Tt post oct 7 2016

"I'm so done with politics I could puke."

Most people figured that out many years ago. Better things to do with one's time. That's why turnout for local elections is stunningly low.

2017 is a normal Toledo election year for the six at-large city council seats and for mayor. The primary for both will be held in September.

Turnout for the primary will be around 15 percent. The turnout for the November 2017 general election will be 25 to 30 percent.

And that's for mayor and half of city council. Turnout has been declining every four years.

• September 2005:
  • Turnout: 22 percent
  • Total votes cast for mayor: 41,594

• September 2009:
  • Turnout: 20 percent
  • Total votes cast for mayor: 36,307

• September 2013:
  • Turnout: ~15 percent
  • Total votes cast for mayor: ~24,877

I used to think that local politicians would love an 18-month, circus-filled presidential election cycle because that would mean nobody is paying attention to what the local politicians are doing.

But clearly, 70 to 90 percent of eligible Toledo voters don't pay attention to local politics even with the mayor's race and the at-large council races occurring in an off-election year for federal races. In those odd years, the focus should be on the local races. Those are more important anyway.

Ask random Toledo residents to name their district councilperson. See if those residents even know what district they live in. See if they can name any three council members, at-large or district. Can they name at least one county commissioner? Do they know what the city charter is? Hell, do our council members know what the city charter is? It doesn't seem like it.

Maybe that trivia is unimportant to residents because local politics is trivial. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, no need to vote. I kind of agree.

#toledo #politics