We got back from traveling in China late last night and I plan on posting a reflection on my second summer of teaching and travel there soon (short version: it was fascinating and confounding, more so than last year). But that’s not the point of this post. Tomorrow is the primary election day here in Tacoma, so I am sitting down (fighting uber jet lag) to bang out my this post and my (vote by mail) ballot.

I believe and teach my students that local elections matter. In my opinion, they matter far more than national elections, but they get nowhere near the attention they deserve. Later this fall I will be hosting a Tacoma School Board Candidate Forum (9/15 at King’s Books) and a Bring Your Ballot Party (date TBD). The cure to what ails us as society (ed issues, transpo funding, police oversight, regressive taxation, cronyism, etc.) is a more activism and vigilance in local governance issues.

We have a saying in my AP Government class, “bad things happen when good people don’t vote.” And with that as context, I implore you to a. fill out your ballot in order to be heard and b. I offer the following recommendations to you, my Internet Peeps. Note: I am a progressive and these suggestions are in alignment with that philosophy. All that said, I welcome your insights, (polite) dissents, etc in the comments…