I am the average “Joe” when you talk about people who vote for city elections.  I am “somewhat” informed, I care about what happens in my city and I am concerned about my tax dollars and family safety.  Most importantly, I vote.  But, in order to vote smartly, I need to know which candidate will address my needs and concerns as a voting tax-payer with a family of four.

So, it was a bit disheartening when I sat down at my computer to get to know the candidates running for mayor and council this election.  I came up with very little concrete information.

To be honest, this both saddened and agitated me.  The amount of effort put forth by these candidates made me feel duped.  These candidates seemed to think that if they simply announce their candidacy that voters would flock to the polls.  How can we do that?  We don’t know who to vote for.

In 8 days, the elections for mayor, alderman-at-large and my ward alderman will be held.  There are 9 candidates that should be vying for my vote.  To date, I have received one palm card and one cheaply created flyer in my mail box.  I have had only one solicitation for a yard sign to be placed in my yard.  And worst of all, not a single candidate has knocked on my door.  This is completely unacceptable to me.

From my online research, I have found that two of the mayoral candidates have a website and only one has a Facebook page.  One out of the 6 alderman candidates has a Facebook page and none have a dedicated campaign website.  I suppose I can forgive the aldermanic candidates for not having dedicated campaign websites, but Facebook is free and easy.

This lack of accessibility and complete disregard for the needs of voters has me extremely concerned.  The laziness has me wondering how badly these candidates want these positions.

Maybe my expectations are too high.  Maybe I want more out of these candidates than most.  Truthfully, that doesn’t concern me.  What concerns me is I now have to go out and vote for someone I don’t even know.  Voting shouldn’t be like gambling.  I should be confident that my vote will be a winner.

Well, I suppose I still have 8 days to be wowed.