By Waylon Walker
As I survey the things going on around me in the city I love and grew up in, I hear one major thing over and over. Whether it’s that the mayor is being unfair, or simply that things need to change and that it won’t under the current regime, I ask you this one question. I feel it’s time for a honest heart to heart.
DID YOU VOTE?
Voting is the one sure fire way to not let the super PACs that I keep hearing about control the election. Their numbers that they drum up would be minuscule when compared to the number of voters that can vote. If I take the amount of people who voted in the election, which was a measly 14,018 people according the KFDA coverage of the elections, and divide it by the census that shows 199,826 people living in Amarillo this is ridiculous. Yes I know that not all of those people can vote. So let’s say half are kids. So let’s figure up 100,000 residents are adults. Yes I’m aware there could very well be a variance in this, but this is just an example. So that 14,018 people of the roughly 100,000 that can vote comes to 14 percent. If I’m generous we can say 20 percent. So roughly 20 percent VOTED. The rest sat at home and did not.
This is why PACs are able to control elections so easily. We seem to care ONLY when it has something to do with us. This needs to end. We need to get out and vote. We need to get out and make a difference. Sitting back and saying what you wish was different isn’t going to help. If we are to put good people in the offices that run the city, then we need to make sure we are out there to vote these people in. We need to change our tactics. Elections are supposed to let us have the power to choose someone we see as fit. We can no longer let 20 percent of the population dictate what happens with the rest of the city. I have seen so much change over the past few months. If it continues then I see MAJOR changes in Amarillo. If it doesn’t then I see more of the same.
We say that we want good people that are for the people and the city running the city. I’ll be completely honest. If we don’t all vote then it doesn’t matter who is up there running. It could be any of the people actively fighting against City Hall, it could be the most prestigious person in the city, or it could even be me. Nobody stands a chance if we don’t come together to make things happen. Roads will continue to fall apart. Alleyways will continue to be eyesores. So many things that could be improved will stay the same.
So I leave you with this question: are you going to be part of the change that you want to see? If so make sure to register to vote. Make sure to get out and vote for who you think will make the city better. It’s such a simple solution. VOTE.
