Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The silence of this general election is deafening.
For years I have covered elections of officials to all levels of government from the smallest towns to the U.S. president. All year people talk, complain, and argue about politics. It picks up the month before the election.
Not this time. It’s gone quiet.
We can blame the pandemic for quieting down most of our lives. But I kept waiting for the candidates’ forum. I look forward to the gatherings where we witness debates from people seeking election. We would hear their promises, priorities, and reasons they should represent us.
This election there was nothing. Well, there was one a while ago for Malden, but nothing else. It’s been quiet.
Maybe we don’t want to gather to hear about local politics. Are we afraid of COVID or are we bored with small-town issues? Are our spirits broken after years of talking to our representatives just to be ignored?
I am not writing about Washington, D.C., Olympia, or even Seattle. I am wondering how frustrated we are with the politics of our county, our city, our school board, our hospital district, etc.
The last big meeting was where about 80 people expressed themselves to the Colfax School District about issues controlled in Olympia. Local school officials heard us and did what they could. Olympia ignored them and us.
Protests went unheard. Nothing changed.
A governor and state Legislature that have ignored Eastern Washington for generations used COVID mandates to alter our lives forever. Nothing we said or did matter to them.
But our local representatives are more responsive. They live with us. We deserve to hear what the candidates for the city council plan to do if they are elected. We should get to read about their platforms. We should see some effort on their part to communicate with the public more than talking to their buddies.
It didn’t happen.
I miss the days when forum moderators had to use timers to keep candidates from talking too much. I miss reading their fliers I got in the mail. I miss seeing their ads. I miss reading letters from a candidate’s supporters. I miss having enough information to cast my vote for the best candidate.
This year it was quiet.
The silence is deafening.
Bill Stevenson is the former editor of the Whitman County Gazette, Colfax Daily Bulletin and Franklin Connection. He has nearly 30 years of journalism experience covering news in Eastern Washington.
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