Our Voices Can Count

On Tuesday we had our general election in the state of Washington. Many of the cities including Seattle and Tacoma the two largest in the state had voting for the mayor position along with representatives to the state.

Personally I was only able to vote for things like continue fire protection and for parks along with representation to the parks department and local county government. I don’t live in the town of Gig Harbor so I couldn’t vote for the mayor. It was tough because so much that happens in Gig Harbor affects those of us who live in the outskirts. I live so close that if I were a mile or two closer to Gig Harbor I would have been able to vote for mayor.

The big issue running for mayor was over the large developers getting their way to build large homes and condos. I have mentioned it before how upset I and many of what has been happening in the harbor and the areas around that is still within the city limits. I think it was back in June when I wrote on line to the local weekly newspaper my concerns about a development that the mayor had voted in favor of despite a lot of people showing up a city council meeting against it. What made it really upsetting for people not just some apartments or condos’ being built it actually was against city codes. I was amazed these city officials would go against building codes that put in place as safe guards so a development like this wouldn’t happen. I didn’t know that what I had written on line actually made it into the local newspaper. I was told that by one of the ladies that my mother knows. I am not sure what I said influenced anyone or not on their voting.

A local retired business man who had a jewelry store downtown near the waterfront decided to run for mayor and his platform had to do with these large developers and to keep them out or limit their actions any way. The current mayor running for re-election may not have known how serious the citizens of the town and those of us that lived nearby were about the issue of development. I am not sure what the percentage of the vote is in right now being counted however the retired local businessman is getting over seventy percent of the votes. So that shows that our votes can really count. I am sure the county representatives are looking at this voting as well now knowing that the people are real serious about developing in the area.

The city of Tacoma is the largest city in our county and I know of people that are upset of some of the developing going on in their city as well along with others nearby. I am not sure whether the platform for the mayor race in Tacoma was the same as Gig Harbor but I am sure the other cities in the county and the state will take notice. Gig Harbor is one of the smallest towns in the state and a beautiful one at that. You will see a picture of it at the bottom of this blog. So remember that your voice can count though you may not always think someone is listening.