Letter to the Editor: Voters need educated to say yes

The election is over and whether you agree with the results or not, we live in a democracy and voters did what they were supposed to do. They made their voices heard. So how about we all stop fighting each other and actually start listening to each other and get some things done.

I was not surprised the Jasper County bond issue failed, however. I voted in favor of this bond since I’m of the belief if we need to make improvements to our infrastructure, then that’s what needs to be done.

There are a couple reasons I think this measure failed.

One, voter apathy. Talsma said the turnout for the public meetings about this bond was “abysmal.” Which seems to be par for the course around here.

Residents just don’t care enough about city and county leadership to take part in public meetings, to ask questions and voice their opinions. And no, ranting on social media does not count as civic engagement. Voters were voting on something they really didn’t know much about.

So when you add voters’ apathy to the board deciding to not even make the effort through flyers to educate residents about this bill, this is what you get. And it doesn’t even matter that taxes would not be raised with this bond. Most voters believed their taxes would go up and no serious effort was made to make them believe otherwise.

Two, haven’t Republicans for the past few years been harping on the fact that prices are too high, that people are struggling to make ends meet, having to choose between gas for their cars and food for their kids?

So our Republican board of supervisors shouldn’t be too surprised that voters saw a bond issue they believed, rightly or wrongly, would raise their taxes and said, “No thanks.” You reap what you sow.

Maybe next time our elected officials could do a better job of educating voters and stop making them angry and afraid of every hiccup in the economy.

John Moore

Newton