Around this time of year, I’m never sure what I find more hair-raising: Halloween goblins or local politics. I’ve been gratified to see how The Current has been covering both.
I’ve come to count on this paper to illuminate the ins and outs of how our local government functions and how our candidates think. I’m particularly appreciative of the thoroughness of their reporting, which at times includes players from “both sides of the aisle” being held up for scrutiny.
While there are many gravely alarming aspects of our local, state and national politics, one of our most significant concerns should be any of us being locked in some self-validating echo chamber. If any news source routinely idealizes one side and diminishes or demonizes another, at some point, I’m going to ask: What’s being left out? But when I hear balanced reporting and even-handed analysis of the strengths and foibles of all the candidates, I have greater assurance that nothing is being left out, or that at least the publishers and reporters are striving for that mark. And it’s only on the basis of this unvarnished information that we can make our best decisions at the ballot box.
As I write this on Oct. 31, I have no idea who our next elected officials will be, but I’d like to state my gratitude to any and all who would sincerely offer to be voted into public service. I’m humbled by their work and the work of all of their teams of volunteers. And I am greatly appreciative for the work of this publication, for guiding my thinking and understanding of the many issues I care about, and for their pursuit of that most elusive of election-season spirits: truth.
Christine Foertsch, Garrison
