plans for the transfer station or how the county commissioners treat Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s Board of Trustees, this is the prime opportunity to voice those grievances by voting the incumbents out of office. Conversely, if residents are happy with how local government is running, there’s nothing wrong with granting incumbents another term in office.
Ultimately the choice is left up to the people and the upcoming elections will be important for both the state and local-level governments. Wyoming has found itself in a storm of economic uncertainty and the people elected to office in the coming months will be tasked with making sure budgets fit the reduced revenue state and local governments will receive. Is a fixed-percentage budget cut the right response to the downturn or should certain departments see heavier cuts? Should reserves be used to prop up local budgets until the economy improves? These are some of the questions candidates and voters will answer in the coming months.
Who the next President of the United States is an important decision for voters to make, but who the next legislators, county commissioners and city council representatives are will be more important to us in the coming years.
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