Voters in the cities of Bellevue and Sun Valley should keep this in mind when election polls open for them on Tuesday.
Americans are paying billions of dollars to help create and protect democracy and free elections for the embattled people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We can vote without fear for virtually no costs at home.
In Bellevue, the issue is a request for an increased tax levy on property.
We encourage voters to approve it. Bellevue is cash-strapped at the very time that dramatic change is underway in the Wood River Valley's southern gateway city.
Without a healthy treasury, Bellevue cannot properly meet obligations to its residents, and services and infrastructure are already lagging behind demand.
With the lowest local levy in the county, the owner of a $100,000 home now pays $99.35 per year. The new levy, if approved, would generate $179.50 on a $100,000 home. That seems a reasonable price for the city's services.
In the other election, voters in Sun Valley will decide whether to end the city's current system of electing council members by seat-targeted voting and return to open-seating elections that pit all candidates against each other.
Our preference is open-seat elections, although either can lead to lively campaigns and outcomes.
Twice the City Council has declined requests to change the system. This election to make the change is the result of a grass roots petition forcing the issue onto a ballot.
In and of itself, a petition for changing a system speaks powerfully that Sun Valley voters do not take their government complacently or for granted.
