Worried about ‘our democracy’? Your best chance to uphold it is coming

There’s a lot of talk these days about the precariousness of what we like to call “our democracy.” And, the topic certainly merits the attention, regardless of who you think are the autocrats putting our system in danger.

But if you really care about self-determination, we are coming on a time when our communities will elect policy setters who will have a uniquely direct impact on our downtown vistas, our industrial foundations, our streets, roads and sewers, our business climate, our children’s futures and our access to the artistic, recreational and intellectual resources that add richness to our quality of life.

And of course, it’s also a time when we can exert the most direct control over how and how much we will pay for it all.

In a little over two weeks — on Monday, March 17 — expanded early voting will begin for mayors and village presidents, municipal offices, city council, village board and school board members, park and library commissioners, and a host of township offices. Final Election Day is Tuesday, April 1.

So, if you haven’t answered knocks on your door or paid attention to growing numbers of stories in the paper, you have about two weeks to a month to catch up and prepare yourself for decisions that easily can be as momentous for your daily life as a feisty campaign for state or national office.

Our editors and reporters have been working since before Christmas to build election coverage we expect to be meaningful and, to the degree it helps you decide whom to vote for, influential. You likely have already noticed questionnaires published in our Neighbor section wherein candidates describe, in their own words and largely unedited, their goals and qualifications for the offices they seek. These will continue and grow throughout the campaign season, and, as March 17 approaches, you will find easy access to these materials and more on our website.

In addition, reporters are covering election events and local controversies that emerge, so you will soon find more and more stories describing candidates’ opinions and concerns. On our Opinion page, you will find letters from people hoping to sway your vote for one candidate or another or for or against financial and other ballot proposals. (An aside to would-be writers: We welcome your letters. Be aware they must be limited to no more than 300 words and need to include your full name and hometown in the signature. They may be edited for matters of taste, fact or civility. And, don’t delay in writing. The last day for publishing election letters will be Friday, March 28, so if we don’t have your letter by earlier that week, it likely will not make it to print.)

And our Opinion page will also include our recommendations in more than 60 community and school board races throughout the suburbs. Those endorsements will begin on Tuesday, March 4, and continue until the start of early voting.

This is an exciting and demanding time for us at the newspaper. As resources have declined, the pressures on our staffs have steadily increased. Still, we continue to deploy our resources carefully for this important coverage.

Helping you understand state and national issues and the personalities involved in them is surely an important part of our role as a newspaper. But it is local Election Day that puts the community in community newspaper and defines “our democracy” more directly than any other date on the calendar.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on X at @JimSlusher. His new book “Conversations, community and the role of the local newspaper” is available at eckhartzpress.com.